0007 Madagascar in 1884: The Baobab and the hyena

PREVIOUSLY on 1884 

Màhamàsina, Madagascar

July 3, 1884

For several days after the orders were issued for the assembling of a great royal kabàry on the plain at Màhamàsina, the town and neighborhood are crowded with people flocking in from the country, and everyone is anxiously expecting the queen's discourse. Màhamàsina is a large plain at the foot of the mountain on which the capital city of Antanànarìvo is built. Very careful arrangements has been made for the order and marshaling of such a vast concourse of people, who assemble in their thousands, and a platform erected for the sovereign and her ministers, from which the discourse is to be delivered. 

Crossroads, some ten feet wide, are kept open in every direction by fences and large prominent arches at each entrance enable the people to steer their way in and out of the crowd without disorder or inconvenience. Doctors are stationed at intervals, their positions denoted by a little white flag bearing a red cross. 

By ten o'clock the people are already crowding to their places, and some twenty to thirty thousand are already on the field, while every house and terrace, wall and balcony, overlooking the plain, is covered with women. Among the spearmen are bands of children of all ages armed with spear and shield, one band especially attracting notice as consisting of children between six and ten years of age. Their spears are about five feet long, and their shields of wood fifteen inches in diameter. All the schools of Antanànarìvo are drawn up in arms, and palace school makes a very show in their uniforms. 

A great royal kabàry

There are also countless regiments of recruits armed with muzzle-loaders, flint-locks, and native-made guns. The regular city regiments, consisting of 5000 troops, march on to the field at half-past eleven, and took up their positions along the central enclosure and along the different avenues dividing the plain. They are dressed in white tunics, dark blue cotton trousers, and brown helmets, and were all armed with breech- loading rifles which looked exceedingly bright and clean. 

Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony is waiting for the queen’s arrival. Queen Ranavalona III is supposed to leave the Rova at twelve o'clock but the crowd is so thick that it probably will require more than an hour to pass through the city and descend to the plain.

In his twenty years as prime minister, Rainilaiarivony has been through many royal kabàry, but today’s will go down as one of the most important, as Queen Ranavalona will declare war on France. The Prime Minister gently stroke his favorite white mare’s neck to calm her nervousness. A direct descendant of the first houses presented to the Merina court by the British, she’s a reminder of the beginning of the friendship between the two kingdoms some seventy years ago. 

Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony, in the 1880's.

Madagascar was once in a strategic position on the route to India around the Cape. During the Napoleonic Wars, a naval expedition was sent to capture the Mascarene Islands in the Indian Ocean from the French, in order to prevent them being used as a base to attack Britain's Indian colonies like during the American Revolutionary War some thirty years earlier. In addition, another goal was to get rid of Mauritius-based French privateers who have attacked Britain’s East India Company’s fleet and caused millions of pounds in losses. 

After the war, Britain had to return Réunion and Comoros to France but got to keep Mauritius and Seychelles. Robert Townsend Farquhar, a former Lieutenant-Governor of Penang and Britain’s first governor of Mauritius, sent a mission to the Merina court to request help to end the slave trade and was embraced by King Radama the Great’s reception and cooperation. 

Rainilaiarivony thinks. The English expression “a friend in need is a friend indeed” is just empty air to them. When they needed something from us, then we were their friends – only to be conveniently discarded when no longer in need. If he had given any benefit of the doubt to Britain for her inaction regarding France’s war on Madagascar, his conversation on June 16 with the new British consul Mr. Hicks Graves while waiting for the queen’s arrival in the throne room would have finally confirmed to him that the old Malagasy expression “as false as the British” is true.

PM: I hope you have fully recovered from your eight-day travel from our French-occupied port, Consul.

Consul: Thank you, Prime Minister. I had a couple of days to recover. If this is the good season to make the journey, I don’t want to imagine what it’s like in the bad. Thanks to the eight men who carried me in filanjana or I would not have survived it really. I didn’t expect most of it to be long arduous climbs through such thick forest. With the sunlight only filtered through like tiny stars and the sounds of the lemur throughout days and nights, it seemed like another world. 

PM: You are in another world, Consul. Our island, animals and plants are different from anywhere else. Consul: I was hoping to see some Malagasy Baobab trees which I have read about, but didn’t see any.

PM: They are usually found along the dry western coast, Consul. You must have read the story of how they look as though they appear upside-down and grow in dry land?

Consul: No, please tell me. I’m fascinated by native legends and how they tie the peoples to the land.

PM: Oh, you will love this one. It goes like this. After having created Earth and the animals, God was going to cover the land with trees and plants. The hyena, fancying itself the smartest, proposed to help God so that it can claim the title as chief of all God’s creatures. Then God gave him baobab seeds to grow, saying, “These are Baobab seeds. They are strong but grow very slowly. They will stand the tallest among my creatures even in the most arid lands.” Having heard God’s words, the hyena felt inferiority of its own stature and became jealous of the Baobab. It found the sandiest corner of Earth and put the Baobab seeds in the ground upside down, so that they wouldn’t grow …

Consul: … And the rest is history.  

PM: Yes, Consul, like the history that we are writing. We, all peoples of Madagascar, are as tough as the Baobab trees. We will overcome all difficulties, even this French war.

Consul: But am I right to think that hyenas are not native to Madagascar?

PM: They aren’t, Consul. But hyenas are cunning. They invite themselves over in ships and gunboats!

Consul laughed: I don’t think hyenas are very French either.

Prime Minister chuckles: Oh, no, no, no. Consul. I am not comparing the French to the hyena. That would be too cruel on the poor animal. All I say is when the news reached Antanànarìvo of Admiral Miot's conditions, great indignation was felt by the people. So the royal proclamation was issued in the Malagasy Gazette ten days ago.

