The Tay Son Uprising: Society and Rebellion in Eighteenth-Century Vietnam Hardcover - 2006

From the publisher

"George Dutton has written the first detailed Western-language study of the Ty So'n movement, which permanently altered Vietnam's political trajectory. But in so doing, he also provides a sensitive social and cultural analysis of the pre-1800 Vietnamese-speaking world as a whole, and indeed one of the most detailed descriptions of any late 18th-century society in Southeast Asia." --Victor Lieberman, University of Michigan "It is difficult to overstate the significance of George Dutton's terrific new book. The Ty So'n Uprising represents the first serious western-language account of the intricate sequence of political developments that define the Ty So'n era and that arguably mark the onset of modernity in Vietnam. In addition to providing a vividly evocative narrative of the complex political history of the period, Dutton offers lucid and judicious interpretations of the origins, evolution and downfall of the uprising and of its consequences for a wide range of social groups, political forces and ethnic communities. The level of research and historical craftsmanship is superb, and Dutton's frequent reflections on relevant theoretical and historiographical issues make for fascinating reading. In short, this is a stunning accomplishment and a major contribution to the study of Vietnamese history and historiography." --Peter Zinoman, University of California, Berkeley The Ty So'n uprising (1771-1802) was a cataclysmic event that profoundly altered the eighteenth-century Vietnamese political and social landscape. This groundbreaking book offers a new look at an important and controversial era. George Dutton follows three brothers from the hamlet of Ty So'n as they led a heterogeneous military force that ousted ruling families in both halves of the divided Vietnamese territories and eventually toppled the 350-year-old L dynasty. Supplementing Vietnamese primary sources with extensive use of archival European missionary accounts, he explores the dynamics of an event that affected every region of the country and every level of society. Tracing the manner in which the Ty So'n leaders transformed an inchoate uprising into a new political regime, Dutton challenges common depictions of the Ty So'n brothers as visionaries or revolutionaries. Instead, he reveals them as political opportunists whose worldview remained constrained by their provincial origins and the exigencies of ongoing warfare and political struggles.