Vietnam is governed leniently during the first century or so of Chinese rule, and the Lac lords maintain their feudal offices.

In the first century CE, however, China intensifies its efforts to assimilate its new territories by raising taxes and instituting marriage reforms aimed at turning Vietnam into a patriarchal society more amenable to political authority.

In response to increased Chinese domination, a revolt breaks out in Giao Chi, Cuu Chan, and Nhat Nam in CE 39, led by Trung Trac, the wife of a Lac lord who had been put to death by the Chinese, and her sister Trung Nhi.

The insurrection is put down within two years by the Han general Ma Yuan, and the Trung sisters drown themselves to avoid capture by the Chinese.

Still celebrated as heroines by the Vietnamese, the Trung sisters exemplify the relatively high status of women in Vietnamese society as well as the importance to Vietnamese of resistance to foreign rule.