Nguyá» n Bặc (, 924 â 15 October 979), also known with the noble title ÃÂá»Ânh Quá»Âc Công (å®ÂÃ¥ÂÂå ¬), was a Vietnamese mandarin and general who served as the Grand Chancellor of ÃÂinh dynasty and was the first chancellor in Vietnamese history. He helped future emperor ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh put an end to the troubles of the Anarchy of the 12 Warlords and to establish the short-lived ÃÂinh dynasty. After ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh and his chosen successor ÃÂinh Liá» n were murdered by a palace official, ÃÂá» ThÃÂch, Nguyá» n Bặc captured the murderer and had him executed. He then tried unsuccessfully to organize resistance to Lê Hoàn. According to Nguyá» n Phúc tá»Âc thế phả (Nguyá» n Phúc clan Family tree book), Nguyá» n Bặc was the ancestor of the Nguyá» n Phúc clan, followed by founding of the Nguyá» n lords by Nguyá» n Hoàng in 1558 and Nguyá» n dynasty in 1802 under the emperor Gia Long. As a result, he was sometimes considered to be a patriarch of the surname Nguyen, which is the most common amongst all Vietnamese people. Moreover, he was considered as one of the "seven heroes of Giao Châu" (Giao Chá» province) according to Viá»Ât Sá» tân biên including: ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh, ÃÂinh Liá» n, Lê Hoàn, ÃÂinh ÃÂiá»Ân, Phạm Hạp and Phạm Cá»± Lðợng.
According to Khâm ÃÂá»Ânh Viá»Ât sá» Thông giám cðáng mục, Nguyá» n Bặc was born in Hoa Lð Cave, ÃÂại Hoàng province, ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât.
As a youngster growing up in Hoa-Lð Nguyá» n Bặc befriended ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh, and eventually they and another village kid named ÃÂinh ÃÂiá»Ân, Trá»Ânh Tú and Lðu Cá.In their early teenage years the three sworn-brothers and children of neighboring villages achieved notoriety for constantly playing war-games. As time passed, the power of the ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh's gang in Hoa-lð became legendary. In the early 960s Vietnam was thrust into chaos due to the petty wars of the Twelve Feudal-Warlords (TháºÂp-nhá» Sứ-quân). Naturally, ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh and his peasant-warriors were compelled to involve themselves in the struggle. Because of their weaknesses ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh decided to lead his followers into an alliance with an ethnic Chinese named Trần Lãm, the feudal warlord who had control of Bá»Â-hải Port, the commercial center of the kingdom. The alliance, formed in 963 A.D., turned out to be ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh's wisest move. ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh soon transformed his Hoa-Lð warriors and Trần Lãm's mercenaries into a force to be reckon. With his sworn-brothers, Nguyá» n Bặc and ÃÂinh ÃÂiá»Ân, as his most trusted commanders and advisers, ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh began setting out conquering the other eleven feudal warlords to unite the kingdom. Trần Lãm, who was more concerned with the commercial prospects of the conquest than with the unification of Vietnam, gladly and financial supported ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh's ambitious plan. As ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh's highly disciplined army crushed one warlord after another, people began referring to the three sworn-brothers and four other of ÃÂinh Bo Lénh's assistants as the Seven Heroes of Giao-châu (Giao-châu Thất Hùng).
In historical records, he had 2 brothers Nguyá» n Bá» and Nguyá» n Phục who all three joined in the ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh's army to suppress the uprising of 12 warlords. After gaining victory, ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh establish the new empire and positioned as the chancellor of dynasty.
After conquering ten of the eleven warlords ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh then proclaimed himself emperor in 968 A.D. To deal with the last warlord Emperor ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh assigned Nguyá» n Bặc the task, for it was this obstinate warlord, Nguyá» n Thủ-Tiá»Âp, that had killed Nguyá»Ân Bặc's older and only brother, Nguyá» n Bá»Â. After three or four battles Nguyá» n Bặc rooted Nguyá» n Thủ-Tiá»Âp out of his stronghold at Tiên-Du, the old provincial heartland of the kingdom. Nguyá» n Thủ-Tiá»Âp fled south to Diá» n Province near the Cham frontier and died there a few months later. Nguyá» n Bặc then returned in triumph to the newly established capital at Hoa-Lð.
