Interesting surprises about Vietnamese firearms

The title Loi dong, tinh phi was inspired by the description of writer Nguyen Khoa Chiem in the work Viet Nam Khai Quoc Chi Truyen about a 17th century battle: "guns like thunder, bullets like flying stars". The book launch Loi dong, tinh phi - Research on Vietnamese guns and ammunition, co-organized by Comicola and Hanoi Museum, took place on Saturday, December 2, 2023.

The two authors (the textual research part is Dong Nguyen - a member of the Vietnam Centre group, the visual part is CaoViet Nguyen - a Latvian of Vietnamese origin) are both young Vietnamese intellectuals who have studied abroad for many years, with a strong desire to scientifically research and disseminate the culture of their ancestors. Author Dong Nguyen shared with Thanh Nien about the book.

Pictures in the book

You once said that you have actually been working on a book about the history of Vietnamese weapons for over 20 years?

20 years ago, when I was still in school, during a literature class on the work Hoang Le Nhat Thong Chi , reading the scene of Emperor Quang Trung entering Thang Long citadel with the smell of gunpowder still lingering on his robe, a classmate of mine wondered: "Did the Vietnamese already have guns in the 18th century? As I understand it, it is clear that the Vietnamese were very backward in technology, which is why they were invaded by Western colonialists, right?"

His question is probably also a common question of many Vietnamese people. Therefore, I have been thinking about re-learning about the technology of guns and weapons in Vietnam in the past, to see if our ancestors have really been backward for thousands of years, or if we have to wait for foreigners to come and enlighten our civilization?

Artist CaoViet Nguyen

I was very surprised that the current books that study how the Vietnamese people built and defended the country, specifically about the weapons and tactics that our ancestors used, are quite rare, and there are no illustrated books. When talking about Vietnam, we are talking about the history of fighting against foreign invaders. Even now, many people abroad still think of the symbol of Vietnam against war, but there is almost no modern research on what our ancestors used to fight the enemy in the past, what kind of weapons and equipment they used, which is a great pity.

Fire tiger, gun, wooden gun (Order from left to right).

During the process of building the country and fighting against foreign invaders over the past several thousand years, our ancestors had to research, explore, and improve military technology to be able to defend themselves against powerful enemies. And when searching from the huge archive of documents at the Institute of Han Nom, the National Library as well as archaeological documents; plus many foreign historical sources, I learned that our ancestors even invented quite key military technologies in world history, and later Western and Eastern weapons also used those very achievements of the Vietnamese people. These things, Vietnamese people today should know.

Artist CaoViet Nguyen

It can be seen that this research is very interesting because it can be the foundation for other forms of Vietnamese art in expressing history... These are the parts that are still very lacking. But why only guns and bullets?

Vietnam's documents on ancient weapons are very rich and numerous, so I had to limit the scope of research in the book. For example, talking about ancient Vietnamese firearms, there are countless types, such as grenades, rockets... In this book, I limit myself to the scope of weapons with barrels and bullets, naming the types of guns and bullets that have appeared in Vietnamese historical documents.

During the research process, I was also surprised by many things that were not. For example, we have long thought that our ancestors used very primitive weapons. But during the research process, we found that Westerners, Chinese and Japanese people praised the Vietnamese people's weapon making skills as very sophisticated and extremely exquisite in terms of jewelry. So we need to re-evaluate the skills of our ancestors in the past.

Fire Tiger, Fire Boy (Order from left to right).

Through artifacts remaining in museums at home and abroad, ancient documents from Vietnam and abroad, based on objective praise from foreigners and from many countries, we can affirm that in the past, the weapon making level of our ancestors truly rose to a new height as an art, not simply a tool making industry.

For our ancestors, guns and bullets were not only weapons but also had religious and spiritual meanings. For example, documents and historical records of the Nguyen Dynasty show that the court also built a temple to worship the Fire Cannon God. Or as the book Tang Thuong Ngu Luc recounts, there was a district official who used guns and bullets to suppress evil spirits that harmed the people. Thus, it is clear that guns and bullets of the ancient Vietnamese were not only worldly objects but also had magical powers that could protect the people.

We also included those comments and cultural and historical details in the book, not only to introduce the technical aspects of firearms, but also to introduce the cultural, religious and spiritual aspects of the Vietnamese people. Those aspects are placed in a separate sub-chapter to introduce firearms in a comprehensive way.

Cannon mounted on elephant back

Why did the research start from the Tran Dynasty and not before?

The Tran Dynasty is the period in which we first studied the appearance of guns and bullets in Vietnamese history. Before that, it seems that we only fought with weapons that used muscles such as bows and arrows or swords.

Does it have anything to do with the history of guns in the world and the surrounding countries?

It can be affirmed that Vietnam is one of the first countries in the world to use guns. According to our research, the first time in Vietnamese documents mentioned guns and bullets was in 1312. Meanwhile, in European countries, it was several decades later that people had the first vague clues about the appearance of guns and bullets on the battlefield. Thus, we can see that the Vietnamese people absorbed and used advanced weapon technology very quickly and very early in history.

In China, people first mentioned guns and bullets in 1287. So, within just 20-30 years, we Vietnamese had this advanced weapon very quickly compared to other countries in the world.

Over the years, I have noticed that there is a large Vietnamese community interested in the military history of the country, from the old to the young, from those still in school to those in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. Everyone is curious and wants to know how our ancestors fought and defended the country in the past. Not only men, but interestingly, many women are interested in this field.

After the book Loi dong, tinh phi , I am also working on many more book projects with Vietnam Centre or personally, and there will certainly be further projects on other types of Vietnamese weapons, such as swords, bows, and arrows... The amount of material we have on this topic is still very large and must continue to be dug up and promoted further.

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