Hồ Nguyên Trừng (

chữ Hán Chữ Hán (𡨸漢, literally "Chinese characters", ), Chữ Nho (𡨸儒, literally "Confucian characters", ) or Hán tự (漢字, ), is the Vietnamese term for Chinese characters, used to write Văn ngôn (which is a form of Classical Chinese ...

: 胡元澄, pinyin Hu Yuancheng; also known as Lê Trừng, ; 1374? – 1446?) was a

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

scholar, official, and engineer in exile in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He was the oldest son of Emperor

Hồ Quý Ly Hồ Quý Ly ( vi-hantu, 胡季犛, born 1336) ruled Đại Ngu (Vietnam) from 1400 to 1401 as the founding emperor of the short-lived Hồ dynasty. Quý Ly rose from a post as an official served the court of the ruling Trần dynasty and a milit ...

(1336–1407) and older brother of Emperor

Hồ Hán Thương Hồ Hán Thương ( vi-hantu, 胡漢蒼, ?–1407?) was the second and final emperor of the short-lived Hồ dynasty of Đại Ngu (now Viet Nam). Hán Thương, his father Hồ Quý Ly, and his son Nhe, were captured by the Ming The Mi ...

. Under the pen-name Nam Ông (南翁, Old Man of the South), he wrote the

Nam Ông mộng lục Dream memoir of Southern Man ( vi-hantu, 南翁夢錄, link=no, Vietnamese language, Vietnamese : ''Nam Ông mộng lục'') is a memoir written by Vietnamese official Hồ Nguyên Trừng during his exile in Ming dynasty in the early 15th century. ...

(Hán tự: 南翁夢錄, literally Dream Memoir of Nam Ông).Nguyên Trừng Hồ — Nam Ông Mộng Lục và những truyện khác – 2001 p. 7 "Giới thiệu Van bản Hổ Nguyên Trừng (1374-1446) tư Manh Nguyên, hiệu Nam Ổng, người Đai Lai, tỉnh Thanh Hóa."

Biography

Hồ Nguyên Trừng played a role in the Ming-Hồ war where he led the army of Đại Ngu (

Hồ dynasty The Hồ dynasty (Vietnamese: , chữ Nôm: 茹胡； Sino-Vietnamese: ''Hồ triều, chữ Hán:'' 胡朝) was a short-lived Vietnamese dynasty consisting of the reigns of two monarchs, Hồ Quý Ly (胡季犛) in 1400–01 and his second so ...

) as well as invented various new types of weapons for the Đại Ngu military. He is considered to be an innovator of firearms. One of his famous inventions was an early version of the " Eruptor" cannon, which was later adopted by the Ming dynasty to be used in many decked war vessels. After the fall of Hồ dynasty, Hồ was captured and he would spend the rest of his life in exile in China. For his contribution to the manufacturing of the cannons for the Ming dynasty's military, Hồ was appointed as a high ranking official in the Ming dynasty's court. Nonetheless, his yearning for a return to his motherland never ceased to exist. He wrote a famous book, ''Nam Ông Mộng Lục'' (''The Dream Memoirs of a Southern Man'' in English), containing various stories about some honorable people of

Giao Chỉ Jiaozhi (standard Chinese, pinyin: ''Jiāozhǐ''), or Giao Chỉ (Vietnamese), was a historical region ruled by various Chinese dynasties, corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam. The kingdom of Nanyue (204–111 BC) set up the Jiaozhi Co ...

(the former name of Viet Nam during the period of Chinese occupation) that he either knew personally or through historical facts as a dedication to his motherland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Nguyen Trung Vietnamese engineers 1370s births 1440s deaths Hồ dynasty Firearm designers Vietnamese writers Ming dynasty writers Vietnamese emigrants to China Ming dynasty politicians Hồ dynasty writers