long chinese dadao execution ''sword'' ?

[Ren Ren]

Originally Posted by Philip

Images of 19th cent. executions in Vietnam which I have seen in publications tend to show a saber with a narrower, tapering blade more similar to the standard Chinese military liiuyedao or "willow leaf saber". The generic Vietnamese term for weapons with these narrower curving blades is guom.

One of the most famous paintings on this subject.

[Philip]

There were many such events in Vietnam during the first half of the 19th cent., during which many European missionaries and native converts were executed. The early rulers of the Nguyen Dynasty, which reigned until 1945, were hostile to Catholicism, especially the emperor Minh Mang. The persecutions were an echo of those which occurred in Japan two centuries before. However, times had changed and Europe was feeling a renewed lust for colonial expansion with the growth of industry and commerce. Since most of the martyrs of Vietnam were French clergy, France responded aggressively in a way that that Portugal did not in the case of the Nagasaki slaughter. French military incursions led to the colonization of indochina a few years after the event recorded in the above painting.

Also of interest are the conical cane hats which are part of the soldiers' uniforms in the picture. This traditional headgear was retained for most Vietnamese troops recruited by the French into the Linh Tap or colonial army. This force was renowned for its sharpshooters, especially the unit designated the Tirailleurs Annamites, which sent detachments to fight on the Eastern Front during World War I. Although French colonial rule in SE Asia ended by 1954, military units manned by troops of Vietnamese descent continued to serve France through the Algerian campaign lasting for a decade later.

[Ren Ren]

Emperor Minh Mạng received from his father Gia Long a peaceful and prosperous country. But over the years of his reign, he did a lot to turn Vietnam into a European colony. In 1860-80, the Japanese government was afraid of turning their country into a colony of European states and specially sent government agents to Vietnam to study the methods of colonial penetration and the errors in state administration that contribute to it. Now the information gathered by Japanese agents is of great value for studying the Vietnamese state system of that historical period.

[Philip]

Vietnam's situation was complicated by the fact that the Nguyen Dynasty came to power after a period of internal conflict, with considerable assistance in the form of arms and military expertise provided by France. Maybe you've visited the great Citadelle at Hué, built during Gia Long's time, which contains the Purple Forbidden City -- a superb example of Vaubanesque miitary architecture in Asia. The cannons cast in Vietnamese foundries under French guidance are also magnificent things -- well crafted in the latest French patterns.

You can also note Vietnamese and European interaction with European powers in the field of military technology during the two centuries prior -- purchases of cannon from the VOC, Portuguese cannon-founders working in Annam and also the introduction of snap matchlocks to the area by Portuguese even even before that technology reached Japan.

As re the influence of Catholicism and resistance against it, that parallels a broader theme in parts of Asia other than Vietnam and Japan. China, Korea, India, and the Himalayan kingdoms also experienced this in varying degrees. The anti-Christian sentiment on the part of Confucian states is understandable, considering the early opposition to Buddhism by some Tang Dynasty rulers (Han Yu's essay "Memorial on the Bone of Buddha" is a charming rant by a Chinese medieval nativist scholar).

Whatever one's personal opinions are concerning Christian missionary work in a non-European context, we should remember that France's effort to Catholicize Indochina was not necessarily a bad thing in toto, when you consider the work of Fr Alexandre de Rhodes, a gifted Jesuit scholar who gave us the system of writing the Viet language which is in use today. Using the Roman alphabet (minus a few unneccessary letters) and incorporating diacritical symbols to accommodate the language's complex tonal structure, it is a model of efficiency. It put an end to centuries of less-than-adequate results in trying to fit the Sanskrit alphabet and Chinese ideographs to Vietnamese parameters. This 17th cent. creation ranks along with Korea's development of the han'gul alphabetic system, and the romanization of Turkish under Kemal Atatürk, as monumental strides in boosting literacy rates via rationally-conceived writing systems developed specifically for specific languages.

I was told by someone in Vietnam that in his country, the only city streets named after foreigners are those in honor of de Rhodes, and of Louis Pasteur. Good choice!!

[fernando]

What a fountainhead of knowledge, Filipe !

[Ren Ren]

In truth so!

[Peter Dekker]

Agreed, a north Vietnamese trường đao (長刀).

Typical Vietnamese features are the very dramatic widening in width combined with the concave clipped tip. Also the small guard and its decoration point towards northern Vietnam.

The wrap is indeed fairly recent. Apart from the type of cord, it is also the way the cord is wrapped at the pommel that looks like: "I don't know what to do here".

It looks like the hollow part of the guard is directed towards the pommel. Is this the case, or is it massive and just this thick?

As for the executioner's attribution, there are some photos made around 1900 that do show these in the hands of Vietnamese headsmen.

EDIT: I had originally attached pictures of three headsmen with such swords, but someone complained that his grandson was also browsing the forum and kids don't need to see it. I respect that.

But I believe that like in China, there was a degree of freedom as to what weapon would be used for this purpose. You also see Chinese executions performed with the dadao, even though it was not the weapon's main reason for existence either.

Some of these come in pairs with a smaller and a larger one, and I have also seen them with damage from other blades that indicate they were fighting weapons that sometimes were also used for executions.

Ren Ren: Fascinating info about the Vietnamese creepers! I quite like the work, especially in mother-of-pearl, but had not been aware of their significance.