The article will focus on highlights and features in the political system of consolidating and establishing the maritime sovereignty of the Tay Son dynasty and specify its impact on the Nation’s protection of sacred maritime sovereignty.
HNUE JOURNAL OF SCIENCE Social Sciences, 2020, Volume 64, Issue 4D, pp 34-45 This paper is available online at http://stdb.hnue.edu.vn THE SOVEREIGNTY CONSOLIDATION ACTIVITIES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA OF THE TAY SON DYNASTY (VIETNAM) IN THE LATE EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURIES Nguyen Thi My Hanh Faculty of Vietnamese Studies, Hanoi National University of Education Abstract At least since the 17th century, the Vietnamese feudal government has established and exercised sovereignty in the Paracel and Spartly islands Succeeding tradition of the previous dynasties, the Tay Son dynasty, including the reigns of Nguyen Nhac, Quang Trung and Quang Toan, was particularly interested in protecting the nation's islands sovereignty That concern is showed in two basic aspects: The first one is the policies to protect national interests and sovereignty in the South China Sea; The second one is the policies that show the international responsibility of a dynasty holding sovereignty over this sea These are the two main aspects that this article focuses on It shows us the harmonious combination between national interests and international interests in the policies of sea of this dynasty in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries The problem is, on the basis of inheriting tradition of the previous dynasties, what were the features of consolidating sovereignty activities in the East Sea of the Tay Son dynasty? What were difficulties and advantages that affect the sea policies of the Tay Son dynasty? How were the effects of this dynasty's efforts on the establishment and protection of Vietnam's maritime sovereignty at that time? The article will focus on highlights and features in the political system of consolidating and establishing the maritime sovereignty of the Tay Son dynasty and specify its impact on the Nation’s protection of sacred maritime sovereignty Keywords: Tay Son dynasty; South China Sea; Quang Trung; Marine; Sovereignt Introduction The Tay Son dynasty (1778-1802) was established in the context that Vietnamese society was being in crisis period, the separation of Dang Trong and Dang Ngoài and being faced with the invasion of Siam in 1785 and the Qing Dynasty (China) in 1789 Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why most of the researchers who studied about this dynasty focused on the issue of national reunification and independence Even the official historical texts that were wrritten in the feudal times such as Supplementary Edition of the Annals of Đại Việt, Prequel Records of Đại Nam, Principal biographies of Đại Nam, The Imperially Ordered Annotated Text Completely Reflecting the History of Viet were also not exception After Vietnam was unified in 1975, many studies on this dynasty were published, such as: Nguyen Hue’s military genius study [Tìm hiểu thiên tài quân Nguyễn Huệ] of Nguyen Luong Bich, Pham Ngoc Phung [1]; Viet Nam literature general volume, episode 8B of Ngo Giap Dau [2]; Some Viet Nam historical works of Nguyen Phan Quang [3]; Vietnam Civil War history of Ta Chi Dai Truong [4]; The discoveries about Emperor Quang Trung of Do Bang [5]; and especially, the Received April 11, 2020 Revised April 24, 2020 Accepted May 15, 2020 Contact Nguyen Thi My Hanh, e-mail address: myhanhvnh@gmail.com 34 The sovereignty consolidation activities in the South China Sea of the Tay Son dynasty… most recent one to mention is a researcher, Nguyen Duy Chinh with a series of works on Vietnam - China diplomacy in this period, such as: The process of recognizing the Quang Trung dynasty [6]; Recall a historical case “fake king to enter”: Is it true that the person who came to China was fake Quang Trung king? [7]; Dai Viet Delegation and the Eighth Week of Life Ceremony of Thanh Cao Tong [8] Therefore, the study of the Tay Son dynasty on establishing sovereignty in the South China Sea is still a gap to be filled Basing on the official histories of Vietnam and China, some articles of Nguyen Quang Ngoc and Nguyen Duy Chinh as well as basing on field documents being kept in localities, the article tries to reconstruct activities of the Tay Son dynasty on establishing and protecting the Nation’s sovereignty interests in the the Paracel and Spartly Islands Simultaneously, the article points out the first cooperation of this dynasty with other countries within area in order to solve problems at the sea, especially the pirate which raged over the South China Sea at that time Content 2.1 Policies of national interest and sovereignty protection at the South China Sea 2.1.1 Developments of navy implementing tasks at sea On the basis of inheriting nautical experience of the Cham people, the Champa kingdom and especially the previous Nguyen Lords, the Tay Son was particularly interested in building a strong naval force, importantly contributing to the Nation’s protection of sovereignty in the South China Sea It can be said that, until the late eighteenth century, under the Tay Son age, especially under the Quang Trung dynasty, the Vietnamese navy really had a breakthrough development That development on the one hand originated from favorable conditions impacted by objective historical