The Dragon Strikes Water - History of Vietnamese Warships

Exchange and launch of the book Than long kich thuy - History of Vietnamese warships at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street on November 1, 2025. Anhe: Nhat Ha

The book Than long kich thuy was written by a group of young authors Dong Nguyen and Kaovjets Ngujens, edited by researcher Do Thai Binh - an expert on ancient boats. The book is divided into 5 chapters, which go into detail about the history of Vietnamese warships through the periods: Tien Le, Ly, Tran - Ho, Hau Le, Tay Son and Nguyen dynasties; technical aspects of Vietnamese warships; naval tactics and tools; typical types of warships in our country...

Evoking love of the sea

“In 938, Ngo Quyen declared the era of Vietnam's independence with a glorious victory on the water against the Southern Han army on the Bach Dang River. However, as the king himself admitted, the Ngo dynasty's navy did not have the advantage of warships compared to the enemy..." - the first pages of Than Long Kich Thuy take readers back in time to the glorious naval battles of our ancestors in the past. Surely all of us have heard about the victory on the Bach Dang River or the historical pages about the battles to protect the borders at sea, on rivers, canals... However, with warships, it is certainly a quite new aspect. Therefore, as the author Dong Nguyen confided, the topic of the history of warships for the two young authors is truly fascinating but also very difficult. It is an arduous journey back in history with a love and desire to spread knowledge and national cultural values to a wide range of readers.

According to the author of Than long kich thuy, our country has a very long coastline and a dense river system. Controlling the waterway system can be decisive in any war. From the early days of building and defending the country, we have seen the shadow of naval battles and warships. If we do not clearly understand how the ancients fought on water, it will be difficult for us today to imagine how great the achievements of our ancestors were. And to understand that, knowledge of warships is the "lighthouse" that guides the way.

“As young people who are passionate about researching national culture, warships are a rather difficult and elaborate topic because historical documents on this field are quite scarce. Therefore, we want to recreate in the most vivid and authentic way the development, structure, manufacturing techniques and naval tactics of warships throughout the history of the nation” - author Dong Nguyen shared.

Researcher Do Thai Binh, an expert on ancient boats and the book's editor, highly appreciated the efforts and dedication of the two young authors Dong Nguyen and Kaovjets Ngujens. Because there are few documents recording warships in Vietnamese history. Ancient books have recorded boats, but the researchers on boats in terms of theory, technique, and images are mainly foreign authors, so this field is still a gap. And it is the two young authors of Than Long Kich Thuy who have contributed to filling that gap.

Talking about the book's illustrations, researcher Do Thai Binh said: Currently, with the support of software techniques, redrawing the model of a warship is not difficult. However, to recreate a warship in history requires careful research and exploration, closely following historical data. This is very difficult because even archaeological evidence is very rare.

The process of searching and researching history

Sharing about the journey of nearly 3 years to complete the manuscript, the group of authors said that the process of researching and collecting documents was quite elaborate. Not only supported by experts, the authors also directly surveyed locations in 3 regions of the country.

Author Dong Nguyen said: Historical sources in this field are quite scarce, information on maritime ethnology is mostly written in French, historical documents on boats are written in Han-Nom characters. Besides researching ethnological studies on Vietnamese maritime, the authors also participated in field trips, surveys, and research on the tradition and history of boat building of the nation.

In each chapter of the book, the group of authors provides reference sources for comparison and evidence; at the same time, there are careful observations and research before historical documents. Among the documents the group of authors refer to, we must mention Le Trieu Hoi Dien - a work that can be considered the only one that still records the parameters and technical standards of warships during the Le Trung Hung period. In addition, there is Kham Dinh Dai Nam Hoi Dien Su Le which presents in great detail the types of warships during the Nguyen period and Thuyen Bac Danh Hieu Do Thuc - a set of diagrams with names of parts of warships during the Nguyen period. Another source of documents is information from foreign researchers. These are treasure troves rich in images and descriptions of Vietnamese boats in the early 20th century, which were painstakingly translated by maritime expert Do Thai Binh, annotating folk boat terms.

In addition to historical documents and artifacts, the group of authors surveyed the boat model at Keo Pagoda in Thai Binh, which is currently on display at the Vietnam History Museum. This is a 17th and 18th century boat model with extremely delicate and realistic details. The existence of this relic has clarified many things about the technical aspects of boats. The image of this model is also continuously mentioned by the author throughout the book.

Researcher Do Thai Binh assessed that the two young authors have courageously researched and brought to readers not only information but also the shape of the warship, from which they can create a forum for exchanging and exploring history. The book is not only necessary for maritime students, researchers, and people working in the marine economy , but also arouses the love of the sea and national history in the young generation.

Nhat Ha

Author Dong Nguyen specializes in researching the history of customs, costumes and weapons. He is the co-founder of many groups and pages specializing in researching ancient history and culture. Kaovjets Ngujens is a Latvian artist of Vietnamese origin, specializing in illustrating history in different periods, and is the author and main artist in many historical book and documentary projects. The two authors have collaborated on the book project Miraculous Arts - Some Techniques and Technologies on the S-shaped strip of land before the 20th century.

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202511/than-long-kich-thuy-lich-su-thuyen-chien-viet-nam-1d502aa/