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Nguyen Hue 1753-1792, Emperor Quang Trung, was the second emperor of the Tây Son Dynasty, reigning from 1788 until 1792 was born in Bình Dịnh. He was one of the most successful military commanders in Vietnam's history. At the time of his death, Vietnam was unified for the first time in three centuries. Nguyen Hue and his brothers, known as the Tay Son Brothers, were the leaders of the famous Tay Son Rebellion. They overthrew the Later Le Dynasty and the two rival feudal houses of the Nguyen in the south and the Trinh in the north. Over several years of constant military campaigning , he defeated two Chinese armies, the Xiem army and Qing army. and won the battles at lighting speed. In only five days Nguyen Hue's Tay Son army wiped out the Manchu army of the Chinese Qing Dynasty Manchu army and freed Thang Long (Hanoi) from Chinese occupation. In 1788 the Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong duspatched a massive army south to Thang Long, carrying with them Lê Chieu Tông (the last Lê emperor) planning to restore him to the throne under Chinese protection. Nguyen Hue gathered his forces around Thanh Long. Nguyen Hue made a surprise attack against the Chinese during Tet, the Vietnamese and Chinese lunar new year holiday (shades of the Vietnam War!). The Qing troops were celebrating and unprepared for battle. In a fierce five day battle the Chinese were defeated and Le Chieu Tong fled for his life back to China. Nguyen Hue showed mercy to the defeated Chinese, and allowed them to return to China. Once in power, Emperor Quang Trung set up a new system of administration and replaced the traditional Chinese script with the Vietnamese Nom as the official written language of the country.

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