Queen Ranavalona III

The Prime Minister signals his aide to hand the Consul a copy of the English translation which reads:

“ I, Ranavàlomanjàka, through the grace of God and the will of people Queen of Madagascar and defender of its laws, declare unto you my subjects that negotiations with the French have come to an end, for we can no longer endure their doings, for they say that this land of our ancestors is not ours but theirs, and has theirs for a very long time; if we give it up to them, that is what they want, say they; but if we do not give it up to them, then they will take it by force, and we shall be deprived of our independence. 

In consequence of these unbearable threatenings, the words which we have long expressed must now become fact, namely, that everyone shall stand up like a man and fight the enemy… Be diligent then in learning the art of war, for the day draws nigh when I shall examine your ability therein, and none shall I exempt from instruction. If there any that you see not learning, be he who he may, bring him to the seat of judgment, and I shall fine him in money equivalent to the price of his head, for he is a traitor. Let each one beware of causing tumult, and be not excited by others to disorder, for order and unity are our strength in thig business. Should tumult or disorder arise, then I shall make that town in which it arises responsible for it. 

Behold also the foreigners that are now in my land and kingdom; take good care of them and of their possessions, for they are our friends, and have nothing to do with those who are fighting against us. Observe well these my words, and let each one show himself a man both in thought and deed, in order that the world may see that our courage is not mere talk. 

RANAVÀLOMANJÀKA, Mpanjàka ny Madagaskara" 

Wearing a traditional striped lamba over his military uniform, Rainilaiarivony sits to inspect his troops at the Rova compound (around 1865)

Consul: I can certainly understand the feelings of Her Majesty and the Malagasy people in this regard, Prime Minister.

As the bugle sounded, the young Queen Ranavalona entered the throne room in her white gown cloaked under a large stately silk lamba with colorful flower patterns. Prime Minister and then Consul kissed her gloved hand.

Consul: “Your Majesty. It is with great pleasure that I find myself in your presence this day. I had hoped to be able to visit this your capital at a less distant period from the date of my arrival in Madagascar, but I have in the meantime visited many of the towns on the coast held by your garrisons, at which I am glad to able to state I was received with all courtesy by the governors in your Majesty's name I would beg to assure your Majesty that I also will spare no effort to compel my men to observe the treaty between the two countries, and in this I feel sure I shall be seconded by Her Britannic Majesty's vice-consul in this city, Mr. Pickersgill, and the different British vice-consuls on the coast." 

Queen Ranavalona replied, " It is a great pleasure to us to see you, representative of our good friends, safely in my capital. I take the words which you have just uttered a fresh proof of the good friendship and the earnest wish your Government entertains towards us. I am delighted to assure you that I am always ready to do my best in opening my country to civilization and commerce with other nations, fully convinced that by so doing it tends not only to increase the wealth of our dominions, but good understanding between us and the Treaty Powers will ensue. I trust that the English nation, which shown feelings towards us for a very long period, will be willing as ever to help us morally in carrying out our views." 

Consul: It will be my greatest privilege to do so, on behalf of Her Britannic Majesty’s government. Her Britannic Majesty also sends her deepest condolence again for the passing of Queen Ranavalona II last year.

Queen: Thank you. Please return our deepest gratitude to Her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria for her condolence and kindness. I hope that your government has laid before Her Majesty the difficulties we are having with France. It has been thirteen months since they began their unprovoked bombardments of our garrisons and posts along the coast and captured Majunga while the envoys we sent to negotiate with Paris had not even returned home.

Consul: Yes, Your Majesty. I am painfully aware of the difficulties. 

Queen: All of the French residents here in the capital would have been murdered after the news arrived, if my aunt the late Queen had not offered them five days to leave Antanànarìvo safely and provided them with porters to carry their belongings. 

Consul: Her Majesty Ranavalona’s decision was most magnanimous. The remaining foreigners of British, Norwegian and American nationalities in Antanànarìvo are forever grateful for Her Majesty’s permission to stay and for the special guards sent to protect them and their properties. 

Prime Minister's Palace (1884)

Queen: I remember my aunt say, “They call us barbarians, and if we did otherwise we would prove ourselves to be so.” But in response to our justified expulsion of French residents, the French Admiral sent an outrageous ultimatum which we immediately refused, for which they immediately bombarded our fort at Tamatave before proceeding to land and put the whole port town under siege. How long was the notice they gave to other foreigners living in Tamatave to leave, Consul?

Consul: They were given 24-hour notice to evacuate to their country’s ships, Her Majesty.

Queen: That’s 23 hours more than they gave our people at Majunga. And did your predecessor Vice-Consul Pakenham not die during that 24 hours, and a British missionary Mr Shaw not thrown into jail for over a month on a false charge?

Consul: Your Majesty is very well informed. Indeed, Mr Pakenham died of poor health, and Mr Shaw was imprisoned through some misunderstanding. But these have been sorted out to the satisfaction of the parties involved, Your Majesty.

Queen: How cordial the diplomatic conducts between Western nations are. If only our kingdom would be treated similarly as an equal civilized nation.

The Rova (Royal Palace) of Antananarivo (1884)

Consul: Despite the rocky relationship during Queen Ranavalona I's reign, Britain has always cherished the relationship with the Merina Kingdom and treated her as equal, ever since the oath of blood brotherhood between King Radama and Captain Le Sage and the close friendship between the great king and Mr. James Hastie, Your Majesty.

Queen: Mr. Hastie was well loved by everyone. With the treaty that he negotiated, the great king formed a formal alliance with the British crown to eliminate exportation of slaves and was recognized as the King over all of Madagascar. 

PM: I also owe the good Mr. Hastie a personal gratitude. If not for him, I would not have lived a single day of life.

Consul: Oh, how, Prime Minister?

PM: I was born, Consul, on a day considered unlucky day by the mpisikidy – diviners. The traditional practice would be to leave such a baby in a cattle pen to be trampled to death. But thanks to Mr Hastie, such cruel practices were outlawed by the king just a few years before my birth. And look at me. Now I am a Prime Minister and a good Christian just like yourself.

