Warring Societies of Pre-colonial Southeast Asiaannual “monsoon campaigns” from Gia Dinh to the coasts of central
Vietnam before gaining victory over Vietnam and crowning himself as
the Gia Long Emperor (1802–1820).
The development of naval power was a key factor in ending a 270-year
period of strife in Vietnamese history (1533–1802). After Mac Dang
Dung overthrew the Le emperor, different groups started fighting for
supremacy, including the Mac, the Le-Trinh, Nguyen Cochinchina, the
Tayson, and Nguyen Phuc Anh. By 1770, Vietnam had bifurcated politi-
cally. The north was under the Le-Trinh rule while the Nguyen family
dominated the south, from Quang Binh to the Cambodian border. Then,
in 1771, the Tayson brothers Nguyen Nhac, Nguyen Hue, and Nguyen
Lu began their extraordinary military and political journey that became
known as the Tayson Rebellion.^4 Between 1771 and 1789, the Tayson
defeated the Nguyen Cochinchinese army, thwarted invasions from
Siam in 1785 and China in 1789, and overthrew the Le-Trinh in Hanoi.
Following these successes, the eldest brother, Nguyen Nhac, crowned
himself as Central Emperor (Trung uong Hoang de) and remained at
their original base in Quy Nhon until his death in 1793. Nguyen Hue,
the most militarily talented among the three, ruled over the former
Le-Trinh territory in the north while the youngest, Nguyen Lu, was in
charge of the lower Mekong. The heir-apparent of the Nguyen family of
Cochinchina, Nguyen Phuc Anh, exploited Lu’s lesser military prowess
and his early death in 1787. Having witnessed his family’s execution by
the Tayson, the 14-year-old prince and few supporters fled to the swamps
of the Ca Mau Peninsula before heading to Bangkok for help. During
the following 25 years, he was repeatedly defeated by the Tayson and
nearly starved at sea but he never gave up the fight because his version
of success was built on two formidable pillars: the supply of wealth from
Gia Dinh and a powerful navy. By the late 1780s, he slowly captured
Gia Dinh, organized his warfare machine, constructed new fleets with
support from local shipbuilders, western mercenaries, and Siamese, and
started a decade long campagnes de saison against the Tayson.
The navy facilitated Nguyen Phuc Anh’s 1802 victory by providing
him with flexible logistics across large distances, with effective navy-
infantry co-operation, and with powerful artillery. Major theatres of
- For the Tayson movement, see George Dutton, The Tayson Uprising (Honolulu:
University of Hawai’i Press, 2006).