Protecting sea and island sovereignty: New documents discovered about the Hoang Sa army

The Vo Van family in Ly Son island district (Quang Ngai) is preserving documents showing that their ancestors joined the heroic army to Hoang Sa to carry out missions in 1786, 30 years earlier than previously published documents.

While implementing the project "Restoring the graves of soldiers who went to Hoang Sa", Dr. Nguyen Dang Vu, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ngai, discovered many valuable documents of the Vo Van family in Ly Son island district related to the sovereignty of the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa territorial waters from the end of the 18th century. Vo Van is one of 13 ancestral families on Ly Son island. After many times of translating, studying and researching archival documents written in Chinese of this family, Dr. Vu concluded: "The Vo Van family in Ly Son had great merit in establishing the Hoang Sa team to manage Truong Sa, sailing to the East Sea to measure sea routes, search for marine products, products and tools to present to the royal court from the end of the 18th century".

Dr. Nguyen Dang Vu, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ngai, accessed ancient documents related to the Hoang Sa heroic army of the Vo Van family in Ly Son island district. Photo: Tri Tin

Up to now, in Ly Son as well as in the coastal area of ​​Quang Ngai, no documents have been found that record the Hoang Sa heroic army earlier than the documents of the Vo Van family. These documents clearly state: In the 9th year of Thai Duc - 1786, the Tay Son court appointed Vo Van Khiet as the leader of the Hoang Sa team with the task of recruiting soldiers for the Hoang Sa team and the Que Huong team to search for tortoises, sea turtles, and rare objects at sea to bring back to the court.

Based on official history books, researchers have always believed that Captain Pham Quang Anh went to Hoang Sa and Truong Sa the earliest, in the year At Hoi - 1815. However, the documents that Dr. Vu and researchers have collected, especially the Han Nom documents found in the Vo Van family, show that "Captain Vo Van Khiet was the Ly Son man who commanded the Hoang Sa team the earliest. Following Mr. Khiet was Captain Vo Van Phu who went to Hoang Sa in 1803" - Mr. Vu commented.

Currently, the Vo family's documents still preserve the report of the Sa Ky port commander and Hoang Sa fleet commander, Phu Nhuan Marquis Vo Van Phu, about the submission to Vo Van Khiet to be the An Vinh captain in 1803. This report clearly states: Following Vo Van Khiet was his son Vo Van Phu, who in the official history books was recorded as Phu Nhuan Marquis, also the Hoang Sa captain in the second year of Gia Long (1803).

The grave of Captain Hoang Sa Vo Van Khiet in Tay village, An Vinh commune, island district
Ly Son. Photo: Tri Tin

In addition, the Vo Van family also had many people who went to Hoang Sa, typically Vo Van Hung - who was mentioned many times in the official history books of the Nguyen Dynasty as a guide for the navy and a selector of navigators, sailors... Those were the people who obeyed the court's orders to carry out the task of planting sovereignty markers on Hoang Sa island during the Minh Mang period.

At the house of Mr. Vo Van Ut, the 16th descendant of the Vo family in Ly Son, the ancient genealogy is still kept and clearly recorded: Vo Van Hung was one of the 10 sons of Hoi Nghia Hau Vo Van Khiet, who crossed the East Sea to Hoang Sa at least three times. The year Giap Ngo (1834) could have been his second sea crossing.

Because of his familiarity with the sea routes and waterways, Mr. Hung was assigned to be the navigator (or pilot) for the fleet to the Hoang Sa archipelago. Accompanying him was his younger brother, Vo Van Cong. The person directly in charge of the steering was Mr. Dang Van Siem, from the same Ly Son hometown as Vo's cousins.

It was Mr. Vo Van Hung who was responsible for selecting soldiers to go to Hoang Sa from among the men of Ly Son village. Departing in the year of At Mui (1835), those who directly led the fleet to this archipelago such as Vo Van Hung and Pham Van Sanh were rewarded for their dedication to their responsibility.

Mr. Vo Van Khiet was given the title of Marquis Hoi Nghia, his grave is still in Tay hamlet, An Vinh village, Ly Son. But the graves of Vo Van Phu, Vo Van Hung, Vo Van Cong, Vo Van Sanh... that are recorded in the Vo Van family genealogy, their resting place is still unknown.

Dr. Vu believes that they may not have had the chance to return after their voyages to measure hydrographic routes, plant markers, and erect sovereignty steles on the Hoang Sa archipelago two hundred years ago.

(According to VnExpress)