Queen: Thanks to the hard works initiated by the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, now we have established our own churches, schools, hospitals, local industries, flourishing trade and a modern army. We have become a constitutional monarch and a Christian nation just as Britain.

Consul: Madagascar has modernized rapidly in such a short time since the Anglo-Malagasy Treaty of 1817, Your Majesty. During his visit three years ago, our commander-in-chief of the East India Station, Rear-Admiral Gore Jones, was so impressed with the advances made in the kingdom’s civilization, and reported that the Malagasy people have become a race fit to govern their native land, and the fact obviates the necessity for the intervention of any outside nation.

Antananarivo (1884)

Queen: Germany and the United States also recognize the sovereignty of our kingdom over the whole island. On the contrary, France unfortunately seems to think that Sakalava rebels were at liberty to cede to them our coastal territory. 

PM: In any case, the French knew how flimsy their claims were, so they never followed them up with occupation except at Nosy Be. They also repudiated their claims, if any, in the Franco-Malagasy Treaty of 1868 which recognizes our kingdom’s sovereignty over the whole island. Previous French consuls also never made any such rights until recently. 

Consul: Even our government did not know of these treaties existed until the French, after several inquiries, recently supplied us with some sketchy information. 

PM: If I were you, I would not easily trust any documents they produce. You must be aware of the difficulty we have regarding the dubious Lambert Charter. And also regarding the inheritance of the good Monsieur Laborde who received lands from Queen Ranavalona I for his many services. But France would not accept that, according to Malagasy law, the land must revert to the Crown upon their death or departure.

Consul: Indeed, as was the case with Mr Hastie, Prime Minister.

Queen: Exactly, Consul. Besides, the deed supposedly signed King Radama II was dated one year after his death, so it must have been carelessly forged by Monsieur Laborde’s son who, as one of the secretaries of state, had charge of the royal seal for some time.

King Radama the Great reviewing his troops (1825)

Consul: We are aware of the difficulty with France over the issue of the Laborde inheritance and their demand that the law against freeholding of lands by foreigners be revoked. Earl Granville has informed his French counterpart that such laws are common in many countries. Even England used to have one until only a few years ago. We are of the opinion that Your Majesty’s gracious offer to amend the law to allow extendable long leases is entirely satisfactory for us.

PM: I wish the French were as reasonable. They insist on their one-sided story to extort us. The same with the Toualé dhow incident. Although French subjects were trafficking weapons to the warring tribes on our coast in violation of our law and when intercepted fatally shot our people, they are claiming damage for the deaths of the crew who died in the return fire. Why would they make such a demand on us, if they didn’t recognize our authority over that territory in the first place?

Queen: If we yield to them on one question, they will make another more outrageous demand. Admiral Miot threatened that the purpose was to make us come to agreement more quickly. That’s why throughout eight rounds of negotiations, he kept escalating his demands with such arrogant words. Not only the territories, but our very independence is at risk. 

French conquest of Tunisia (1881)

PM: You must realize, Consul, that these are just excuses. Jules Ferry is very eager on his second term to expand the French Empire. After robbing Tunisia from the Ottoman Empire (to Italy’s jealousy) in exchange for British occupation of Cyprus three years ago, now Ferry wants to do one better and bigger to regain France’s prestige after the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. He wants another French Algeria to rally popular support and subdue internal troubles. French Catholics, Reunion colonists as well as the mainlanders with interests are pushing for expansion into our great island like a pack of hyenas. Despite the sincere efforts by our own Minister of Foreign Affairs, they tried to steal our island with a straight face, hoping that our envoy would not notice the changes in wordings on the treaty to be signed in Paris. 

Queen: Since our envoys also laid the issues to your government in London, what help can Britain give us, Consul?

Consul: Earl Granville’s offer to mediate was firmly rejected by France, Your Majesty. But we will continue to do our best to convince France to settle the disagreement diplomatically.

The Prime Minister scoffs: And neutrality is the best Britain can do for her friend Madagascar?

He knows the exact reason for the Consul’s lack of commitment although he expected as much. The delegation to Europe arrived in Paris two years ago just as the French public became enraged by Britain’s invasion of Egypt. That’s why Britain would not risk provoking more French wrath.

The invasion of Egypt again exposed Britain’s real interest: the control of the sea route to India. Suez Canal, mostly funded by French financiers, in French-influenced Egypt was supposed to give France a strategic advantage, but Britain snatched Egypt from French jaw of victory. Maybe Britain is even willing to turn a blind eye if France claims Britain-influenced Madagascar as compensation. If they can betray powerful China on French invasion of Tonkin question, why not us? 

What a friend indeed. To Prime Minister, Western powers may behave like hyenas against non-Western nations, but among themselves they are like grooming lemurs licking each other’s dirty parts. If only one can find a way to turn them against each other like hyenas fighting over a juicy bone. The Pakenham-Shaw incident was close, and could have provoked a fallout if not for British restraint over Egypt …

Prime Minister noticed that, on his part, the Consul also kept his words at minimum. If only he could read his mind, he would be confirmed how peripheral Madagascar was to British attention. A lot other British interests in and around Africa were at stake. After Egypt, France is trying to find a foothold for control around the Red Sea and Suez facing off British Aden. There are also other areas of potential Anglo-French conflict over the Congo and the Niger. And who knows what Bismarck has up his sleeves, now that Germans are appearing on the Southwestern coast of Africa?  what if they ally with the Boers or, God forbid, France? And there’s also their activities in East Africa and Zanzibar. 

East Africa and Madagascar

Consul then broke the awkward silence by sharing some small pieces of intelligence: Let this stay between us, Prime Minister. As I arrived in Mauritius, I received the telegram updating us that France had just concluded an accord with China over the war in Tonkin, so more ships could be heading this way.

PM: Let them come, Consul. It’s easy for them to underestimate the difficulties of conducting war on our island.  

