was born in 1752 in Tay Son village, Nghia Binh province. He was the second eldest of three brothers Nguyen Nhac, Nguyen Hue, and Nguyen Lu. In 1770s, the brothers, led by the eldest Nguyen Nhac, revolted against the rule of the Nguyen Lords, who controlled the southern provinces of Vietnam in the name of the Later Le Dynasty. In 1785, the Tay Son brothers seized the Nguyen capital of Saigon.  The surviving Nguyen prince appealled for help from Siam, and 50,000 Siamese troops were sent to help him fight the Tay Son brothers.  With only 30,000 troops, Nguyen Hue crushed the Siamese in a single naval battle Rach Gam-Xoai Mut, a location in My Tho Province in South Vietnam, leaving only a few hundreds alive.   After this victory, Nguyen Hue began to move against the Trinh Lords, who controlled the North.

In just a few months, Nguyen Hue destroyed the Trinh Lords and took control of North Vietnam.  The Trinh Lords' 200 plus years of rule (in the name of the Le emperor but had all the powers) ended in 1786.

Nguyen Hue was endowed with both political wisdom and military genius. At first, Nguyen Hue kept his campaign slogan "Restore the Le, destroy the Trinh" and recognized the legitimacy of Emperor Le Hien Tong, who had resigned since 1740. In return, the Emperor let Nguyen Hue married his daughter Le Ngoc Han. When Le Hien Tong died in 1786, the throne passed to his grandson Le Chieu Thong.  who called on Chinese assistance to restore the power of the Le Dynasty and remove the influence of the Tay Son. When Chinese troops (Ching Dynasty under Chien Lung Emperor) entered Vietnam in late 1788 and occupied the capital of Thang Long (Ha Noi), Nguyen Hue declared himself emperor Quang Trung to be legitimate and launched a lightning attack to the North (he had an unrepairable conflict with his elder brother Nguyen Nhac and each ruled their separate territory).  In only ten days, he defeated a force of 200,000 Chinese, twice the size of his own army. The invasion failed and the Chinese forces retreated across the border.

After the victory, Emperor Quang Trung set his capital at Phu Xuan (modern-day Hue) and offered tribute to China to prevent wars as well as to strengthen his country. He also moved vigorously to strengthen the state, reorganizing the military, promoting land reform, and stimulating trade relations with the West. To promote a sense of national independence, Emperor Quang Trung significantly replaced the Chinese Han with Nôm and declared it is the official language at court. But he died suddenly in 1792 at age 39, and was succeeded by his ten years old son, Canh Thinh. The young emperor was unable to prevent the outbreak of internal dissention within the regime, and was overthrown in 1802.