It was a long voyage full of strong will to advance towards the ocean of the Vietnamese people and clearly proved that our national sovereignty over the sea was exercised long time ago...

"This type of boat can be bought from the West, but with the wish for our workers to familarise themselves well with engineering, so no care for the costs.” From 1839, the order of king Minh Mang went down in history, when he himself attended the launch of the first steamboat built by the Vietnamese.


Who built the first steamboat?

From the inner city of Hue, I found the way to the native land of Hoang Van Lich, whose name has gone down in history for the project of building the first steamboat in Hien Luong village, Phong Dien district. This was an ancient Vietnamese village called Hoa Lang in Quang Dien district, Trieu Phong prefecture, Thuan Hoa region in the past. Under the reign of Minh Mang, Thuan Hoa was changed into Thua Thien prefecture, and Hoa Lang village was renamed as Hien Luong. Through numerous changes of the situation, the village has been always famous for its blacksmithing. Particularly, the village was famous not only for forging farming tools, but also for making weapons. People of the village passed high examinations and were appointed to high court positions. When the “maritime revolution” was initiated by king Minh Mang for the start of building Vietnam’s first steamboats, Hoang Van Lich of Hien Luong village was assigned to manage this special project.

Numerous royal dynasties flourished and declined, but Hoang Van Lich still remains in the memory of different generations of the Hien Luong people. Hue researcher Duong Phuoc Thu, a Hien Luong villager, recalled: "The people of my village will respect Hoang Van Lich forever. So far, his grave and the house of worship to remember his merit have been kept for the posterity not to forget..."
According to his research, Hoang Van Lich was born in the year of the Horse of 1771 in Hien Luong village, enjoying 77 years of age. Perhaps, his most obvious merit was shown by the content of the title conferred by king Thieu Tri, carved on his gravestones: "In the 6th year of the reign of Thieu Tri. Luong Son Hau Hoang Van Lich, the king’s aide-de-camp and director of the shipbuilding project of Vo kho (The Arsenal) passed away… This edict is given, first for his best efforts in showing his resilience and faithfulness and then, for his great service in urging and undertaking the defence of the royal dysnasty…” Particularly, it was specifically written by his descendants on the backside of his gravestones: "Honoured ancestor Hoang Van Lich... intelligent-mind, skillful in engineering, good in learning, fine in handwriting, both warrior and scholar. Under the reign of Gia Long, he was promoted as Thach Co Tuong.  Under the reign of Ming Mang, he was promoted as director at Vo kho… supervising the building of several steamboats…”

In early winter of 2011, it was sunny, yet cold and dry on the road of Hien Luong village. I followed the track of the old man. Associate Professor Hoang Dung, a descendant of the Hoang family in Hien Luong village, said he had heard the elders telling that  Hoang Van Lich was an exceptional man, who brought about fame to the village. Many villages had a lot of those who got high education and passed examination to become mandarins, but a villager in a blacksmithing village who had become “chief project manager” for the building of the first steamboat in Vietnam like Hien Luong village’s Hoang Van Lich is very rare and deserve the respect of future generations.

Dai Nam’s steamboats

During my days in Hue, I tried to find traces left by the first steamboat. “Quoc trieu su toat yeu” (A Brief History of the Dynasty) by Cao Xuan Duc records that in the 9th year of the reign of Minh Mang (1838), Vo kho (the Arsenal) was ordered to build steamboats by studying the design of a steamboat bought from the West.

In the following year, the special project was completed. "In the fourth month of the lunar year, king Minh Mang made a royal travel of pleasure to Ben Ngu, watching the test run of the steamboat. Previously, when Vo kho had been ordered to build the steamboat and transport it to the river, damage was made to the boiler, so the engine failed to work, the foreman was chained, and Nguyen Trung Mau and Ngo Kim Lan, mandarins of the Ministry of Public Works, were put into prison for misreporting. This time, the king rewarded each of the managers Hoang Van Lich and Vo Huy Trinh a gold-plated crystal ring and a large Phi Long gold coin, and  1,000 quan (the then currency) to the foreman and all workers. He stated: “The boat can be purchased from the West, however, workers of our country need to familiarise themselves well with engineering, therefore, the cost does not matter…”

Author Huynh Huu Hien told further in his book “Hien Luong chi luoc” that after the first test run failed, Hoang Van Lich and his associates at Vo kho studied and repaired the damage and successfully carried out it again on the An Cuu river. The event marked a historic milestone in the efforts of Vietnam’s shipbuilding industry. History of the Nguyen dynasty recorded the will of the Vietnamese state to grasp steamboat building techniques nearly two centuries ago: "...That type of boat is driven by steam regardless of reversible wind or water, and goes fast without being rowed by manpower, the machinery is so sophisticated. It needs to be purchased at any cost so as to learn how to build other big ones for everlasting use.”

Later, at least two other steamboats were built. Especially, Hoang Van Lich also directed workers to successfully manufacture the machines for large boats. In addition to workers from the royal city and Hien Luong village, 90 blacksmiths and casters from Ha Tinh and Bac Ninh were also mobilised. Shipbuilding techniques were studied and innovated including large vessel, waterline and engine. To improve the speed and flexibility, important parts such as steam boilers and the wheels were increased in size whilst boat planks were made from light types of wood. "This time, the boat was mechanically built, machines and other items, no matter how large or small, were made on the basis of standard samples, not like the first trial… It is now completed within the deadline of 12 months, and thanks to flexibility and skill, the effect is clear.”

According to “Kham dinh Dai Nam hoi dien su le”, at least several steamboats had been built under the reign of Ming Mang. Yen Phi, the largest boat, was 8 truong 5 thuoc and 2 tac in length, 2 truong and 6 tac in width, and 8 thuoc 6 tac and 1 phan in depth (1 truong = 10 thuoc moc; 1 thuoc moc = 0.425 cm). Another two boats were the Van Phi and Vu Phi. Particularly, the steamboats built by the Vietnamese had some innovations compared with the purchased one. "The steamboat bought from the West is an old one, formerly assigned to Ve long thuyen (the king’s fleet) to keep and test-drive. Now, the new motor vessel has newly been built, so the old one, small and short, is apparently not for any other use.”

Under the reign of Thieu Tri, the new Huong Nhi steamboat continued to be built and the old ones were renovated. Besides new building, more steamboats were bought by the court and modern shipbuilding techniques were further learnt./.