context at that time, on the other hand, it is necessary to mention decisive role of the vision, marine policy in general and construction of the navy in particular of this dynasty * Attempts to yield elite pirate forces to increase the quality, number of marines and restructure the navy ranks to protect the islands Building an elite navy force is not easy It requires a well training time, not only in theory or books but also must experience many battles, and get used to tornadoes, windstorms, pirates Understanding that, in order to promptly meet the needs of building and developing the quantity and quality of marines for the civil war, fighting against foreign invasion, protecting security and safety at sea, from the beginning of the Tay Son dynasty, it chose an extremely special plan which is using pirates to build navy force with agile combat skills As soon as Quang Trung ascended to the throne, he issued a decree of Chinese enticement to submit them He expressed sympathy for their situation “going in and out of the water tank, gathering the party members and considering plunder as livelihood” is perhaps a reluctant thing, partly because of lack of food then bad thing, partly because the repellent tyranny policies” [9], at the same time, he appealed them to soon yield For his own, Quang Trung is also willing to “open tolerance, depending on ability to promote” and follow the wishes of each person, even approve for “people who have great will and want to rush at the waves and wind” [9] Obviously, from understanding the circumstances, seeing through the potential, strong point of this force, Quang Trung attempted to recruit them First of all, he seeked shelter for them - thing they didn't have before “… To the petty pirates of Kwantung, Fukien, Chekiang, and Kiangsu, Nguyen Van Hue was the “Big Boss of Yueh-nan” (Yueh-nan ta-lao-pan 粵南大老板) who sold their booty and gave them between 20 and 40 percent of the profits The big pirate gangs also benefited from the Emperor’s rule, because he not only allowed them to anchor in the border area to gather recruits and steal food, but also let them use Vietnam as a “nest” to which they could retreat 35 Nguyen Thi My Hanh These pirates accepted the Emperor as their master because under his authority they were able to reap great profits from the sea” [10; pp 40-41] After that, Quang Trung organized the pirate forces into many groups by name, such as Phuong Vi, Tieu Mieu or divided the groups into multiple colors such as Thanh Ky, Hong Ky, Hoang Ky, Hac Ky, Luc Ky [11; pp.41-43], each such group would have an active area with its own leader According to Robert J Antony, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, pirates in the South China Sea were gathered in groups by the Tay Son, the number is up to thousands of warships, with more than 70,000 people [11, p.20] Not only that, Quang Trung also granted to the submitted pirates boat, and especially confered title for their leaders (ordinarily division commander or army commander), making them become an independent arm of the Tay Son navy, although this was a “double-edged sword policy” because it would greatly affect the relationship between the Tây Son Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty at that time Antony once wrote about the recklessness and risk of this policy as follows: “Even after the Qianlong emperor recognized one of the Tayson leaders as “king” of Vietnam in 1788, the latter continued to pursue a risky double-edged policy of sending tribute misisons to the Qing court in Beijing while simultaneously backing piratical raids along the China coast” [11; p.39] With this policy, many leaders of the naval bandit got important positions, such as Tran Thiem Bao (陳 添 保), who was confered division commander title in 1783, and then Admiral who command a large fleet, including Vietnamese-led warships; or Tran Thiem Bao 's subordinate, Lương Quý Hưng (梁 貴 興), confered as Hiep Duc Hau, Luong Van Canh (梁 文 庚), Capital general and Phan Van Tai (樊 文 才), commander title [10; p.36] As a result, these leaders won other pirate troops in the South China Sea, making Tay Son naval forces more and more crowded Remarkably, under general command of the Tay Son dynasty, the leaders of these troops directly managed all activities of their troops in strict regulations with very strict forms of discipline In this regard, Neumann, Charles Fried in the Jinghai Fanji (靖 海 氛 記), clearly reflected: “ Truong Bao (or Admiral Bao) ordered that all goods, either wine or paddy rice, villagers must be paid fair, whoever disobeyed or bilked will be sentenced to death Therefore, the bandits never lacked gunpowder, food or other necessary items Mainly due to this strict discipline, his fleet was tightly organized Trinh Nhat's wife is very firm in all transactions: nothing was carried out without papers All import and export items must be entered into the store book, the sailors are only allocated in case of need and no one is allowed to keep for their own In a robbery campaign, anyone who leaves the ranks, either go ahead or back, will be put on trial in front of a congress, in case of being convicted then will be decapitated Mainly due to Truong Bao's strictness, sailors observed discipline very well ” [12; pp.14-15] As a result, under Quang Trung dynasty, the pirate forces was no longer troops that sporadically operated and illegally outside the law or specialized in raiding and pillaging seagoing ships