Châu Văn Tiếp ( 朱文接, 1738–1784), born Châu Doãn Ngạnh ( 朱尹梗), was an 18th-century

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

ese military commander, best known for his role as a general of Nguyễn Ánh.

Early life

Born in 1738, Châu Văn Tiếp was a son of a horse merchant from Phú Yên, on the southern coast of Vietnam. When Tiep was young, he mastered the martial arts and could speak both Siamese and Khmer.

Military career

In 1773, the Tây Sơn brothers revolted, so Châu Văn Tiếp and his family went into hiding in Hà Duy, remote mountains in Phú Yên province. In Hà Duy, Tiếp gathered an army of natives and occupied the Tra Lon mountain surrounding the area. The Tây Sơn leader Nguyễn Nhạc invited Tiep to help him under the name of the Nguyễn prince

Nguyen Phuc Duong Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this s ...

and Tiếp agreed. Shortly thereafter, Tiếp defected from the Tây Sơn army and joined the Nguyễn lords. The Nguyễn governor of Long Ho appointed him the governor of Phú Yên and Bình Thuận. In 1777, Tiếp led an army marched north in order to reinforce the armies of the two Nguyễn Lords

Nguyễn Phúc Thuần Định Vương Nguyễn Phúc Thuần (1754–1777) was one of the Nguyễn lords who ruled over the southern portion of Vietnam from the 16th–18th centuries. The collapse of the house of Nguyễn lords intensified during Thuần's reign, many ...

and

, who were being pursued by Tây Sơn army. However, the Tây Sơn army defeated Tiếp and forced him to flee along with Nguyễn Lords. Later, Tiếp led his supporters back to their base in Tra Lon so that they stayed away from the conflict of Lý Tài and Đỗ Thanh Nhơn. Later, the two Nguyễn lords and almost all of their family members were captured and executed by Tây Sơn; the most senior surviving member was Nguyễn Ánh, the 15-year-old nephew of Nguyễn Phúc Thuần. When Nguyễn Ánh returned from hiding in the Mekong Delta jungle, Tiep joined the Nguyễn loyalists. In 1780, Nguyễn Ánh proclaimed himself Nguyễn vương and gave Tiep the position "Khâm Sai Đại Đô Đốc" (King's Grand General).Huỳnh Minh, p. 109. In 1781, Nguyễn Ánh ordered Châu Văn Tiếp to lead an attack against the Tây Sơn in

Diên Khánh Diên Khánh is a township () and capital of Diên Khánh District, Khánh Hòa Province KH may refer to: Places * Cambodia (Kampuchea, Kambuja, ''Srok Khmer''), a sovereign state with ISO 3166-2 alpha code KH ** .kh, the Internet country code t ...

. Again, Tiếp was defeated and fled to Phú Yên. After learning of the fall of Gia Dinh, he led an army whose banner was embroidered with the four words " Lương Sơn Tá Quốc" (lit. ''local heroes who want to save the country'') and marched toward Gia Dinh to reinforce Nguyễn Ánh. Tiếp defeated the Tây Sơn garrison in Saigon and invited Nguyễn Ánh, who had been hiding on

Phú Quốc Phú Quốc () is the largest island in Vietnam. Phú Quốc and nearby islands, along with the distant Thổ Chu Islands, are part of Kiên Giang Province as Phú Quốc City, the island has a total area of and a permanent population of appro ...

island to return.Trần Trọng Kim, p. 343. Shortly thereafter, the Tây Sơn attacked again and the Nguyễn army was defeated decisively; Chau Van Tiep himself fled to Siam and requested the aid of king

Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke Phra Phutthayotfa Chulalok Maharaj (, 20 March 1737 – 7 September 1809), personal name Thongduang (), also known as Rama I, was the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom and the first monarch of the reigning Chakri dynasty of Siam (now Thai ...

and the king agreed.

Death and burial

In 1784, after the meeting with Nguyễn Ánh, Siam sent an army consisting of between 20,000 and 30,000 troops and 300 ships to help. Along with the Siamese army, Châu Văn Tiếp led a small Vietnamese army and navy. While Tiếp's army was fighting against the Tây Sơn in Man Thit, Vĩnh Long, a Tây Sơn soldier named Bảo stabbed Tiếp in the back and killed him. Because of the ongoing war with Tây Sơn, Nguyễn Ánh temporarily buried Tiếp in Vĩnh Long. After unifying Vietnam and founding the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...

, Nguyễn Ánh (now called Gia Long) reburied Tiếp in

Vũng Tàu Vũng Tàu (''Hanoi accent:'' , ''Saigon accent:'' ) is the largest city of Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province in southern Vietnam. The city area is , consists of 13 urban wards and one commune of Long Sơn Islet. Vũng Tàu was the capital of the p ...

and posthumously bestowed upon him the title of Quận Công (Duke). Afterwards, Tiếp was posthumously honored by the emperor

Minh Mạng Minh Mạng () or Minh Mệnh (, vi-hantu, 明命, lit. "the bright favour of Heaven"; 25 May 1791 – 20 January 1841; born Nguyễn Phúc Đảm, also known as Nguyễn Phúc Kiểu) was the second emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of V ...

and the emperor

Tự Đức Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, 嗣德, lit. "inheritance of virtues", 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm , also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam; he ruled f ...

, both descendants of Gia Long.Huỳnh Minh, p. 110

In popular culture

Châu Văn Tiếp, along with Đỗ Thanh Nhơn and Võ Tánh, was called "Gia Định Tam Hùng" (Three Heroes of Gia Định) in Vietnamese folk culture.Huỳnh Minh, p. 105.

Notes

;Footnote ;Citations

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chau, Van Tiep Vietnamese generals 1738 births 1784 deaths Mandarins of the Nguyễn lords Military history of Vietnam People from Phú Yên province 1770s in Vietnam 1780s in Vietnam 1780s in Siam