Consul: It seems to me that they have become bogged down on the coast. A large number seemed to be ill, and they had to call for reinforcement from Reunion. 

PM: And the Sakalava chiefs that they claimed as allies never to rally to their cause. Thanks to General Hazo and General Tazo, it’s not … What’s the English expression? … a walk in the park for them.

Consul: Who are General Hazo and General Tazo, Prime Minister?

Prime Minister smiles: General Forest and General Fever, Consul. In addition we also have to thank our chief military advisor Adjutant-General Digby Willoughby. He’s a Zulu War veteran from your country.

Consul: Ah, yes. The French also inquired why a British officer was fighting on the Malagasy side, and our Earl Granville informed them that although he’s a British subject, but not an official military officer, so the British Government cannot stop him from his employment.

PM: If you please, I can also arrange for you to review some of our infantry practicing their drill with Remington rifles. Perhaps we can discuss a purchase of more weapons from you….

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The trumpets and bugles sound a flourish, as the queen arrives in a gilt palanquin carried by twelve bearers, and is received by the Prime Minister. Her Majesty then mounts the platform and takes her seat on the throne under the canopy. Ranavàlomanjàka III is in European costume, a robe of white silk trimmed with pink satin. She wears her hair plaited, and on her head was a light gold coronet. On a small table to her right is a large Bible, and on a similar table at her left is a scarlet and gold crown. 

The kabàry has now commenced. Prime Minister, drawing his sword, salutes, the whole army presents arms, the bands plays the national anthem, and the cannon in the battery above fires a salute of twenty-one rounds. The saluting over, the troops comes to “the shoulder," the trumpets and bugles sound a flourish, and the queen rises from her throne. In a few minutes a perfect silence ensues amongst the expectant multitude, and, waving her small golden scepter over her people, Ranavalona in a clear ringing voice addresses the people: 

Queen Ranavalona III with royal crown and scepter (around 1890-5)

" O ye people devoted to your fatherland, and ye soldiers strong in battle, my heart is glad as I stand among you. I see that both I, your queen, and this land of our ancestors are indeed dear you; and when I have summoned you to assemble, you have come at the appointed time; therefore I express my satisfaction to you; life and the blessing of God be upon you. 

"And I have to say to you, O my soldiers -- for we all form of the army now, both I and my people -- that since those Frenchmen have invaded our land, I have done everything to bring about a termination of the war. 

"Although we have paid sums of money twice, it was my Intention to give whatever would not involve my sovereignty or impair the independence of Madagascar, this land of our ancestors; for I particularly dislike, and it grieves me indeed, that your blood should be shed. 

“But they were not willing, O my army, and want one-third of Madagascar for themselves, and for us to pay £120,000, as also to indemnify all the losses of other nations during the war; and yet it was not we that destroyed that property but the French alone bombarded and destroyed; they struck the first blow, and did not even give notice of war, but even assailed women and children; and that even is not all they want, but I and my ancestors have been insulted and they will not acknowledge me as Queen of Madagascar but only Queen of Merina. 

"I shall fulfill, O my people, the share in the defense of the land which belongs to me as queen. I have done so, but still I will do more, for, though I am a woman, I have the heart of a man, and I stand up to lead you forth to prevent and oppose those who seek to take our land; for God forbid, O ye people, that we should become the servants of foreigners. Is it not so, ye people? I am confident, O my people in arms, that we are all united as one in holding fast to this beloved land of our ancestors, and in acting so as to frustrate the evil designs of our enemy. For is it not so, O ye people? 

"Further I have to say to you I am extremely gratified to see the unity of combination in learning the art of war. Go on learning and await my commands for I shall not let the enemy come upon you unawares, for our courageous friends have gone to guard the coasts where the enemy will land. And I have to say to you, O people, that you may all know at once, there are no Frenchmen here, but they are foreigners entertaining good friendship toward us who remain here now; so let everyone take good care not to interfere with their persons or property. 

"However, my people, whatever be our strength, or however great our numbers, all this is in vain without the help of God; let every one of us therefore ask for His help for deliverance in this our just cause. 

“And these are my last words to you, O my army, though our bodies be annihilated, we shall not be ashamed nor confounded, but our name and our fame will live forever, because we rather choose to die than yield up our fatherland and the good which God has given us. For is it not so, O ye warriors?” 

It requires some little time for the queen's words to be circulated among the crowd; but by the time Ranavalona reaches her last “Is it not so, ye soldiers ? " the excitement and enthusiasm are at a climax, the people shout, wave their spears and shields, and the sight is one never to be forgotten. 

It is now the turn of the people to reply to her Majesty. First comes the representative of the civilians and the different noble clans of the Merina; their speeches consist of assurances to the queen that they were ready to fight. Their indignation about the queen being called Queen of Merina is very great. 

One spectator says, " We have seen your Majesty's caution in not wishing to endanger the lives of the people, and in trying to make it up by paying money, etc; but we won't have any more trying to make it up.” At this expression the enthusiasm of the people becomes so great that the speaker's voice is no longer heard. 

A great royal kabàry of 1895

Prime Minister next addresses the queen :

"On this occasion of your appearance in Màhamàsina, O Ranavàlomanjàka, before the people who are as your father and your mother, it is not a question of how many persons God left this kingdom to be ruled by, for you alone inherited it from your ancestors. You have come here before the people to thank us, to express your satisfaction at our preparations for war. But we, on the other hand, would say : It is not for you, the queen, to thank us, but we, the people, come to thank you, O lady, and may God’s blessings be upon you. 

“As regards the French making war upon us, especially in what concerns the command of the army, its organization and discipline, rest assured, for here am I, Prime Minister, and everyone will have his part. The man who stands before your Majesty was born to defend this land and to serve his queen. That is no empty expression, for God sees into my heart. Come death, come loss, before the land shall be taken from us. Our war is a just war, and we do not fear; if we die, we have right on our side, and God knows it.. And the fame of those who die in the defense of their country will never perish. 

