Nguyễn Nhạc

Nguyễn Nhạc ( , born 1743, died 1793) was the founder of the Tây Sơn dynasty, reigning from 1778 to 1788.

Nguyễn Nhạc and his brothers Nguyễn Lữ and Nguyễn Huệ, known as the Tây Sơn Brothers after their home district, ended the centuries-long civil war between the Trịnh Lords in northern Vietnam and the Nguyễn Lords in southern Vietnam, seizing control from these groups and the Lê dynasty. From 1778 to 1788, Nguyễn Nhạc proclaimed himself Emperor Thái Đức . In 1788, after his younger brother proclaimed himself Emperor Quang Trung, Nguyễn Nhạc resigned as Emperor and declared himself King of Tây Sơn.

Early life Nguyễn was born in Tây Sơn District, Quy Nhơn Province (modern Bình Định Province). Vietnamese historian Trần Trọng Kim described him as a courageous and clever man. Soon they were widely supported by the poor. Ethnic minorities in Cochinchina, including Montagnards, Chams and Sino-Vietnamese, also took part in the rebellion.

The rebels grew rapidly and government troops were unable to put them down. One day, Nhạc sat in a prison van and ordered his men to take him to Quy Nhơn. The governor, Nguyễn Khắc Tuyên (阮克宣), was very happy, and threw him into prison. At night, Nhạc escaped from prison and opened the city gate. Quy Nhơn was taken by Tây Sơn army and used as their new base camp. Then the Tây Sơn army marched to Quảng Nam, where the Nguyễn army was defeated by the rebels. The Nguyễn sent their main forces to Quảng Nam, but failed to drive the rebels out of the province.

Conflict with Trịnh lords Hearing that Cochinchina had fallen into chaos, Trịnh Sâm, the lord of Tonkin, sent Hoàng Ngũ Phúc to attack the Nguyễn using the pretext that they were out to arrest the treacherous minister Trương Phúc Loan. The Trịnh marched south with little resistance and soon took possession of the Nguyễn capital, Phú Xuân. Nguyễn Phúc Thuần fled to Quảng Nam, where he designated Nguyễn Phúc Dương as crown prince. Several months later, when the Tây Sơn army took Quảng Nam, Thuần had to flee to Gia Định. Not long after, the country from Quảng Ngãi to Bình Thuận was occupied by Tây Sơn rebels. then to Poulo Panjang. In late 1777, the main part of the Tây Sơn army left Saigon and marched north. Nguyễn Ánh landed in Long Xuyên. There he was supported by many Nguyễn generals and raised the flag of restoration. Đỗ Thanh Nhơn, the leader of Đông Sơn Army, also swore allegiance to Ánh. The Nguyễn army became much stronger and captured many places. Ánh also made an alliance with Siam. However, the assassination of Đỗ Thanh Nhơn by Nguyễn Ánh caused the Đông Sơn Army to rebel, thus badly weakening the Nguyễn army. Taking this opportunity, Nguyễn Nhạc and Nguyễn Huệ invaded Gia Định and finally recaptured it in 1782. Nhạc returned to Quy Nhơn. In the next year, Châu Văn Tiếp, a supporter of the Nguyễn, defeated the Tây Sơn garrison in Saigon and invited Nguyễn Ánh to return. Nguyễn Lữ and Nguyễn Huệ were sent to Gia Định and forced Ánh to flee to Phú Quốc. In 1785, Huệ defeated Nguyễn Ánh and the Siamese navy at the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút. Ánh had to flee to Siam. Nhạc did not want to take Tonkin and sent an envoy to Phú Xuân to prevent Huệ from marching north, but Huệ had already left. Then he got the message that Huệ had captured Thăng Long, and realized that Huệ was not easily controlled. Nhạc led 2,500 men and marched north to meet with Huệ and the Lê emperor. In Thăng Long, Nhạc promised that he would not take any territory from Tonkin. Then he retreated from Tonkin together with Huệ. Nguyễn Nhạc proclaimed himself as Trung ương Hoàng đế (中央皇帝 "the Central Emperor"). Nguyễn Lữ was given the title Đông Định vương (東定王 "King of Eastern Conquering"), with Gia Định as his fief; Nguyễn Huệ received the title Bắc Bình Vương (北平王 "King of Northern Conquering") and lived in Phú Xuân, with the area north of Hải Vân as his fief.

Civil war between two brothers Not long after, Nguyễn Nhạc came into conflict with Nguyễn Huệ. A civil war broke out, and Huệ besieged Quy Nhơn for several months. The main forces of Gia Định were called back to support Nhạc, but were defeated in Phú Yên, with its commander Đặng Văn Chân surrendering to Huệ. Nhạc climbed onto the city wall and shouted to Huệ: "How can you use the pot of skin to cook meat like that?". It was an old custom that if hunters caught prey in the jungle and were without a pot, they would flay the animal and use its skin to cook its meat. Using this metaphor, Nhạc indicated that brothers should not fight with each other. Huệ was moved to tears, decided to retreat, and reached a peace agreement Nhạc.

The fate of his offspring Nhạc's eldest son, Nguyễn Văn Bảo, was stripped of his position by Nguyễn Quang Toản and granted the title Hiếu công (孝公, "Duke of filial piety"). The Nhạc's was annexed by Toản, with Bảo only receiving Phù Ly (modern Phù Mỹ and Phù Cát) as his fief. In 1798, Bảo launched an unsuccessful rebellion against Toản and was executed.

Two other sons, Nguyễn Văn Đức (阮文德) and Nguyễn Văn Lương (阮文良), and grandson Nguyễn Văn Đâu (阮文兜, son of Nguyễn Văn Đức) escaped and hid in countryside. In 1831, they were found by the Nguyễn dynasty and executed by waist chop.