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'Ngô Quyền' (March 12, 897 - 944) (r. 939 - 944), was a Vietnamese prefect and general during Southern Han Dynasty occupation of Giao Châu in the Red River Valley in what is now northern Vietnam. In 938, he soundly defeated the Chinese at the famous Battle of Bach Dang River north of modern Hải Phòng and ended 1,000 years of Chinese domination going all the back to 111 B.C. under the Han Dynasty.
Ngô Quyền was born in 897 A.D. in Đuong Lâm (Modern-day Ba Vì District, Hanoi). He was the son of Ngô Mân, an influential government official in Annam during the Tang Dynasty occupation. His father was a strong supporter of Phùng Hung, the first Lord Protector of the Annam and semi-autonomous ruler when the Tang Dynasty was in decline.
In 931, he served under Duong Đình Nghê and quickly rose through the military ranks and government administration, by 934, he was promoted military governor of Ái Châu. After Duong Đình Nghê was assassinated in a military coup in 938 by a usurper named Kiê`u Công Tiê'n, he took control of the military and was well received. That same year, Ngô Quyền's forces defeated the rebel Kiê`u Công Tiê'n and had him executed. This transpired into an opportunistic pretense for wrestle control of Annam by the new Southern Han regime due to its strategic geographical location. Ngô Quyền foresaw the Chinese intention, he quickly mobilized the armed forces and made war preparations well in advance. His victory at the Battle of Bach Dang paved the way for Viet independence.
Ngô Quyền was declared King and was officially recognized by Imperial China in 939. In the process, Annam (future Vietnam) gained full independence and governmental autonomy ever since (with the exception of a 20-period of military occupation by the Ming Dynasty in the early 1400s.

Contents

Rise in the military

Defeating the Southern Han

King of An Nam

References/Further reading

Rise in the military

Quyền was a commander and trusted son-in-law of Vietnamese warlord and de-facto Lord Protector Duong Đình Nghê. In 931, when Đình Nghê defeated the crumbling Southern Han influence in Annam, Ngo Quyen was 33-years old apprentice. Đình Nghê gave him one of his daughters, Lady Duong, in marriage and placed him in charge of Ái Châu. The province was Đình Nghê's hometown and military power base. By giving Quyền command of this region indicated Quyen's loyalty and effective leader amongst his subordinates.

Defeating the Southern Han

See Main article: Battle of Bach Dang River (938)
In 938, the Chinese dispatched an army to quell the Viet rebellion. Ngô Quyền's calculation that the Chinese would sail down the Bach Dang river to unload their troops right in the middle of Giao Châu to do the most damage. To prevent this incursion, Ngô Quyền strategized and ordered the waters of Bach Dang embedded with thousands of large wooden pikes hidden just beneath the rising tide water. He used boats with shallow drafts to instigate and lure the Chinese toward the traps after the tide had risen. When the Chinese hundreds of ships were punctured and caught against the deadly traps, Ngô Quyền led his forces in the attack. Hundreds of trapped ships were burned and sabotaged and thousands of Chinese soldiers were killed, while some managed to retreat and were chased out relentlessly by the Viet forces. In the thick of battle, most of the Han army, including the Admiral Liu Hung-ts'ao, commander of the Chinese force, were drowned.

King of An Nam

After vanquishing the Chinese invaders and founding the Ngô Dynasty, the first Vietnamese dynasty, Ngô Quyền transferred the capital to Cô Loa, the capital of Âu Lac Kingdom, thus affirming the continuity of the traditions of the Lac Viet people.
From this time, Ngô Quyền reclaimed Vietnamese independence and was proclaimed as King (Ngo Vuong) of An Nam in 939.
Ngô Quyền's immediate heirs proved unable to maintain a unified state. After his death in 944, Duong-Binh Vuong Tam-Kha usurped the throne for a brief time—until Ngô Quyền's two sons, Ngo Nam-Tan Vuong Xuong-Van and Ngo Thien-Sach Vuong Xuong-Ngap, finally established a joint rule, which lasted until the collapse of the Ngô Dynasty in 954.

References/Further reading

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