“We must all die whether we fight or not, much more when our country is taken from us. But if we die in good actions, erect a stone, your Majesty, to our memories and trust in your army. Is it not so, O soldiers?” 

After the prime minister had finished his speech, the queen again rose and said, "Since those are the words of you and your soldiers, I am confident; life, prosperity, and the blessing of God be upon you."

Her Majesty then expresses a desire to see some of the schools go through their spear exercise. Some of the schools from the Bétsiléo province then came forward chanting their war-songs. The boys are about twelve years of age and are very proficient. Her Majesty now descends from the platform, and mounting a white horse, rides round the plain of Màhamàsina to review the troops amid the cheers of the people. The prime minister then declares the kabàry at an end, the royal salute is given, and the troops and the people disperse. 

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 Next on 1884.

0006 Vietnam in 1884: Year of dead emperors

PREVIOUSLY on 1884 

Tân Sở, Vietnam

Early August, 1884 

As he approaches Phan Đình Phùng’s quarter with a bowl of simple breakfast, the twenty-years-old military officer Cao Thắng finds the wooden hut unusually quiet. He calls out Phan’s name several times with no answer. He enters the house and finds the commander lying unconscious with a scorching fever in his spartan bamboo bed. He immediately rushes out and find medicinal plants which he boils and administers to the commander, and orders two recruits to attend to the commander and cool his fever with damp clothes all day and night.

It is not until the next morning that Phan recovers from his fever. One of the attendants hurries to bring him breakfast. After two big bowls of porridge to regain some strength, he slowly pushes himself out of bed and walks out of the hut to look for Cao who are giving martial drills to the recruits.

Imperial city of Hue

As soon as he sees Phan, Cao rushes to hold his arm for support and sits him on a wooden bench, while the fifty or so recruits pause to look. Cao shouts at them to continue with the sword drills.

Cao: Are you feeling better, Commander?

Phan nods: Yes, thank you for taking care of me. It’s embarrassing. In all of my 37 years, I have never been so sick. 

Cao: It’s the jungle, Commander. It’s to be expected for anyone. But after a few times with the right medicine, your body will become stronger. 

Phan: Where did you find the right medicine in the jungle like this?

Cao: In the jungle, sir. Where else? The forest has all the medicine we ever need.

Phan: How do you know what plants to use?

Cao: I learned it from the indigenous people of the mountains since I was young, sir.

Phan: How many times do I have to tell you not to call me sir?

Cao: How can I not, sir? You are a scholar gentry placing first at the national mandarinate exam, and I would still be a good-for-nothing bandit or, worse, dead, if your brother had not protected me from the royal troop ten years ago.

Phan: That doesn’t matter. We are now equal as comrades fighting for our country. Apart from you, who has the knowledge and skills to train our soldiers? I am just a stupid mandarin who knows nothing practical in my life.

Cao: You know more than all of us put together and a hundred times more. We are just a bunch of ragtag urchins. Do you really think we can fight the French?

Phan: If not people like you who have been fighting them for years, who else? People at the court have just been fooling themselves that they can stop the French, but they will never stop until they own all of Vietnam.

Cao: I am sure there is still hope, sir.

A portrait of Phan Đình Phùng

Phan shakes his head gently and pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket.

Phan: Two days ago I received a pigeon message from Hue. The young Emperor Kiến Phúc died several days ago, and another fifteen-year-old was put on the throne. They call him Emperor Hàm Nghi.

Cao: That’s terrible, sir. That’s how many emperors since Emperor Tự Đức died in the middle of last year?

Phan nods: Well, Tự Đức was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty. This new one is number eight.  The fourth one in just over a year. And I have a premonition that he will not last long. The whole court will soon fall under French control… 

Cao lowers his voice: In that case, you were absolutely right to propose a plan to build this secret base to Regent Tôn Thất Thuyết.

Phan nods: I was hoping to be proven wrong, but we must prepare for the worse. It was during my inspection trip to the North to address the complaints against corrupt or incompetent officials that I discovered this area and wrote the book of Vietnam geography. But of course, I left out a lot of strategic details to keep them from the French. There are too many French collaborators at court. 

Cao: What happened to the three emperors before this one, sir?

Phan: Well, you know that Tự Đức couldn’t have children due to smallpox when he was young, so he adopted three nephews as sons. Before he died, he chose the youngest Kiến Phúc because he’s the least likely to be corrupted by the French. Regent Tôn and I secretly agreed that Kiến Phúc would not survive the more powerful royal family members under French influence, so these would have to be eliminated before he can rule effectively. So in contradiction to the late emperor’s will, the Regent arranged to have the oldest adoptee Dục Đức crowned as number five just to have him deposed and imprisoned with trivial accusations three days later. To avoid suspicions from French spies, I made a false pretest against the Regent’s actions for him to have me stripped of my position, thrown briefly into jail, and exiled according to our plan. That’s when I came to find you to help me execute the next steps.

Cao: What happened at the court after you left, sir?

Phan: After the execution, a senior member of the royal family, a half-brother of Emperor Tự Đức, asserted his claim on the throne as number six and the Regent Tôn failed to stop him. But Hiệp Hòa made a fatal mistake when he sent his mandarins to sign the Harmand Treaty after their attack on Thuan An Fort. Accusing him of bringing an elephant home to trample his ancestors' grave, the Regent managed to depose and force him to take poison after four months on the throne.

Cao: I see. That’s how Kiến Phúc finally became emperor as intended. I heard he was often in bad health, but who would have thought that he would die so soon after all the troubles to secure his seventh place?

Phan: I am not sure how it happened. The pigeon message didn’t give any details. But I wouldn’t rule out poison by a French agent.

Cao: Then we must do everything to ensure that our new emperor is safe. May the ancestral emperors protect him too.

Phan: That was on my mind too. May be that’s why in my feverish dream I saw myself back in Hue visiting the tomb of the first emperors.

