long chinese dadao execution ''sword'' ?

[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.

[Ren Ren]

Originally Posted by Peter Dekker

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.

Thanks Peter! There is another symbol characteristic only for Vietnam - sword and bunch of books. Rarely, but it occurs as an inlay on the scabbard of ceremonial swords. This is a sign of a patriotic scientist.

[Peter Dekker]

Ha, wonderful! I had seen the motif before but had not been able to find its meaning. Do you have a good reference on Vietnamese symbology?

Nice piece that ceremonial pole arm. The jian is purely Ming, with that open pommel. Quite nice how Vietnam retained earlier Chinese design features that fell out of use in China.

[Ren Ren]

Originally Posted by Peter Dekker

Ha, wonderful! I had seen the motif before but had not been able to find its meaning. Do you have a good reference on Vietnamese symbology?

In Russian there is a good book "The Magic World of Patterns. Encyclopedia of Ornamental Motifs of Southeast Asia" (edition of the State Museum of Oriental Art) and an excellent article by the famous ethnographer Y. V. Chesnov "The myth of the sword and the beginning of statehood in East Indochina." About the symbolism of creepers, pumpkin and grapes shoots , I took from there. My friend Vladimir Vetyukov (Ph.D., his dissertation is devoted to the Vietnamese military of the Late Lê era) told me about the symbol of the sword and a bunch of books.