As emperor, ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh quickly rewarded his long time followers. He placed Nguyá» n Bặc at the head of the nobility with the title Nation-Establishing Duke (ÃÂá»Ânh-Quá»Âc Công) and officially adopted Nguyá» n Bặc into the newly established royal family. Like Emperor ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh, Nguyá» n Bặc had risen from the peasantry class to become one of the most powerful figures in the kingdom of Great Viá»Ât (ÃÂại-Cá»Â-Viá»Ât), as Vietnam was named under the ÃÂinh.
When Emperor ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh and his heir apparent fell victims to an imperial attendant's sword in 979 A.D., the shocked and furious Nguyá» n Bặc beheaded ÃÂá» ThÃÂch, the assassin, then had the corpse ground up for consumption by the people of Hoa-Lð. The people of Hoa-Lð, enraged at the assassin for killing their greatest local hero, did not decline the bizarre offering. Nguyá» n Bặc and his only surviving sworn-brother, ÃÂinh ÃÂiá»Ân, installed the dead emperor's last son, who was only five-years-old, as emperor.
Be that as it may, the discovery of a secret affair between the child-emperor's mother and the ambitious Lê Hoàn, whom the late Emperor ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh had made the General of the Ten Circuits (TháºÂp-ÃÂạo Tðá»Âng-Quân), marked the end of the ÃÂinh dynasty. With the Queen-Mother's support Lê Hoàn quickly declared himself Viceroy (Nhiếp-ChÃÂnh), and began plotting a coup d'état. Upon receiving news of the plot, Nguyá» n Bặc and ÃÂinh ÃÂiá»Ân, both were in ÃÂi Province (Thanh-Hóa) at the time, promptly returned to court with their forces. Lê Hoàn sent out messengers to convince Nguyá» n Bặc to cooperate in the establishment of a new dynasty. Naturally, the disgusted Nguyá» n Bặc and his sworn-brother, ÃÂinh ÃÂiá»Ân, declined and civil war once again erupted.
The ensuing civil war did not last long. Lê Hoàn, as commander-in-chief of the main imperial army, easily crushed the ÃÂinh loyalists headed by Nguyá» n Bặc. Nguyá» n Bặc was captured and executed on the bank of the Chanh River outside the citadel of Hoa-lð on 8 November 979 A.D. (October 15 of the lunar calendar). ÃÂinh ÃÂiá»Ân and his wife escaped capture and then died mysteriously a month later. In a period of three months the three sworn-brothers died treacherously at the hands of individuals whom they had employed and trusted most.
After the death of Nguyá» n Bặc Lê Hoàn declared himself emperor and founded a new dynasty in 980 A.D. The Sung dynasty of China refused to recognize Lê Hoàn and launched an invasion of Vietnam the following year. However, Lê Hoàn refused to submit and rallied the great army that ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh had built to face the Chinese expeditionary forces. The Vietnamese fought and won another decisive war against the intruding Chinese. The trap laid out by the defending Vietnamese not only killed the Chinese commander-in-chief but also captured his two top commanders. News of the routing of the land forces compelled the Chinese invading fleet to flee back to China. The successes of Lê Hoàn's campaign were due largely to the great military machine that ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh, Nguyá» n Bặc and ÃÂinh ÃÂiá» n had wholehearted nurtured and formed since the days they played innocent war-games in the village of Hoa-Lð.
People throughout the kingdom of ÃÂại Cá» Viá»Ât, especially the villagers around the Hoa-Lð region who knew Emperor ÃÂinh Bá» Lénh, Nguyá» n Bặc and ÃÂinh ÃÂiá»Ân best, grieved at their tragic deaths. To remember their virtues and loyalty, the Vietnamese villagers deified the three sworn-brothers like Liu Bei (Lðu Bá»Â), Guan Yu (Quan Và ©) and Zhang Fei (Trðáng Phi) of China and had temples built in their names. In ÃÂại Hữu village near Hoa-Lð a temple for the three local heroes still stands today. A statue of Nguyá» n Bặc still exists at his temple in Ngô-Hạ hamlet, Hoa-Lð District. Nguyá» n Bặc's descendants, including the Nguyá» n-Phúc Clan, still pay their respects annually at the tomb built for him by the ÃÂại-Hữu villagers in 979 A.D.
