Bùi Thị Nhạn (裴氏雁, ? – 10 July 1802) was a general and then an Empress of

Tây Sơn dynasty The Tây Sơn dynasty (; , (chữ Hán: 朝西山; Chữ Nôm: 茹西山), officially Đại Việt (Chữ Hán: 大越), was an imperial dynasty of Vietnam. It originated in a revolt led by three peasant brothers with the surname Nguyễn, r ...

. She was born in Tuy Viễn District (modern Tây Sơn District),

Bình Định Province Bình Định (平定) was a former northern coastal province in the South Central Coast region, the Central of Vietnam. It borders Quảng Ngãi to the north, Phú Yên to the south, Gia Lai to the west and the South China Sea to the ea ...

. She was a daughter of Bùi Đức Lương, and also a sister of

Bùi Đắc Tuyên Bùi Đắc Tuyên (, died 1795) was a mandarin of the Tây Sơn dynasty. Early life Bùi Đắc Tuyên was born in Xuân Hòa village, Bình Phú commune, Tuy Viễn district (modern Tây Sơn District), Quy Nhơn citadel (modern thuộc huy� ...

.Bùi Thị Nhạn
/ref> She is said to have learned martial arts as a child, later, she became a famous female general of Tây Sơn dynasty. She and

Bùi Thị Xuân Bùi Thị Xuân ( vi-hantu, , d. 1802) was a Vietnamese female general during the Tây Sơn wars. One of the key figures in the Tây Sơn rebellion, known for her exceptional combat skills. She was not only a master swordswoman but also highly ...

Trần Thị Lan Trần (陳) or Tran is the second most common Vietnamese surname after Nguyen. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and successfully repelled the Mongol ...

, Huỳnh Thị Cúc, Nguyễn Thị Dung, were known as the Five Phoenix women generals of Tay Son dynasty ( 西山五鳳雌).Cao Tự Thanh (chủ biên), ''Phụ nữ Việt Nam trong lịch sử'' (tập 1). Nhà xuất bản Phụ Nữ, 2011. Phạm Thị Liên, the empress of

Nguyễn Huệ Emperor Quang Trung (; vi-hantu, 光中, 1753 – 16 September 1792) or Nguyễn Huệ ( vi-hantu, 阮惠), also known as Nguyễn Quang Bình ( vi-hantu, 阮光平), or Hồ Thơm (chữ Hán: 胡𦹳) was the second emperor of the Tây Sơn dy ...

, died in 1791. Bùi Thị Nhạn became the second wife of Huệ and crowned as the empress. Nguyễn Huệ died in the next year,

Nguyễn Quang Toản Emperor Cảnh Thịnh ( vi-hantu, ), born Nguyễn Quang Toản ( vi-hantu, ; 1783–1802), was the third and last emperor of the Tây Sơn dynasty. He followed his father Quang Trung (Nguyễn Huệ ruled 1788–1792) at the age of 9, and re ...

ascended the throne, and granted her the title

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...

. In 1801, when the capital

Phú Xuân Phú Xuân (富春) was the historic capital of the Nguyễn lords, the Tây Sơn dynasty, and later became the Nguyễn dynasty's capital (renamed Huế). History In 1306, the King of Champa Chế Mân offered Vietnam two Chăm prefectures, Ô ...

(modern

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

) fell to

Nguyễn Ánh Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...

, she followed Nguyễn Quang Toản to

Thăng Long Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the capital and second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red and Black Rivers). As a municipality, Hanoi consists of 12 urban districts, 17 rural d ...

(modern

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

). Nguyễn Ánh's army later captured Thăng Long. Afterwards, she fled to Xương Giang (in modern

Bắc Giang Bắc Giang () is a city in Vietnam. It is the capital of Bắc Ninh Province. Its name, deriving from that of the Province Sino-Vietnamese, means "north of the river." The location is very convenient for transportation: it is 50 km north ...

). In order to avoid being captured, she committed suicide together with Trần Thị Lan.

References

1802 deaths People from Bình Định province Tây Sơn dynasty empresses Vietnamese empresses dowager Tây Sơn dynasty female generals Women in war in Vietnam Women in 19th-century warfare Suicides in Vietnam {{Vietnam-royal-stub