THE ROAR OF HISTORY

A cannon discovered in Thi Nai Port, Quy Nhon raises intriguing questions about an 1801 naval battle

When a creek in Thi Nai port in Quy Nhon was recently dredged, a sunken battleship was discovered[/caption]

Long ago, people compared a cannon’s roar with the thunderbol of an enraged god. Historically, cannons were worshipped like deities. Among a number of iron can­nons excavated in Thi Nai Port (Quy Nhon, Ninh Binh) was a large bronze cannon bearing carved Latin inscriptions on its ring that helped clarify its age and ownership. Discovered in an area of Thi Nai marsh where a historic naval battle was staged in 1801 between Nguyen Anh’s troops and the Tay Son navy, the cannon is on display in the courtyard of the Binh Dinh Museum in Quy Nhon City.

Although the cannon is quite rusty, its decorative patterns and inscription are still visible. A two-meter-long battleship can­non, it shot cannonballs of 10cm in diam­eter. In battle, it took seven soldiers to operate this type of cannon. The cannon’s body features carved belt edges and deco­rative swathes. Floral decorations surround a demon head with a crown to represent the Fire God. The most notable pattern is a round floral swathe featuring two drag­ons playing with a globe. Rather than the standard globular shape, the cannon’s gripe is in the shape of a bulb placed amidst four leaves. The focus here is a carved Latin inscription that reads: KILIANUS WEGE­WART ME FECIT CAMP. ..

This cannon is virtually identical to one housed in the Hue Museum of Royal Antiques labeled BTH-TBKL53. Their similarities in size, decorative patterns and cast inscriptions suggest they were manufactured in the same workshop, even from the same mold. The inscription on the cannon in Hue is clearer and in full: KILIANUS WEGEWART ME FECIT CAMP 15A(0).

Kilianus Wegeaert was a renowned German-born Dutch bronzesmith in the Kampen region of the Netherlands. The inscription may read: “Kilianus Wegeaert cast in Kampen in the 15th year": The 15th year of the workshop’s operation was 1640. The number 1355 carved behind the

inscription refers to the cast cannon weighing 1,355 pounds, or 677.5kg. Based on their similar size, decorative patterns and inscriptions, it seems clear that both the cannons in Hue and Quy Nhon were cast in the workshop of Kilian us Wegeaert around 1640, with a weight of around 600­-700kg. The mystery is why one cannon was found in Thi Nai Port.

Thi Nai Port served~s a strategic port for the Tay Son Clan. Here a merciless naval battle between troops of Nguyen Anh and the Tay Son broke out in 1801. Before Nguyen Anh’s forces won the bat­tle, many battleships of both sides were set on fire and sunk. When the creek was recently dredged, a sunken battleship was discovered. Was the cannon made by Kil­ianus Wegeaert sunk on a Nguyen Anh or Tay Son ship?

Digging deeper into Holland’s (through the Dutch East India Company) relations with Vietnam in the 17th cen­tury, we learn that the Dutch only traded weapons with the Trinh Lords in Tonkin. There is no evidence that they traded with Cochinchine. According to accounts of the Dutch East India Company, between 1637 and 1642 there were constant trade and diplomatic exchanges between the Trinh Lords and the Dutch East India Company relating to artillery casting and trading. This was a time of high enmity in Trinh – Nguyen relations. The Nguyen Lords in Cochinchine forged ties with Portugal (Joan de Cruz) for artillery man­ufacturing while the Trinh Lords traded with the Netherlands. It is highly likely that these Dutch cannons were cast as gifts to the Trinh Lords. In January, 1642, the Dutch Governor in Taiwan Paulus Tradenius offered the Trinh Lords several weapons, possibly including the two can­nons mentioned above. The appearance of Asian decorative motifs “Two dragons attending the moon” demonstrates that both cannons were aimed as gifts for Asian despots.

[caption id=”attachment_1364″ align=”aligncenter” width=”550″> When a creek in Thi Nai port in Quy Nhon was recently dredged, a sunken battleship was discovered

It’s possible that the two cannons be­longed to the Cochinchine navy. We know that between 1630 and 1670 many Dutch vessels sunk in the waters of Cochinchine, either as a result of storms or encounters with Cochinchine war­ ships. Nguyen troops in Cochinchine may have obtained many Dutch cannons from shipwrecks. In fact, a group of Dutch ambassadors came to the Nguyen Lords in Cochinchine claiming compen­sation and the return of cannons from wrecked trading ships sunk by the Nguyen navy near the Hoang Sa Islands. But while the Nguyen Lords may have possessed some Dutch cannons, they would not have been obtained as gifts.

Therefore, the theory that the can­nons were aboard Tay Son battleships seems more convincing. Between 1786 and 1789, Tay Son troops did defeat Tonkin rivals many times and claim pos­session of virtually all of Tonkin’s man­power and ammunition. Cannons cast by foreigners were associated with the social status of their owners. We can infer that the battleship carrying the cannon made by Wegeaert belonged to a high-profile Tay Son general.

According to accounts in the Binh Dinh Museum, an even larger cannon was salvaged along with Wegeaert’s can­non bearing an inscription that read: “Ha Loc Ship": Hopefully in the future we will solve the mysteries tied to this cannon and the Ha Loc Ship.

THE ROAR OF HISTORY
First post at: Vietnam Culture