Tây Sơn brothers

Tây Sơn dynasty
西山朝
1778–1802
Flag
Dark blue:Nguyễn Văn Huệ rules Northern Annam while his older brother Nguyễn Văn Nhạc rules the middle(yellow) and green :ruled by Nguyễn Phước Ánh.
Capital		Quy Nhơn (1778–93) Phú Xuân (1786–1802)
Languages		Medieval Annamese
Government		Monarchy
Emperor
•	1778–93	Nguyễn Văn Nhạc
•	1788–92	Nguyễn Văn Huệ
•	1792–1802	Nguyễn Quang Toản
History
•	Nguyễn Văn Nhạc proclaims himself Emperor Thái Đức	1778
•	Nguyễn Văn Huệ proclaims himself Emperor Quang Trung	1788
•	Nguyễn Phước Ánh captures Dongkinh	1802
Currency		Văn
Preceded by Succeeded by Nguyễn lords Trịnh lords Revival Lê dynasty Nguyễn dynasty

The name Tây Sơn (Vietnamese: [təj ʂəːn]) is used in Vietnamese history in various ways to refer to the period of peasant rebellions and decentralized dynasties established between the end of the figurehead Lê dynasty in 1770 and the beginning of the Nguyễn dynasty in 1802. The name of the rebel leaders' home district, Tây Sơn, came to be applied to the leaders themselves (the Tây Sơn brothers: i.e., Nguyễn Nhạc, Huệ, and Lữ), their uprising (the Tây Sơn Uprising) or their rule (the [Nguyễn] Tây Sơn dynasty).

During the 18th century, Annam was under the nominal rule of the officially revered, but politically powerless Lê dynasty. Real power was in the hands of two warring feudal families, the Trịnh lords of the north who controlled and ruled from the imperial court in Hanoi and the Nguyễn lords in the south, who ruled from their capital Huế. Both sides fought each other for control of the country, while claiming to be loyal to the emperor. Life for the peasant farmers was difficult. Ownership of land became more concentrated in the hands of a few landlords as time passed. The Mandarin bureaucracy was oppressive and often corrupt; at one point, royal-sanctioned degrees were up for sale for whoever was wealthy enough to purchase them. In contrast to the people, the ruling lords lived lavish lifestyles in huge palaces. The decades-long war between the Trịnh and the Nguyễn had ended in 1673, and life for the northern peasants was fairly peaceful. However, the Nguyễn Lords engaged in a regular series of wars with the weak Khmer Empire, and later, the fairly strong state of Siam. While the Nguyễn usually won, and despite the fact that the new lands they conquered offered new opportunities for the landless poor, the frequent wars took a toll on their popularity.