1771

Nguyen Nhac flees to the hills with his brothers, and the three begin to recruit followers in the highland regions to the west of their village.

1773

The Tay Son seize the coastal town Qui Nhon, when Nhac, pretending to be captured in cage, frees himself at night to open the gates to the Tay Son forces. The Tay Son troops enter the city, massacre the Nguyen soldiers, and gain control of the city.

Tay Son armies capture the cities of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai

1774

Nov. Trinh troops led by Hoang Ngu Phuc reach Thanh Hoa

Lunar 10th month (Nov. 4- Dec. 2) – Trinh armies cross the Gianh River, the traditional border between the Trinh and Nguyen territories.

1775

Trinh forces take Quang Nam after defeating the Tay Son troops;

Summer – Nhac requests an alliance with Trinh who agree and give Nhac titles and regalia.

Winter – Hoang Ngu Phuc’s army withdraws from Quang Nam (marking the farthest southward advance of the Trinh), to Phu Xuan

1776

North

· Feb/March, disease-ridden Trinh retreat from Phu Xuan to Thuan Hoa

· HNP dies in bed at age 64; is replaced by Bui The Dat

· 8th month; Bui The Dat and Le Qui Don are recalled and Pham Ngo Cau is named the new governor of Thuan Hoa

South

·early in the year, Tay Son attack north toward Phu Xuan forces Due Tong to flee to Cochinchina; names Nguyen Phuc Duong as crown prince to stay and fight in Phu Xuan

·Nguyen Lu takes Saigon through a naval attack on Gia Dinh;

·The Nguyen retake it and Lu is forced to return to Qui Nhon

·Nhac decides to build a walled capital at the site of the ancient Cham capital at Do Ban (south of Da Nang?)

·Nguyen partisans, led by Do Thanh Nhan, create the Dong Son army

·5th month (June-July 1776) DTN retakes Saigon.

·late in the year, crown prince Vuong (being held by Nhac) flees by sea to CCC.

1777

early in the year Trinh acquiesce to his demands, and appoint Nhac governor of Quang Nam

·(3rd month; April-May) Nhac sends Lu and Hue to retake Saigon and they do, apparently killing prince Duong

·Vuong and his nephew Dong commit suicide; Nguyen Anh now formally takes over at headof Nguyen forces

·Lu and Hue return to Quang Nam, leaving their officers in charge in Saigon

1778

·[Jan-Feb] Nguyen general Do Thanh Nhan recaptures Saigon

·Nhac proclaims himself Emperor, inaugurating the Thai Duc reign era

·Nhac sends another army to attack southward, but the Nguyen enjoy a series of victories that threaten even Quang Nam

1779

·Spring, the Tay Son recapture Can Gio, and the Nguyen troops are forced out of Saigon again;

·the Nguyen retreat to Tam Phu, assemble a 5,000 man army and counter-attack; the Dong Son army attacks at night and achieve surprise and a victory;

·the Dong Son go on to retake Saigon, they then find Nguyen Anh (who was on the sidelines during all of this) and bring him back to the city.

1780

·Nguyen Anh, nephew of the king,proclaims himself king.

·Anh, fearing Do Than Nhan’s ability and military power, has him killed, and then woos the Dong Son army to his cause;

1782

·[May] Nhac and Hue attack Can Gio; they then drive Nguyen Anh out of Saigon, where they burn and pillage the businesses of ethnic Chinese and kill more than 10,000 Chinese [three theories: Le Thanh Khoi - break their commercial monopoly; Phan Huy Le, revenge on ethnic Chinese for the treason of Ly Tai who had gone over to the Nguyen side; Dai Nam Thuc Luc - revenge for Chinese troops who killed one of Nhac's favorite generals]

Nguyen Anh is driven out of Gia Dinh and seeks refuge on the island of Phu Quoc; Nhac and Hue return to Qui Nhon

Nguyen forces, led by Chu Van Tiep recapture Saigon, Nguyen Anh returns

In the north, Trinh Sam (1767-1782) dies, and his appointed successor, Trinh Can, is overthrown by an elder brother, Trinh Tong. The ensuing political chaos forces many supporters of Can to flee the capitol. Among these refugees is Nguyen Huu Chinh, whose political patrons had been allied with the Can faction. Chinh takes his family south and joins the Tay Son, becoming a trusted military advisor.

