This Vietnamese drama/play written in verse depicts the history of Trung Träc (Zheng Ce) - later known as Queen TRUNG - and her sister's armed revolt against the Chinese Han Dynasty in the year 40 A.D., during its second invasion of Giao Chi (Jiaozhi). Giao Chi is now a part of northern Vietnam.
The Hậu Hán sử (Hou Han Shu) recorded that Trưng's rebellion would liberate Giao Chi (Jiaozhi) and avenge the murder of her patriot husband Thi Sach (Shi Suo) by To Dinh (Su Ting), a brutal and ruthless Chinese governor.
In 42 A.D., Han China dispatched General Mã Viện (Ma Yuan) to quell the rebellion. In 43 A.D., the Han army defeated the Trưng sisters and regained complete control of Giao Chi. According to Vietnamese chronicles, the two sisters drowned themselves in the river rather than surrender to the Han.
The author has included a brief introduction before each act to help English readers better follow the play. The English version is a literal translation - not an adaptation of the original Vietnamese version - and therefore, is not regarded as an English drama play in verse.
(About the Author)
Quang Hong Mac, a captain in the South Vietnam Army (ARVN) and an injured pilot in the 1968 Tet offensive battle, was imprisoned for five years after Saigon fell in 1975. In 1980, he escaped and resettled in the United States. The following year, his wife and three children came to a Malaysia refugee camp. They reunited in 1981. The author rebuilt his life from zero, graduating as an electrical engineer. Now retired, he was editor of Philadelphia Rạng Đông Sunrise magazine and was an adviser on Asia to Pennsylvania's governor. He has never returned to Vietnam.
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