as before, but gathered and organized into ranks, be “bound” by strict discipline to become a large, regular and battle-hardened army It can be said that turning pirates into a regular army is a rare thing and a very risky decision Therefore, being able to submit this force as Quang Trung King did is not simple With his own organized mind, prestige and bravery, Quang Trung succeeded in turning Chinese who drifted at sea into a regular, elite and disciplined force Explaining for this success of Quang Trung, researcher Nguyễn Duy Chính in The role of Pirate in Ky Dau victory has shown that: “For fishermen, the boat is not only residence but also workplace and their entire property It can be said that it is the private world, and then arose absolute compliance affection for the captain (and also the patriarch) The owner of a boat must always set an example for the others, sacrifice and prove himself to be superior to those around him to continue as a commander That 36 The sovereignty consolidation activities in the South China Sea of the Tay Son dynasty… natural custom formed a close-knit collective strength which means living and being dead together in career as well as in fighting, only obeying on those who have the same personality and was also reason why they followed Nguyen Hue and gradually abandoned Nguyen Nhac and Nguyen Lu” [13] Once being mobilized into disciplined regular military organizations, at least these pirate groups would themselves minimize robbery activities area sea as they had done before The fact shows that, this force soon became an effective control tool for traffic and trade routes at the South China Sea of the Tay Son Dynasty at that time For example, in 1790, the Chinese army discovered and captured four warships escorting a Chinese trading ship and discovered that the captain of that ship had surreptitiously carried intelligence letters received from Western missionaries Those boats were taken to Phu Xuan (Hue - Vietnam) and added to the Tay Son naval force [14] * Organizing the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa crews In addition to trying to find a way to submit the elite pirate force to increase the quality and quantity of navy to protect the islands, the Tay Son dynasty also focused on building and developing the Hoang Sa, Truong Sa and other naval crews In 1773, Tay Son army seized Quy Nhon port, moved to Quang Nam, captured Binh Son wharf and Sa Ky seaport (Quang Ngai) Until the end of this year, Tay Son officially occupied a large area from Quang Nam to Binh Thuan Accordingly, the entire homeland of the Hoang Sa and Bac Hai crew were very early under the control area of Tay Son troops From here, the Tay Son troops deployed and organized activities for these two naval crews In 1775, foreman Ha Lieu in Cu Lao Re ward (Ly Son Island), An Vinh commune, Binh Son district, Quang Ngai province submitted the Tay Son Court a request to restore to the Hoang Sa and Que Huong crews to perform duties at the Spartly and Paracel beach The application clearly stated: “Our commune inherently had two crews of Hoang Sa and Que Huong In year 1631, the war commander Võ Hệ, submitted an application for setting up two teams more, which were Dai Mao Hai Ba and Que Huong Ham, with 30 people Every year, the tax was usually paid by 10 (quintal) of tortoise, marine turtle, ounce of purfume cinnamon Until year 1723, obeyed the command that: “Now (1775), we set up Hoang Sa and Que Huong crews as before, including people not register with village authority, all would be listed in contribution books, crossed boats to the islands or islets for searching items such as copper, tin, sea turtle, tortoise, and all would be listed in contribution books If there was a newspaper announcing war, we would stand firmly to fight with intruder After that, we asked for flyer to find the treasure and duty contribution We pledged to follow the wishes without any complain We bow our heads in gratitude “[15; p.185] When this application was submitted, the Tay Son government (Thai Duc - Nguyen Nhac) approved Currently, the application is still carefully kept at the Vo family’s church in An Vinh ward (now Tay village, Ly Vinh commune, Ly Son district, Quang Ngai province, Vietnam) Through the application, we know the continued existence of the Hoang Sa and Que Huong naval crews under Tay Son age Notably, Foreman Ha Lieu's proposal on how to organize and operate the Hoang Sa and Que Huong crews was approved by the Tay Son government In addition to the previously existed naval crews, the Tay Son Court also agreed to set up two more crews which were Dai Mao Hai Ba and Que Huong Ham with 30 people In addition, the application of An Vinh Ward of Cu Lao Re Island which proposed to separate from An Vinh Commune in the mainland, dated February 11th, Gia Long 3rd year (1804) [15; p.185] also reveals to us more information: Under the Tay Son age, the organization of Hoang Sa and Dai Mao crews was still joint work of both An Vinh ward and An Vinh 37 Nguyen Thi My Hanh commune At this time, An Vinh ward had not been separated yet from An Vinh commune in the mainland as after 1804 under the Nguyen Dynasty At that time, the head of Hoang Sa crew was the leader or captain, who also took over the management of the defense of Sa Ky seaport and was in charge of collecting taxes and security at sea and fighting pirates” [16; p.88] Besides, it must be mentioned existence of the Bac Hai crew Like previous