At this point, the recruits, having finished their drills, gather around the two superiors. Cao tells them to go away, but Phan says they can stay to hear what he has to say. As soon as Cao nods, all the recruits come to sit around them.

Visit Gia Kong’s tomb on YouTube.

Cao: Please describe the imperial tombs to me, sir, if you don’t mind. None of us here have seen Hue and will probably never get to see the imperial city in this life.

Phan: The tomb of Emperor Gia Long, the dynasty founder, lies the furthest downstream from the citadel. After reaching the site on a boat, you walk on a beautiful path through a peaceful pine forest situated between forty-two hills representing a protective wall surrounding the highest hill where the emperor lies. Then you walk up marble steps until you find Minh Thanh Temple containing the emperor and the queen’s funerary tablets and personal items. 

Then you go down a few steps through an ornate gate toward the Courtyard of Salutation with ten stone mandarins and their horses, elephants, and imperial guards. In front, there is a half-moon pond flanked by stone dragons. Then you walk up six levels of marble terraces lined with royal dragons and clouds until you reach the royal burial site on the very top where the emperor’s and the queen’s magnificent graves are laid side by side in the enclosure sealed with a bronze gate. 

Cao: Wow. It must be a very special place. 

Phan nods: The site was chosen by Fengshui experts befitting the emperor who united Vietnam, north and south. Nearby there’s a large stone stele with the inscription of his biography, recalling his life’s hardships including the early years when he spent in exile at Siamese court feeling like ‘a black leopard in a cage’ and ‘a dragon at the bottom of a deep well.’

Cao: Why was he in Siam, sir?

Phan: He was the last of the Nguyễn lords to survive Tây Sơn rebellion, so he sought help from Siam’s newly established dynasty. But it all went badly, so he tried the French, sending his son to Paris with a missionary named Béhaine promising to give Dà Náng and Côn Dâo island to the French emperor if they helped him win. But after signing the Treaty of Versailles, the French Revolution broke out while the French in India were not interested, so he only received backing from the French missionary and some mercenaries until he finally managed to unite the country.

Cao: Making deal with the French. Isn’t that like bringing in a snake to bite one's own chickens, sir? 

Phan: Looking back now, you’re probably right. It was a bad idea. But at that time, all fighting sides even the old Trinh lords and the Tây Sơn also enlisted foreign help because they had modern weapons.

Cao: But those foreigners will never do nothing for free.

Phan: France did send ships some years later to claim what was promised, even though they didn’t fulfil their end of the deal, so the emperor refused. But French missionaries were allowed to stay. 

A recruit blurts out: But they teach us to disrespect our ancestors. That’s completely wrong.

Other recruits nod in agreement. 

Phan: I know their faith is very different from our Confucian belief. And the court felt the same way too. Their teachings about Jesus, the son of God in heaven challenge the rule of the Emperor himself as the Son of Heaven. They also undermine Confucian values which are the moral bedrock of our society. But the missionaries won’t obey any decreed prohibitions or leave the country. Instead, they started to build influence over court mandarins and royal family members and used their native converts for underhanded purposes including inciting rebellions. That’s how the problem finally came to a head under the second emperor Minh Mạng. 

Cao: Please tell us about Emperor Minh Mạng’s tomb, sir?

Phan: His tomb lies slightly closer to the citadel. Following Fengshui principles, the layout resembles a womb, symbolizing a peaceful resting place awaiting a good rebirth. First you walk through the Great Entrance on either side of the middle dragon way reserved for the emperor, then you continue on the path flanked by Trung Minh Lake full of lotus flowers passing the stele house, the Courtyard of Salutation with two rows of stone mandarins, the temples of civilian and military mandarins on either side, Sung An Temple with the emperor and the queen’s funerary tablets and personal effects, then cross the bridge to pause at the moon-viewing Pavilion of Light with gorgeous scenery. Then you cross another bridge across Tan Nguyet Lake and climb 33 steps to arrive at the enclosure of the emperor’s and his queens’ tombs. 

Visit Minh Mang's tomb on YouTube.

Cao: How was Minh Mạng as an emperor, sir?

Phan: He used administrative reforms to strengthened unity and stability throughout the country, asserted power into neighboring Lao kingdoms and Cambodia, and extended our territory to the Mekong delta. For all this, he sometimes came into conflicts with Siam, but what he wasn’t prepared for was conflicts with the West. One year before he died, the Opium War broke out in China. The Qing Empire was savagely beaten by the British. Minh Mạng was so alarmed that he decided to kick out the missionaries and shut the door to foreigners.

Cao: He did the right thing.

Phan: I don’t know. For how long do you think we can keep them out? What the country needed was to prepare ourselves for the coming troubles. One good thing he did throughout his reign was to recruit the best men to serve the country based on ability and honesty not family history and connections, although distrusted of Catholics were prohibited from taking the mandarinate exams.

Cao: Catholics have no chance to pass them anyway.

Phan: Some people can be Catholic and still be educated and excel in the classics. Nguyễn Trường Tộ was one of the Catholic patriots who couldn’t serve, although he later became important in another way. 

Cao: And how did the French war start, sir?

Phan: When Minh Mạng died, his son Thiệu Trị became emperor and began to relax the anti-Catholic laws. After Britain won the Opium War, other European countries started to look for similar exploits elsewhere. French warships started to show up often at Da Nang demanding that we opened our ports for trade and give them privileges. In the last year of Thiệu Trị’s reign, a French ship with no good reason fired and sank five of our ships. Thiệu Trị was so angry that he ordered another round of persecution against the Catholics who he believed were behind French aggression.

A recruit asks: What’s Thiệu Trị’s tomb like, sir?

Phan: Because he reigned only for seven years, his tomb was built entirely by his son Emperor Tự Đức.. You enter the ornate gate, passing the Court of Salutation with only six stone mandarins, two horses and two elephants. Then you find a stele house and modest temples set among small gardens, and then cross three short bridges over a lake and walk some steps before arriving at the walled enclosure housing the graves of the emperor and the queen. Compared to Gia Long’s and Minh Mạng’s, it’s a very simple tomb in accordance with his own wish.

