Tran Hung Dao

(also Tran Quoc Tuan). Born 1226; died 1300. Vietnamese general who organized the Vietnamese people’s struggle during the triple incursion of the Mongol feudal lords into Dai Viet (Vietnam) in 1257–58,1284–85, and 1287–88. Commander in chief of the Vietnamese armed forces (1283).

On Apr. 9, 1288, Vietnamese forces under Tran Hung Dao won a major victory in a battle on the Bach Dang River that proved decisive in the expulsion of the Mongols from Dai Viet. In the struggle against the superior forces of the Mongol conquer-ers, Tran Hung Dao made extensive use of guerilla tactics, combined with concentrated attacks by the regular army. April 9, the day of Tran Hung Dao’s victory over the Mongols in 1288, is celebrated as a national holiday in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Tran Hung Dao wrote several works on the art of war, notably An Elementary Manual on the Military Art.