Jiaozhi arquebus (Giao Chá» arquebus or Vietnamese arquebus) refers to several types of gunpowder firearms produced historically in Vietnam. This page also includes Vietnamese muskets â since the early definition of a musket is a "heavy arquebus". The term Jiaozhi arquebus comes from Chinese word Jiao Chong (交éÂÂ, lit. 'Jiaozhi Gun'), a generalization of firearms originating from Dai Viet.
ÃÂại Viá»Ât has a relatively early history of using gunpowder weapons. At the end of the 14th century, king Po Binasuor of Champa, while surveying the Hải Triá»Âu River, died in battle when he was hit by a hand cannon from the Trần army. In the Há» dynasty, Há» Nguyên Trừng successfully invented the Thần Cá Sang cannon. By the time of the Lê Sá period, gunpowder weapons began to be widely used in the army. In Thailand, a gun initially thought to have originated in China was discovered, however, based on the inscriptions on the gun, it was confirmed to be of ÃÂại Viá»Ât origin. This is most likely a relic from the invasion of the Lanna kingdom (present day Chiang Mai) under Lê Thánh Tông from 1479âÂÂ1484.
By the 16th century, when Europeans came to ÃÂại Viá»Ât for trading, Western weapons were purchased by the Trá»Ânh and Nguyá» n lords to equip their armies, and muskets began to be imported into ÃÂại Viá»Ât ever since. Tomé Pires in his Suma Oriental (1515) mentioned that Cochinchina had an innumerable number of musketeers and small bombards, and that a lot of gunpowder was used in warfare and amusements. The ÃÂại Viá»Ât musket was not only used domestically, but it was also introduced to China after the border conflicts between the Mạc dynasty and ethnic minorities in Guangxi and Yunnan.
Malay and Vietnamese Trá»Ânh soldiers used bamboo covers on their matchlock arquebus barrels and bound them with rattan, to keep them dry when marching in the rain. Vietnamese people also had a smaller piece of bamboo to put over the barrel, to prevent the gun from accumulating dust when it was placed on a weapon rack. The Vietnamese used such arquebus to harass a Spanish fleet off shore in the late 16th century with some success. This gun is similar in form to an istinggar, but has longer buttstock.
The Jiaozhi arquebus was not only appreciated by the Chinese, but also highly praised especially by Western observers for its high accuracy from what they saw in the Lê-Mạc and Trá»Ânh-Nguyá» n wars. The Ming dynasty also rated ÃÂại Viá»Ât arquebus as "the best gun in the world", even surpassing the Ottoman gun, the Japanese gun and the European gun. According to Li Bozhong, former head of the Department of History at Qinghua University:<blockquote>At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Annam people developed a matchlock gun with an excellent performance, which the Chinese called "Jiao Chong" (交éÂÂ, meaning Jiaozhi gun). Some people think that this kind of gun is superior to the Western and Japanese "Niao Chong" (é³¥éÂÂ, Bird gun) and "Lu Mi Chong" (é¯å¯ÂéÂÂ, Rûm arquebus) in terms of power and performance.</blockquote>Liu Xianting, who lived at the end of the Ming dynasty, commented:<blockquote>"Jiaozhi matchlock is the best of the world"</blockquote>The ÃÂại Viá»Ât gun can penetrate several layers of iron armor and can kill from 2 to 5 people with one single bullet while not emitting any loud sounds when fired. A Qing-era record, Ã¥ÂÂè¶ÂçÂÂ訠(Nányuè bÃÂjì) linked the Vietnam arquebus with Java arquebus.
In the late 17th century AD, the Trá»Ânh army used long muskets, with a barrel length between , resulting in its heavier weight. They were carried on man's back and fired shots. Firing requires a stand, made from a piece of wood from long.
A gun similar to gingal, with a wooden stand and swivel is also reported:<blockquote>"One end of the carriage is supported with 2 legs, or a fork of 3 foot high, the other rests on the ground. The gun is placed on the top, where there is an iron socket for the gun to rest in, and a swivel to turn the muzzle in any way. From the breech of the gun there is a short stock for the man who fires the gun to transverse it withal, and to rest it against his shoulder ..."</blockquote>Even in the late 18th century, Nguyá» n musketeers relied on long matchlocks mounted in swivels and three-legged stands.