Nguyễn Huệ

Nguyễn Huệ (Hán tự: 阮惠), also known as Emperor Quang Trung (光中) (born in Bình Định in 1753, died in Phú Xuân on 16 September 1792), was the second emperor of the Tây Sơn dynasty of Vietnam, reigning from 1788 until 1792. He was also one of the most successful military commanders in Vietnam's history, though he was known to have attained these achievements by ruthless, massive killing of especially the entire Nguyen lords families and thousands of civil Chinese residing then in southern Vietnam, not his real enemy, the Qing dynasty of China.

Nguyễn Huệ and his brothers, together known as the Tây Sơn brothers, were the leaders of the famous Tây Sơn rebellion. As rebels, they conquered Vietnam, overthrowing the imperial Later Lê dynasty and the two rival feudal houses of the Nguyễn in the south and the Trịnh in the north.

After several years of constant military campaigning and rule, Nguyễn Huệ died at the age of 40, possibly due to a stroke. Legend has it that he died actually because he was punished by spirits of dead Nguyen lords whose tombs he seriously insulted. Prior to his death, he had made plans to continue his march southwards in order to destroy the army of Nguyễn Ánh, a surviving heir of the Nguyễn lords. Nguyễn Huệ's death led to the downfall of the Tây Sơn dynasty. His successors were unable to follow the plans he had made for ruling Vietnam. However, his conquests marked the beginning of approximately a century in which Vietnam was both unified and independent until the Western conquest of Vietnam in 1884.