Primitive Montagnard Crossbow from Vietnam

This Montagnard crossbow antique is from the Vietnamese HIll Tribes, and it has been restored into a non-functional item for collectors. Montagnard is an umbrella term for the various indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The French term Montagnard (listen)) signifies a mountain dweller, and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they are known by the term Thượng (lit. 'highlanders'), although this term can also be applied to other minority ethnic groups in Vietnam. In modern Vietnam, both terms are archaic, and indigenous ethnic groups are referred to as Đồng bào (lit. 'compatriot') or Người dân tộc thiểu số (lit. 'minority people'). Earlier they were referred to pejoratively as the mọi.
The bow, stock and trigger is all broken and glued back, but the glue is not strong enough for functional shooting. it has been re-sanded and stained to give its original look from the 1970s.
The stock is over 500mm and designed for two hand use. they had one handed crossbows as well but those were more pistol gripped or shot without aiming at very close distances.
The Montagnards are most covered in English-language scholarship for their participation in the Vietnam War, where they were heavily recruited by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and its American and Australian allies. The Montagnards tended to be Christian at a higher proportion than that of the Viet people, and the North Vietnamese were seen by some Montagnards as propounding a heavily centralized state that would not value Montagnard local priorities or religious practices.
"Throughout the southeastern Asia the crossbow is still used by primitive and tribal peoples both for hunting and war, from the Assamese mountains through Burma, Siam and to the confines of Indo-China. The peoples of the northeastern Asia possess it also, both as weapon and toy, but use it mainly in the form of unattended traps; this is true of the Yakut, Tungus, and Chukchi, even of the Ainu in the east. There seems to be no way of answering the question whether it first arose among the barbaric forefathers of these Asian peoples before the rise of the Chinese culture in their midst, and then underwent its technical development only therein, or whether it spread outwards from China to all the environing peoples. The former seems the more probable hypothesis, given the further linguistic evidence in its support"
Needham, Joseph (1994), Science and Civilization in China Volume 5 Part 6, Cambridge University Press
Around the third century BC, King An Dương of Âu Lạc (modern-day northern Vietnam) and (modern-day southern China) commissioned a man named Cao Lỗ (or Cao Thông) to construct a crossbow and christened it "Saintly Crossbow of the Supernaturally Luminous Golden Claw" (nỏ thần), which one shot could killed 300 men. According to historian Keith Taylor, the crossbow, along with the word for it, seems to have been introduced into China from Austroasiatic peoples in the south around the fourth century BC. However, this is contradicted by crossbow locks found in ancient "Chinese" Zhou Dynasty tombs dating to the 600s BC.
In 315 AD, Nu Wen taught the Chams how to build fortifications and use crossbows. The Chams would later give the Chinese crossbows as presents on at least one occasion. Siege crossbows were transmitted to the Chams by Zhi Yangjun, who was shipwrecked on their coast in 1172. He remained there and taught them mounted archery and how to use siege crossbows. In 1177 crossbows were used by the Champa in their invasion and sacking of Angkor, the Khmer Empire's capital. The Khmer also had double bow crossbows mounted on elephants, which Michel JacqHergoualc’h suggest were elements of Cham mercenaries in Jayavarman VII's army.
0:00 intro
4:53 Vietnam war era
7:56 Prior to the Modern Era
9:23 Poison
10:17 features of this crossbow
13:09 Trigger design

[@marcellusbrutus3346]

The only CZcamsr talking about historical crossbows around the world

[@dydactic1112]

He's the best

[@HistoricalWeapons]

​@@dydactic1112 thanks, im not sure about that though

[@dydactic1112]

@@HistoricalWeapons Traditional Asian crossbows are hard to come by on CZcams.Most tend to focus on Chu Ko Nu or European crossbow. I'm keen on the idea that crossbow could be as primitive as bow and arrow, it's just we don't have the evidence of it.

[@HistoricalWeapons]

@@dydactic1112 yeah, the chu ko nu is over discussed. we can thank video games

[@1johnnygunn]

Tod cutler & matt Easton of Scholagladiatoria have demonstrated nearly Every historically relevant crossbow from around the world.