dynasty, Bac Hai crew was sent to exploit and manage islands such as Paracel, Con Lon, Ha Tien area, [17; p.131 As reflected by Miscellaneous Chronicles of the Pacified Frontier, Bac Hai crew was also in charge of “the North Sea area, the Con Lon, Cu Lao, Ha Tien and Con Tu regions” [17; p.61] Clearly, the Bac Hai and Hoang Sa crews had no division in area of activity Especially, the Tay Son state also required that these crews must bring naval badge when going to the sea It is strictly forbidden to use the name of the navy to harass fishermen in order to ensure the quality and spirit of the naval ranks at that time 2.1.2 Development of naval shipbuilding technology and modern weapon equipment Inheriting the shipbuilding technology of Cochinchina, collecting pirate’s ships, the Tay Son dynasty actively improved, upgraded and deployed to build more new boats, equipped with modern weapons to develop its naval quality in order to effectively support for the sea exploitation and protection, including the Paracel and Spartly archipelagos With determination to make navy to become army, the Tay Son dynasty built various types of warships It is worth noting that there are large boats with a tonnage up to 900 tons, which could carry war elephants or 700 sailors, with 60 - 70 cannons [9] Particularly for pirate, beside boats often used by pirate to rob traditionally (sometimes merchant ships which were repaired into pirate ships), the Tay Son dynasty provided them with largely battled boats to turn them into a powerful official army, specifically boats with “masts of more than 80 feet high and flanks covered with many layers of cowhide, and spreaded net which is bigger and more steady than the boats pirates earned by themselves They are equiped with cannons up to 4000 pounds of weight (catty, about 600 gr) and also equipped with guns more completely” [10; p.49] At that time, the Thai people greatly admired shipbuilding technique of the Vietnamese, even called the Vietnamese “experts” in this field [18; p.42] Not only Thai people, many Westerners when arrived in the Cochinchina at this time expressed their surprise at the shipbuilding techniques of the Tay Son Dynasty at that time For example: From far-away England to the Cochinchina in 1792-1793, John Barrow praised the proficient boat building industry of the Cochinchinaese In his work, A Voyage to Cochinchina, he constantly praised: “The unique art of the Cochinchinaese which can be considered to be great in this day is boat building technique without depending on quality and stature of wood used for that goal at all The rowboats for travelling is really skillful Those ships, from 50 to 80 feet long (15 to 24 meters), sometimes jointed by only five pieces of plank, each bar stretched from one end to the other, the edge is jointed by tenon, tightly fitted by wooden pegs, tied together with bamboo strips, without any ribs or other wooden frames The prow and stern of the boat were quite high, carved into dragon-shaped monsters and flamboyant, decorated with paint or gold-plated” [19; pp.318-319] He was particularly interested in the technique of dividing the bilge into different compartments and according to him, due to that the boat would not sink even if hitting a reef J Barrow said that this shipbuilding industry is even being applied to the British royal navy [19; p.320] Or according to the records of the British diplomatic mission when arriving in the Cochinchina in 1793 in the attack battle into Quy Nhon of Nguyen Anh in 1992, Nguyen Anh captured battleships, 90 large ships, other 100 small boats and 337 cannons of the Tay Son dynasty [20; p.355] This event also shows us the mighty fleet of Tay Son dynasty at this time 38 The sovereignty consolidation activities in the South China Sea of the Tay Son dynasty… On March 01st 1801, Chaignueau, a French officer serving in the army of Nguyen Anh wrote to his friend named Barizy that: his army had just destroyed Tay Son's fleet, including the boat equiped with 50-60 heavy artillery guns [21; p.130] He also said: “ before I saw the enemy’s navy, I disregarded this force, but now I can assure you that it is misleading, the Tay Son army had warships equiped with 50 and 60 artillery pieces” [22] In addition, L Barizy, a French adviser of Nguyen Anh, after a naval battle between Tay Son and Nguyen Anh at Binh Dinh - Phu Yen territorial waters in February 2nd 1801, was surprised with the fleet commanded by Vu Van Dung wich included 673 large and small warships, among them were ships equiped with cannons and more crews than the largest Western warships that Nguyen Anh’s army had According to his statistics, Tay Son forces had up to large warships (vaisseaux), equipped with 60 cannons of 24 pounds weight (livres) and a crew of 700 people; battleships equipped with 50 cannons of 24 pounds weight, a crew of 600 people and 40 ships equipped with 16 cannons of 24 pounds weight and a crew of 200 people [22] The French soldier Baridy also talked about the Tay Son warships that participated in the Thi Nai battle (1801) as follows: “There are three types of ships equipped with many artillery, the first one had 66 cannons sized 24 livres and 70 soldiers; the second one had 50 cannons sized 24 livres and 500 soldiers; the third one had 16 cannons sized 12 livres and 200 soldiers Specifically: The number and size of cannon, the number of soldiers in those battleships were completely corresponded to the common