Nguyá» n Bặc's son Nguyá» n ÃÂê survived the tragedy of 979 A.D. and later became a battle-buddy of a commander of the Imperial Guards (ÃÂiá»Ân Tiá»Ân Chá» Huy Sứ) named Lý Công Uản. With Nguyá» n ÃÂê's support Lý Công Uẩn deposed the unpopular Emperor Lê Ngá»Âa Triá»Âu, and ascended the throne as the first emperor of the Later Lý dynasty. Following their forebear's footsteps Nguyá» n ÃÂê and his sons remained loyal servants of the Lý dynasty.
Furthermore, many of Nguyá» n Bặc's successors also gave their lives trying to protect or serve their emperors. Nguyá» n Phụng, Nguyá» n Bặc's great-grandson, was killed in 1150 for attempting to destroy the usurper ÃÂá» Anh Và ©. General Nguyá» n Nạp Hòa, a descendant of Nguyá» n Bặc and Nguyá» n Phụng, was killed along with Emperor Trần Duá» Tông in 1377 while engaging in battle with the famous Cham king, Chế Bá»Âng Nga.
Nguyá» n Công LuáºÂt, General Nguyá» n Nạp Hòa's son, also died with Emperor Trần Phế ÃÂế under the hands of the usurper Há» Qúy Ly in 1388. Nguyá» n Công Duẫn, Nguyá» n Công LuáºÂt's great-grandson, became Lê Lợi's commander of the Tá»Âng Sán region (Thanh Hóa) during the war of liberation. After forcing the Ming Chinese to withdraw from Vietnam Lê Lợi proclaimed himself emperor and adopted Nguyá» n Công Duẫn into the Lê royal family.
Nguyá» n Bặc's descendants through Nguyá» n Công Duẫn's line continued their family's tradition of excellent national service. When the capital ÃÂông ÃÂô fell into the hands of Trần Cao, it was Nguyá» n VÃÂn Lá»±u, Nguyá» n Công Duẫn's grandson, who recaptured the capital and restored Emperor Lê Tðáng Dá»±c to the throne. Likewise, when Mặc ÃÂÃÂng Dung killed Emperor Lê Cung Hoàng in 1527 and proclaimed himself emperor, it was Nguyá» n Cam (or Kim) who took refuge in Laos and campaigned to restore the Lê dynasty. Emperor Lê Cung Hoàng's son was finally discovered and was then made emperor by Nguyá» n Cam. Lê's forces under Nguyá» n Cam was beginning to gain momentum when Dðáng Chấp Nhất, a general for the Mac's, fatally poisoned Nguyá» n Cam.
The history of the Nguyá» n family began to change drastically after the death of Nguyá» n Kim in 1545. After the death of Nguyá» n Kim his two sons, Nguyá» n Uông and Nguyá» n Hoàng, continued to fight the Mạc for the Lê dynasty. However, it was Nguyá» n Kim's son-in-law, Trá»Ânh Kiá»Âm, that triggered the event that changed the whole history of Vietnam.
Besides these great male descendants of Nguyá» n Bặc, there were also other royal descendants of his through the female lines. Nguyá» n Công Duẫn's granddaughter, Nguyá» n Thá» Ngá»Âc Hằng (daughter of Nguyá» n ÃÂức Trung), married Emperor Lê Thánh Tông and then gave birth to a prince who later became Emperor Lê Hiến Tông (1497-1504). Hence, Emperor Lê Hiến Tông and his subsequent royal descendants all had Nguyá» n Bặc's blood in them. Nguyá» n Thá» Ngá»Âc Bảo, the older sister of Lord Nguyá» n Hoàng, was married to Trá»Ânh Kiá»Âm and later gave birth to Trá»Ânh Kiá»Âm's immediate successor, Lord Trá»Ânh Tùng. Hence, Trá»Ânh's royal family from Trá»Ânh Tùng down all carried Nguyá» n Bặc's blood.
Nguyá» n princesses were also married to non-Vietnamese rulers as well. In 1620, Princess Nguyá» n Thá» Ngá»Âc Vạn, daughter Lord Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên, became the wife of Chey Chettha II of the Khmer Empire. King Chey Chetta II granted Princess Nguyá» n Thá» Ngá»Âc Vạn's wish and allowed Vietnamese natives to settle in Mô Xoài (BàRá»Âa). Finally, prior to the complete conquest of Champa, Lord Nguyá» n Phúc Nguyên also betrothed his daughter, Nguyá» n Phúc Ngá»Âc Khoa, to Po Rome - King of Champa in 1631.