Cao: That’s a sensible wish. It’s better to spend money to prepare the country than build a lavish tomb only for himself. 

Visit Thieu Tri's tomb on YouTube.

Phan: Indeed, we should focus our money and time to strengthen ourselves. War would have come sooner if not for another revolution and internal turmoil in France as the wave of revolutions swept across Europe. Meanwhile, the fourth Emperor Tự Đức first had to contend with a rebellion led by his elder brother who was passed over for kingship. It was later discovered that he was backed by foreign missionaries.

Not long after, the French president with support of the Church made himself emperor. Now he could do whatever he pleased, including invading other countries. After the end of the Crimean War, his attention came back to China and Vietnam. Emperor Tự Đức rejected his demand to establish a legation and a trading post, just when the Second Opium War broke out so they joined America and Russia to attack China while Britain was still reeling from the Indian rebellion.

But we were not left alone for long. Now on good terms with Britain after fighting the Crimean War and Second Opium War together, France saw the opportunity to make Vietnam their “India” outside British sphere of influence and interference. Using an execution of a Spanish priest as a pretext, this time they were joined by Spain and their Filipino colonial troops to attack Danang and capture Saigon. But they couldn’t hold on to it, because of the Italian War and more battles in China. 

After the combined Western forces defeated China, they burned down and looted Peking Summer Palaces. The Chinese Emperor fled Peking and died shortly after. Now France returned with full force. In one year, they took Saigon and two eastern provinces of the South. Facing with northern rebellion, the Emperor knew that he could not fight two wars at the same time, so he authorized venerable Phan Thanh Giản to negotiate the humiliating Treaty of Saigon. The rebellion, in fact, was also backed by the foreigners.

Cao: So they attacked us from both ends. How cunning.

Phan nods: But Emperor Tự Đức didn’t give up easily, not least because Saigon is where his mother’s tomb was located. He sent venerable Phan to Paris the following year to negotiate the return of the three provinces in exchange for an enormous sum of payment. But the French occupying the southern provinces were too greedy while the French emperor was occupied with Mexico, so venerable Phan returned empty handed and was appointed governor to defend the remaining three southern provinces.

It was around this time that Nguyễn Trường Tộ started sending petitions to the court urging rapid reforms, but his proposals were met with resistance from many conservatives at court not only because he was Catholics but also briefly worked for the French as a translator translating official court documents during the Southern invasion because he thought it would help both countries to come to peaceful agreement.

A bust of Nguyễn Trường Tộ in his hometown Nghe-An

Cao: What would a Catholic know anyway?

Phan: That’s what I thought too in the beginning. As Nguyễn Trường Tộ could not take the mandarinate exam due to his faith, he was given opportunities to travel with missionaries to Hong Kong, Singapore and other countries, and learned about the changing world from foreign books like the Ying-huan chih-lueh. So he had a better understanding than anyone in Vietnam about the danger facing the country.  

Cao: What’s the Ying-huan chih-liieh, sir?

Phan: They are books written by a Chinse scholar Hsu about the world’s physical geography, the political map of the world, and Western expansion in Asia and its impact upon China and its tributary states.

In Nguyễn’s petition "On the dominant trends in the world" he wrote, “I have frequently studied world affairs and realized that to sue for peace with France is the best thing we can do. In Europe, France is the most formidable military power, second to none… In victory, their entire country would rejoice; they show no regret even if they have to sacrifice thousands of lives in order to preserve their national honor and prestige. Their commanders are daring, highly resourceful, and skillful in tactics in both land and sea battles. He argued that, in order to protect what had not been lost to France, Vietnam had no other choice than to sue for peace and buy time to strengthen itself.”

He also had read Wei Yuan’s Hai-kuo fu-chih, which not only gave information about the West but also suggested strategic measures to deal with the current Western encroachment, such as "using Westerners to fight Westerners", "using Westerners to entice Westerners", and "learning the strength of Westerners to control Westerners"

French Capture of Saigon 1859

Nguyễn Trường Tộ recommended to the court to embrace the methods of the West lest Vietnam should lose its sovereignty, and that it should "control the French by using other Europeans" or "use other countries to defend itself from foreign threat," In the petition "On the Six Advantages," he quoted the current Qing Emperor who said: The best policy to fight against the Westerners is to use Westerners.

He urged that Vietnam should make peace and give temporary concessions to France while developing itself like Japan. Modernization was to him of the foremost importance; for this reason, he called for an expansion of trade and relations with other countries. He cited the example of Siam that opened trade with several European countries to balance one against another, after their rival Burma, once powerful enough to fight off the Mongols and the Qing, lost almost all its territory to Britain.

He also proposed that Vietnam take the initiative and invite French companies to come and invest in Vietnam, participating in the development of its mines and other resources so that the Vietnamese could learn modern technology and thus bridge the gap between their country and the outside world. If Vietnam was not prepared to do so, France would force its way in, anyhow, and seize Vietnam's resources for its own use.

At the same time, he emphasized the need to preserve social and political order by upholding the imperial throne and the officialdom. Japan, Turkey and many European nations were saved from social upheavals because they were able to maintain such institutions.

Most importantly, in "On the education and accumulation of talents" he attacked "empty learning" (hu-hoc) and called for the adoption of "practical learning" (thuc-hoc) in education; recommended the establishment of various departments as fisheries, mining, forestry, geology, and irrigation; promoted equality of gender in education; encouraged the study of foreign languages among Vietnamese. 