battleships in contemporary Europe Basing on the classification of European battleships at this time, the biggest type of battleship mentioned above corresponded to the second class ship, with a displacement of about 900 tons, with two cannon layers The type of 50 cannons corresponded to third class ships, with a displacement of about 600 tons, two cannon layers The type of 16 cannons corresponded to fifth or sixth class ships These battleships surpassed those provided to Nguyen Anh by France and Portugal, as well as those imitated by Nguyen Anh” [14; pp.340-341] With these battleships, Tay Son has made an advance in the history of warships in Vietnam, effectively served the exploitation and protection of islands sovereignty Compared with the warships of the late seventeenth century, a maximum load of about 20 cannons and about 100 people, we can see the great advances of shipbuilding technology of the Tay Son age at that time Thus, through the eyes of the Western ambassadors and merchants, the shipbuilding technique of the Tay Son dynasty standed out with two advantages Firstly, the technique of dividing the bilge into different compartments made the ship not sink despite hitting a reef Secondly, the size of the ships was very diverse, not only large ships for carrying troops, food, materials but also small ships free moving when necessary, especially to surround, attack or retreat timely Especially, through reflection of the Westerners and remained traces in the Cha Ban wall area or Hoang De wall area today, we also know equipment of modern and advanced weapons (gun, cannon) of the Tay Son dynasty for navy at that time With thousands of boats and a large capacity, intense attack capability and mobility, as well as modern weapons and equipment, Tay Son navy can be considered as a herd of mighty sea wolves, fighting – withdrawing, advancing - backing with terrific speed 2.1.3 Coastal patrol, defense and exploitation of marine minerals and products Following previous dynasties, the Tay Son Court continued to intensify coastal patrol, defense and exploitation of marine minerals, products at the South China Sea The remained material about this activity of the Tay Son Court is not much However, through the records of Le Quy Don and Nguyen Huy Quynh (from 1783 to 1785, he was promoted to the Governor of Thuan Quang During this time in Thuan Quang, he gathered the resources to finish the book Complete history of Quang Thuan religion), we know some information about sea exploitation and patrol activities of Hoang Sa and Bac Hai crews For 39 Nguyen Thi My Hanh example: Nguyen Huy Quynh gave a note about Cu Lao Re that: “people of An Vang commune (or rather An Vinh ward), produced peanut oil and weaved fabric, made separately Hoang Sa Nhi crew, annually sent eight ships to the sea to pick treasure for submitting in Phu Xuan” [23] As such, the Hoang Sa crew in An Vinh ward sent ships yearly to the sea for collecting rare and precious products In addition, through the existingly localized documents, some information on the South China Sea exploitating and protecting activities of this dynasty is gradually revealed For example, up to now, in the Vo family’s churches in An Vinh commune, the Instruction dated February 14th, the 9th year of Thai Duc's reign (1786) of the Deputy lieutenant, is still saved That Instruction’s content is that: “Hoi Duc Hau, the foreman of Hoang Sa crew always considered, commanded the crew to put up the naval signboard, ride fishing boats acrossing the sea straight to Paracel and the isles at sea, look for gold, silver, copper and cannons, tortoise, sea turtle shells, precious fish these all thing would be brought back to the capital, gathered and submitted according to rules In case of being arrogant and absurd, or deceively taking precious things away, or messing with the people make salt and fish, will be punished “Also here, the Proposal of An Vinh commune’s people about offering tortoise, sea turtle, cinnamon and asking for tax exemption was approved The proposal also clearly illustrates a time of “Thai Duc date, the first year to the 15th year (1778-1792)” and “Canh Thinh date, the first year to the 9th year (1793-1801)” Through this instruction, we know more clearly that the foreman of Paracel annually put up the naval signboard in Paracel and the isles at sea, look for gold, silver, copper and cannons, small dogs, tortoise, sea turtle shells, precious fish then brought back to the capital according to rules It was considered as fulfilling that year's mission only when being approved At this time, besides the Hoang Sa crew, Bac Hai crew was also regularly sent to exploit and manage the Spartly, Con Lon, Ha Tien area [17; p.131] According to the report of Miscellaneous Chronicles of the Pacified Frontier, there was a division of exploited products between Hoang Sa and Bac Hai crews: The Bac Hai crew mostly collected the seafood, and Hoang Sa crew collected all the commodities, gold, silver left by wreck These two teams coordinated smoothly and supported each other in the exploitation and patrol activities at sea After a long trip dropping in Da Nang in June 1793 (the Tay Son Court was under the leadership of Quang Toan), envoy of the British mission J Barrow recorded meticulously the Cochinchina visit in A voyage to Cochinchina, in the years 1792-1793 that: “The vessels that are employed in the coasting trade, the fishing craft, and those which collect the