1783

·Lu and Hue attack again, driving Nguyen Anh back to Phu Quoc; a pursuing Tay Son fleet is destroyed in a storm, but Nguyen Anh manages to flee to Siam;

1785

·Tay Son fleet destroys a joint Nguyen-Siamese force at the huge battle of Rach Gam-Xoai Mut in the Mekong delta region; this sets back Nguyen efforts to retake southern VN by several years, and the Tay Son turn their attention to the north. The Nguyen ruler returns to Bangkok to rally his supporters

1786

Based on the advice of Nguyen Huu Chinh, the Tay Son set about to conquer some of the territory seized in 1774 by the Trinh. Nguyen Nhac authorizes an army led by Hue, Chinh and Lu to advance to seize Thuan Hoa – the former Nguyen territory from the Hai Van pass to the Gianh River. Buoyed by their success, Chinh advises Hue to continue his campaign and use his momentum to advance to Thang Long. Disobeying Nhac’s instructions they do this and enter Thang Long in early July. There Hue announces that the Le are now free of Trinh domination, and he is rewarded with high titles and the hand in marriage of one of the Emperor’s daughters, Ngoc Han.

Once the Tay Son leave, the Trinh quickly come back to Thang Long and attempt to reassert their traditional political authority.

Nguyen Huu Chinh, now based in Nghe An, heads north at the behest of the Le Emperor, in an effort to put down the Trinh

1787

Divisions appear to emerge between the Tay Son brothers. The reasons are not completely clear, but may involve several issues: Nhac’s taking a disproportionate share of the booty from the north, his sleeping with Hue’s wife, and more generally Nhac’s reluctance to allow Hue a greater degree of power.

Hue and Nhac fight for approximately three months in the later winter and spring of 1787. Hue eventually besieges his elder brother at Qui Nhon and the siege is finally lifted when Nhac appeals to fraternal harmony. In the aftermath of this fight, Nhac cedes some of his own territory south of the Hai Van pass.

In the summer of 1787 there is growing concern by Hue about Nguyen Huu Chinh’s own political ambitions in the north.

1788

·November, Nguyen Hue declares himself Emperor Quang Trung in Phu Xuan, and heads north again.

1789

·Chinese invasion force of 200,000 troops marches unopposed into Hanoi, as the Tay Son have engaged in a strategic retreat; during the lunar New Year celebration, the Tay Son forces fall on the Chinese, totally destroying them and taking the capital on the 6th day of the lunar New Year.

1792

- Quang Trung enters into correspondence with the Portuguese in Macao, hoping to encourage their traders to visit his ports instead of the Nguyen ports in the far south.

- Quang Trung announces plans to launch a massive and definitive attack on the Nguyen; he issues an edict to the peoples of Quang Ngai and Qui Nhon informing them of the impending attack and encouraging their participation.

Quang Trung plans to open the Sung Chinh Library of Nom texts; he is suddenly taken ill, and dies in September.

1793

The “monsoon wars” begin, in which Nguyen Anh uses the prevailing monsoon winds to launch repeated, and repeatedly unsuccessful, attacks on the Tay Son stronghold at Qui Nhon.

- Nguyen Anh’s forces attack Qui Nhon and set ablaze Nguyen Nhac’s entire navy; Nhac appeals to his young nephew in Phu Xuan for assistance which is granted and the troops coming from the north drive off the Nguyen.

1794

There is a shakeup in the Tay Son government, as an effort is made to oust the regent, Bui Dac Tuyen. The coup is successful in ousting Tuyen, who was seen as a danger to the stability of the regime. The coup however did little to stem the slow decline of the Tay Son polity, and this period was the melting away of some key Tay Son supporters, including Nguyen Thiep.

1799

The Nguyen are finally successful in seizing Qui Nhon, and forcing the Tay Son troops to retreat north toward Phu Xuan; the Tay Son soon counter-attack, and the Nguyen are beseiged in the citadel.

1800

The Nguyen decide to surrender Qui Nhon, and to concentrate their efforts on the by now relatively lightly guarded Tay Son capital at Phu Xuan. This falls to the Nguyen dividing the Tay Son armies.

1801

Nguyen Anh initiates his final campaign against the Tay Son; the Tay Son are forced to flee northward, in an attempt to hold out in Hanoi

1802

Nguyen Anh finally captures Thang Long in June; he then orders the public flogging of some key Tay Son supporters, including Ngo Thi Nham. Nham is beaten at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, and dies shortly thereafter of his wounds.

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