The Emperor resisted it in the beginning reasoning that we can never win barbarians with barbaric means, lest we become barbarians ourselves like Japan. But slowly he began to grasp the need for reforms. He assigned Nguyễn to go to France to recruit experts and purchase books and machinery for a technical school to be built in Hue. But it was too late. When Nguyễn was in Paris, the French forces in Cochinchina using an excuse of suppressing anti-French rebels violated the “Treaty of Amity” and captured the three remaining provinces. Unable to defend his territory, venerable Phan resigned and committed suicide. 

Phan Thanh Giản (middle) and delegation to Paris (1863)

Cao: I remember his words. The first time I heard it from your brother, I cried. He said “I was living at peace with you, and relying upon your good faith, but you now march against me with forces so large that would be madness to resist. I we fight it will bring misery to innocent people, and will only end in defeat. I therefore yield to you what you demand, and protest against your violence.”

Some recruits wipe off their tears.

Phan: The timing was unfortunate for Vietnam. Under pressure from the ranking officials of the dominant "war faction" who vehemently opposed both the French and Christianity, the court ordered Nguyễn and his group to return home. On his return, he sent another petition "Eight urgent matters" urging reforms in such areas as defense, administration, taxation, and education, and adoption of the vernacular script  as the official written language instead of literary Chinese. But his voice was drowned out by the conservatives. In the end, his reform proposals came to nothing. Defeated, he went back to his hometown in Nghe-an.

Four years later when France was beaten in the Franco-Prussian War, he wrote another petition urging the court to exploit this opportunity to regain the lost provinces. He was summoned to Hue to discuss details but he died with illness before. That’s truly unfortunate because France had many internal problems during those years, and we could have strengthened ourselves before they came back this time.

Death of Francis Garnier 1873

Cao: But they attacked Hanoi ten years ago. I remember that’s the year your brother saved me, sir.

Phan: Apparently that time was all done by the French in Cochinchina. Once they realize that the Mekhong cannot be easily navigated to the rich mines of Chinese Yunnan, they turned their attention to the Red River instead. Garnier attacked Hanoi but died at the hand of the Liu Yongfu’s Black Flag Army. 

Cao: Did you get to meet Nguyễn Trường Tộ, sir?

Phan: No, I entered the court six years after he died. During the last stage of the mandarinate exam, the Emperor Tự Đức posed questioned on how the West made such rapid military progress, my answer was “Such progress is not exclusive to the West. As Japan demonstrated, Vietnam could do the same as we have the will power”. Later the regent told me, it remined him of Nguyễn Trường Tộ. So I got the opportunity to read all his petitions from the library of the Regent. I deeply regret never have met him.

Cao: We certainly need more intelligent people like him.

Phan: Maybe that time has passed. The court is full of defeatists. Honest mandarins have left, while most of the remaining are either French collaborators or protecting their own interests, not the country. Now we need more and more people like you to fight the French.

Cao: One would have thought that they would stop bothering us after their European war defeat.

Phan: Quite the opposite. Once they put their house in order, they sought to seek prestige through enlarging their empire in Asia and Africa in order to compensate for the humiliation in Europe. 

Combat of Nam Định during France's Tonkin Campaign of 1883 

Cao: Can’t we ask for support from China?

PDP: China is surrounded by wolves so they are not ready to confront the French full-on as that will invite the others to join in like before. That’s why they have forsaken us. They signed an agreement with France in Tientsin a few months ago. That’s why France wanted Emperor Kiến Phúc to give them the imperial seal that Emperor Gia Long received from the past Qing Emperor when founding the dynasty.

A recruit suggests: How about asking help from Siam like Emperor Gia Long? 

Phan: I am not sure. There has been several conflicts between us and Siam over the Lao rebellion and Cambodia that I don’t think they have forgotten. Even without those, they are also trying to survive like us and China, avoiding any pretext for France to invade them too.

Cao: But if Vietnam falls, won’t they be next?

Phan: That may very well be. Right now they are clutching their territories and tributary states as tightly as possible. I am sure France also has its desire on Lan Xang and other Lao kingdoms which stand between Tonkin and Yunnan. 

A recruit then comments: Sir, you haven’t told us about Emperor Tự Đức’s tomb.

Phan: His tomb is different than the rest, because it’s a vast complex with a royal residence where he often escaped to when he was unhappy. I only visited it a few times for discrete meetings. The complex is very elaborate because he took three years to build it himself. 

But what struck me most about it was the stele biography which he wrote, lamenting his own failings and the decision to accept “voluntary humiliation in order to bring peace to his kingdom”.

Cao: He should have fought, not accepting it so easily. We are here fighting. The people have been fighting even without the court support.

Visit Tu Duc's tomb on YouTube.

Phan: I know there are many posters calling for resistance. I heard about one anonymous poster calling for "putting down the French and retrieving the North" put on the main road of Nam Đàn District.  

Cao: Because yielding to the French is a betrayal to our ancestors. Besides, it’s suicide.

Phan: It’s a slow death, but death for sure. The Cambodian king yielded his kingdom as French protectorate, and where did that get him? Gradually, they are trying to squeeze him out of all power, like a boa snake.

Cao: It’s a complete mistake, sir.

Phan: Nguyễn Trường Tộ’s words are these, “Once a mistake has been made, it is cause for eternal regret; By starting over from the beginning, the foundation for a hundred years may be laid."

Cao: Does he mean his own mistake working for the French, sir?

Phan: I am sure he deeply regretted that period of his life, but I always sensed that he was talking more about the country although I couldn’t pinpoint what he meant. It could be Gia Long’s for inviting the French in, Minh Mạng’s for kicking them out, Thiệu Trị’s for not preparing for war, or Tự Đức’s for not modernizing and strengthening the country. 

Cao: Or all of them?

Phan: On the contrary, now I think it’s none of these. Our mistake, rather, is to think that the court is the country. That is wrong. Vietnam is its people. We need to start over by trusting and giving power back to the people, then the foundation for a hundred years may be laid. 

He slowly kneels down on the ground facing the recruits, kowtows to them, and with the loudest voice he could muster shouts out, 

“The Emperors are dead. Long live the people!”

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