Trepan and swallows’s nests among the cluster of islands called the Paracels, are of various descriptions…” [19; p.319] Through his narrative, we learn more that patrol and exploitation activities at sea are carried out regularly under the direction of the Tay Son dynasty Ships and boats are regularly present “in archipelago called Paracels (Hoang Sa), have many different designs” and ready to carry out the task of exploiting and protecting the sea according to the instructions of the nation and coastal localities In this aspect, we see very clearly the mechanism of combining economic exploitation and national defense - security tasks That combination is very mature, smooth Especially, all of the above activities are carried out in an active and extremely favorable way, without opposition from other countries in the region and the world, contributing to the determination of Vietnam's sovereignty for these two islands 2.2 Policy on implementing international responsibilities in the South China Sea In addition to activities of protecting the national interests at sea, following the previous dynasties, the Tay Son dynasty has also initially cooperate with neighboring countries to rescue 40 The sovereignty consolidation activities in the South China Sea of the Tay Son dynasty… boats in distress and especially to trace pirates threatening maritime security and safety, resolve harmoniously the relationship between national interests and international interests Right from the Han Dynasty, when China had a civil war and army disorder, pirates took advantage of situation to emerge along the coast However, only from the XVI century, especially from the XVII, XVIII centuries onwards, when merchant ships came from other continents for trade animatedly, the issue of pirate was more seriously Moreover, since 1644, under the Qing Dynasty, Chinese people with thought of “anti-Qing recover-Ming” had to leave their homeland and many of them had gathered into pirate crews working in locations in the border between China and some southern neighboring countries such as Vietnam, and… Besides, many Chinese who are needy, unable to bear the oppression and exploitation of the Qing Dynasty, became bandits, pirates, going to the southern seas like Vietnam to plunder for survival At the same time, fishermen worked as pirates as a supplemental job in some situations Therefore, in comparison with pirates of many other countries, the Chinese pirates (Chinese - pirate crews from China (also known as Qing pirate or Te Ngoi pirate [24; p.787] [25; p.9] raged more strongly and regularly The main area of the Chinese invader is from the territorial waters of Triet Giang, Phuc Kien, Taiwan, Guangdong, Hainan in China to along the territorial waters of Vietnam This is reflected very clearly by Tsuboi: “Chinese invaders often attacked Vietnamese boats carrying rice, especially from May to July, before the harvest or landed in Vietnam to steal food and kidnap women, children As a result, the Vietnam-China border areas were full of Chinese bandits who collected toll of boats the Red River or robbed people food and money” [26; 151] It is worth of mentioning that many Vietnamese sea merchants and fishermen were also drawn to join these Chinese pirate crews [27; p.210], not including the pirates from European countries and some other countries in the region such as Siam, Malaysia Among the pirates working in the East Sea at that time, petty pirates often came from the maritime areas of the southeast coast [10; p.6] They were originally fishermen who had economic difficulties, and considered pirates asa lifeline to have a better life Especially in the summer when the fishing declined, they took advantage of the south wind to drive the boat up to the north and robbed along the coast Then, when the wind reversed and it was near to fall, they would sail southward, went home, and returned to fishing As a result, piracy along the South China Sea increased sharply in the lunar March and April every year Form the XVIII to XIX centuries, petty pirates placed their headquarters on the outskirts of the Chinese empire around Hainan island and across the border of coastal cities like Chiang-p ' ing (?), which was the territory of Vietnam until 1885 Besides petty pirates, pirates in the South China Sea in the XVIII century also had organized crews with large scale Some pirate crews were so strong and became a small court like the pirate crew of Trinh Thanh Cong, a leader of the ChineseJapanese hybrid known as Quoc Tinh Gia, whose range of activities spread to Philippine waters, under his command sometimes up to thousands of battleships, a total up to more than 7,000 people [11; p.20], making them to turn from hit-or-miss, small-time crews to organized and professional pirate crew [10; p 32] All became a constant obsession for ships upon the sea, seriously affecting many political and economic activities of many countries Therefore, in this period, besides the bureaucracy of border between Vietnam - China must maintain announcements of security situation regulally [28; p.167], the Vietnamese government also carried out many other practical activities to cooperate with neighboring countries to solve the serious problem of pitates According to the reflection of Annals of Đại Nam, on the way to Siam in 1792, the Co Chan foremens and Vietnamese were captured by the Cha Va pirate (Indonesia) and brought to Hezhou (China) Hearing that new, the Tay