Han rule in Vietnam · 40-43 AD

The Trung Sisters: Vietnam rises against the Han

In AD 40 two sisters from the Red River delta, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, raised an army, drove out the Han governor and ruled for three years. Students map the revolt, compare Chinese and Vietnamese accounts and ask why the sisters are still national heroes.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 40 to AD 43
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In AD 40 two sisters from the Red River delta, Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, raised an army, drove out the Han governor and ruled for three years. Students map the revolt, compare Chinese and Vietnamese accounts and ask why the sisters are still national heroes.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Red River delta and explain how it came under Han rule.
  • Describe the causes, events and outcome of the Trung Sisters' revolt of AD 40-43.
  • Compare how Chinese and Vietnamese sources remember the revolt.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 40

Far south of the Han

Open the map in AD 40. Find the Red River delta in the far south of the Han Empire. How far is it from the capital Luoyang? Why was it hard to rule from so far away?

Open this view on the map
b

150 BC

Before the Han

Jump to 150 BC. Which kingdom held the Red River delta before the Han conquered it in 111 BC?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 43

Remembering the sisters

Type "Who were the Trung Sisters?" in Ask the atlas. How are they remembered in Vietnam today?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Han officials collected taxes and tried to change local customs. Why might local nobles see this as a threat?
  2. The revolt was led by two women. What might this suggest about the place of women in society there at the time?
  3. Chinese and Vietnamese sources tell different stories about the sisters' deaths. Why might each side tell it differently?
  4. The sisters ruled for about three years before the Han returned. Was their revolt a failure?
  5. Vietnam still honors the sisters with temples, streets and a holiday. Why do nations remember leaders of resistance?
4

Game round

9 min

Play Cleopatra VII in Rule History: a woman who tried to keep her kingdom free from a great empire, Rome, about 70 years before the Trung Sisters. After the round, discuss: what choices did a small kingdom have when a superpower came close?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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