Son Dynasty sent a postman to Siam to ask for coordination to bring the arrested crew back to the country safely along the highway [24; p.292] 41 Nguyen Thi My Hanh Many times, China issued a decree to the Vietnamese (which) Court to propose method of dealing with pirates and to get help of the Tay Son king and mandarins to coordinate and capture pirates when they fledded to Vietnamese territorial waters Specifically, on lunar October 15th 1790 (November 21st, 1790), the Qianlong Emperor (reign: 1736-1795) issued an Instruction to Annam king: “Annam and Guangdong had consecutive sea surface, if the robber’s ship fled to the coastal areas of the King, please order Tran muc, Don tuong for seeking; people resisting will be killed, must not hesitate because they were Chinese and then delay stabalizing of the sea” [29; pp.235-236] The following year, on January 9th, the 56th year of Qianlong (February 11th 1791), he continued to issue a decree to highranking mandarins in order to inform the Vietnamese king the situation of pirates for eradication coordination According to Phuc Khang An's words, regarding investigation of the robbery in Chau Nhai, through the confess of Quan Ung Hoa after being interrogated, it was impossible to catch them when resisting with the party, but carrying weapons was the same as resisting, so that must be judged according to the rules Those arrested as Dong Thang Phat crew, two ones declared that they had not really robbed yet, just on the boat and heard order It was not necessary to complain, until catched gangleader, will interrogate and then decide This case has found clues so that investigation became more effective According to the Quan Ung Hoa’s confess, gangleader and accomplices now went to Doan Mien (?), Nong Nai [Dong Nai] which maybe belonged to An Nam, so he informed Nguyen Quang Binh and issued wanted notice in the territory, the bandits would have no shelter anymore” [29; p.238] At the same time, Phuc Khang An was also ordered to inform the King of the South Kingdom more: “The bandits took advantage of strict inland hunting then fled to the other countries, if based on the name to hunt, escort and report to the Great King then would be lavishly rewarded With the criminals going back upon the sea, fleeing indefinitely without any trace to hunt, then assign people for strict patrol, not let them flee in An Nam territory, please chase to inland so that the army can hunt easily If these bandit flee in other countries, can not be chased all away, will loot, harass and harm travelers right in other country with a lot of inconvenience” [29; p.238] As soon as receiving the notice from the Qing Dynasty, Quang Trung immediately strengthened the patrol, assign people to pursue pirates Annals of the Quing clearly reflected this event: “On lunar June 4th 1791 (solar July 4th, 1791), according to Phuc Khang An's words to the Qianlong king, we knew that: When the Annam king received the Qing dynasty's notice about the bandits hunting, he immediately ordered coastal posts to patrol, and appointed Ngo Van So admiral of the navy to rivet military forces to patrol and hunt the Chinese pirates fleeing to Vietnam” [29; pp.241-243] At the same time, the Qing also recognized the fervent attitude of Quang Trung (i.e Nguyen Quang Binh) in coordinating of pirate capture, protecting naval safety and security at that time: “after receiving notice, Nguyen Quang Binh immediately ordered Ngo Van So to head naval soliders, divide patrol posts It was praiseworthy Particularly the subordinates, if anyone caught the robber, also rewarded them in order to make their hearts even more grateful At present, among the robber ringleader only Ha Van Khoi had not been caught yet Please inform the King for paying attention and hunting; in addition, with 16 accomplices having not been caught yet, should only issue strict orders for domestic officials to seek hardly, with no need of asking Annam to cooperate in catching; for religion, pampering and controlling were even appropriate All included a ringleader Ha Van Khoi, and his accomplices Vuong Tai Cao, Khong A Tich, Truong A Tu, Bo A Vang, A Tan, A Muoi, A Cuu, Ngo Thiem, and Dai Dau Bong, Phuc Dai Phao, Luu A Nhi, Tran A Nhi, Tran A Lu, Truong Lao Nhi, A That, A Thang, and a pirate crews of the other case headed by Ton Duy Ban, ordered Phuc Khang An to issue strictly wanted notice till the root, set a deadline to catch, not let anyone escape Take these from 500 command miles to notify” [29; pp.241-243] Untill 1791, because not only 42 The sovereignty consolidation activities in the South China Sea of the Tay Son dynasty… robberring leader Ha Van Khoi and his 16 accomplices (include Vuong Tai Cao, Khong A Tich, Truong A Tu, Bo A Vang, A Tan, A Muoi, A Cuu, Ngo Thiem, and Dai Dau Bong, Phuc Dai Phao, Luu A Nhi, Tran A Nhi, Tran A Lu, Truong Lao Nhi, A That, A Thang) but also a pirate crews of the other case headed by Ton Duy Ban had not been caught yet, Qianlong king continued informing Annan king to pay attention to hunt pirates if they fled to Annan territorial waters [29; pp.241-243] Clearly, in many cases, whenever the coast was insecure, the Chinese Court entrusted to small nations like Vietnam with taking charge of the repressing of pirates It is worth mentioning that the Vietnamese side is always ready to cooperate and support with a very high sense of international responsibility Therefore, the Qing Dynasty had many times rewarded the Vietnamese officers and soldiers because of great contribution helping the Qing dynasty to destroy Chinese pirates For example: in 1790, the Qianlong Emperor issued a royal decree to commend the Millitary post general Pham Quang Chuong (in Vietnam) for his merits in pursuing the pirates when the merchant ship of Tran Trieu Cau who was born in Guangdong province, was robbed at sea, saved whole boat on July 11th this year In the Decree issued on November 21st 1790, Qianlong king decided: “Pham Quang Chuong when taking a patrol at sea, saw situation that the merchant ship of the inland was robbed, then bravely pursued and killed the bandits, it was praiseworthy! Also, he decided to reward two brocade plates, asked the Province chief of Guangdong to personally hand over An Nam king-Nguyen Quang Binh, and then sent to the Millitary post general Pham Quang Chuong as encouragement when backing to the country He also ordered Tran Dung Phu to inform An Nam king this thing then report to the Great King The Great King praised a lot, exceptionally rewarded for take-out, obidance” [29; pp.235-236] At the same time, the Qing Dynasty also expressed the wish for the cooperation from Vietnam in catching pirate at sea in the coming time: “Annam and Guangdong had consecutive sea surface, if the robber’s ship fled to the coastal areas of the King, please order the genetals and maritime troops for seeking; people resisting will be killed, must not hesitate because they were Chinese and then delay stabalizing of the sea The King forever receives great grace Please bring this decree to inform” [29; pp.235-236] Conclusions Thus, based on the small amount of data left, we initially reconstruct the activities of the Tay Son dynasty towards the South China Sea in the late XVIII and early XIX centuries Following the previous dynasties, making the most of certain advantages governed by historical background, the Tay Son dynasty brought Vietnam's maritime and navy to the golden age, created a firm support for exploitation and protection of the territorial of the country Remarkably, the first time in Vietnamese history, the head of dynasty successfully implemented the policy on conquering the elite pirates force, turning them from scattered and undisciplined forces into regular and organized crew, equipped with the most modern weapons in Asia at that time The drastic and innovative action of the Tay Son dynasty has raised the Vietnamese naval force to a higher level It is worthy of saying that the Tay Son dynasty did not only focus on strengthening the navy for tasks such as patrol, exploitation and sea protection, but also actively supported China and other countries to relief and rescue and eliminate pirates threatening marine safety Those actions clearly show their own international sense and responsibility, harmonizing the national interests and common interests of the related countries Meanwhile, at that time, regarding the ocean, the Qing Dynasty was only interested in pirate elimination; the Qing dynasty’s navy itself was very backward, not yet focused on development Therefore, whenever coastal security was threatened by pirates, the Qing dynasty firstly requested all small nations, including 43 Nguyen Thi My Hanh Vietnam, to carry out their duties [30; pp.154-155] and this dynasty almost entrusted vassal states such as Vietnam to solve this problem Therefore, that the Qing dynasty confered kingship on Nguyen Quang Binh (or Nguyen Hue) and recognized the official existence of the Tay Son dynasty means that the Qing dynasty refered that the South China Sea was under the control of the Tay Son dynasty and they must take in charge of ensuring maritime security and safety there Therefore, it also helps us to understand why all the activities in the South China Sea of the Tay Son dynasty at that time took place in peace, without opposition of any country, including China It is true that it was also a vivid evidence for implementing the real sovereignty in the East Sea of Vietnam at that time * Acknowledgement: This research is funded by Vietnam Misnistry of Education and Training under grant number B2018-SPH-51, the title Policies of Vietnamese feudal dynasties with the South China Sea issue in the XVII – XIX centuries REFERENCES [1] Nguyen Luong Bich, Pham Ngoc Phung, 1976 Nguyen Hue’s military genius study, People's Army Publisher, Hanoi [2] Ngo Giap Dau, 1995 Viet Nam literature general volume, Volume 8B, Literature Publisher, Hanoi [3] Nguyen Phan Quang, 2006 Some Viet Nam historical works, Ho Chi Minh City General Publisher [4] Ta Chi Dai Truong, 2007 Vietnam Civil War history, People's Police Publisher, Hanoi [5] Do Bang, 2006 The discoveries about Emperor Quang Trung, Information and Culture Publisher, Hanoi [6] Nguyen Duy Chinh, 2015 The process of recognizing the Quang Trung dynasty, Culture Art Publisher, Ho Chi Minh [7] Nguyen Duy Chinh, 2016 Recall a historical case “fake king to enter”: Is it true that the person who came to China was fake Quang Trung king? 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According to Robert J Antony, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, pirates in the South China Sea were gathered in groups by the Tay Son, the number is up to thousands of warships,... based on the small amount of data left, we initially reconstruct the activities of the Tay Son dynasty towards the South China Sea in the late XVIII and early XIX centuries Following the previous