[@phawang37]

ian from forgoten weapons should collab with jack

[@mattjones6990]

rising storm 2 vibes

[@HistoricalWeapons]

good times. i miss the PPSH

[@Not-Just-Cars]

or akm

[@zhangtony3372]

Bow Buddha is back

[@Leverguns50]

That’s an interesting little crossbow

[@HistoricalWeapons]

Is the echoing bothering u for audio

[@Leverguns50]

@@HistoricalWeapons no It didn’t bother me

[@HistoricalWeapons]

@@Leverguns50 thanks

[@andkonblack]

welcome to the rice fields

[@aoe2_elo037]

Moda Fakas

[@skyrimJava]

Nice

[@northeee8887]

Nice work Jack, really upped your production value recently :)

[@HistoricalWeapons]

Thanks

[@HistoricalWeapons]

Is the audio ok? Echo too much?

[@RV_Chef_Life]

Great Video! I just purchased one off Ebay for a surprisingly $85. Decent shape and it even had a trigger made out of bone. Obviously can't be shot due to age and minor cracks in the bow part, I did make a hemp bow string for it. I might do a video on it sometime down the road.

[@HistoricalWeapons]

Mine for sale for cheap if ur interested

[@RollTheTape]

When you gonna travel again?

[@HistoricalWeapons]

soon. any suggestions? thinking about dubai

[@HistoricalWeapons]

@jp23 ja vem cara, saudades

[@ritchhistory1888]

Very cool! I have one brought back from Vietnam by a U.S. Army Colonel who was bronze star recipient. I also have the rest of his uniforms.

[@1johnnygunn]

Montagnards (mon tain yards) or Hmong as themselves are my neighbors & friends in Wisconsin. Great hunters.

[@krmahcgempire7748]

Pretty sure hmong people aren't montagnards.They usually reside in the central highlands and are descendants of chams. where as Hmong people are usually more northern.

[@beepboop204]

🙂

[@HistoricalWeapons]

Is the audio ok? Echo too much?

[@pyramid_scheme_termination3655]

Why not just use a blowgun instead of a weak crossbow for poison. You can reload blowgun faster

[@andkonblack]

blow gun required drilling a long tube, drilled by hand, not to mention if you accidentally swallow the poison your dead

[@HistoricalWeapons]

But isnt the poison is near your mouth

[@pyramid_scheme_termination3655]

@@HistoricalWeapons u don’t know much about blowguns. Watch a documentary of how tribes hunt with them using poison.

[@aoe2_elo037]

@@pyramid_scheme_termination3655 he runs a archery channel not blowgun channel

[@HistoricalWeapons]

@@pyramid_scheme_termination3655 I don’t know much about blowguns, would be interested to read more

[@ralfgrosser4443]

My Father was in Vietnam during the war. He brought back a quiver of crossbows arrows. Had this still decades later. The crossbow had been stolen in shipping. He told me that you could buy these in Vietnam as souvenirs. And they had a cottage industrie makeing these to sell to the servicemen. Most were just something cheap barely working proper.

[@treelore7266]

I thought as well that a big and strong trigger is needed to push 200 pounds out of a simple notch but I changed my mind after rubbing a bit of tallow-beeswax mix on the string. Now I don't consider a crossbow shootable until it's been lubricated.

[@user-qd9nj1ux2r]

Thanks Ian

[@LyNguyen33739]

Off topic but did the indigenous Americans use crossbows prior to the arrival of Columbus? Love the vid btw.

[@dsasd778]

Nah

[@HistoricalWeapons]

inuit did use crossbows in 20th century. I dunno if they did pre-colombus.

[@legntt3488]

Did Vikings bring it to Greenland?

[@HistoricalWeapons]

@@legntt3488 Vikings did use crossbows but the probability they brought it to Greenland is very very rare

[@Dnahwjjwjejnenex]

Cree did use

[@pandita4u]

Cool ,thanks for sharing.

[@mr.oppenthunder2527]

I have one of those that my grandpa brought back from Vietnam

[@HistoricalWeapons]

Oh nice how was it? also is the audio ok? Too much echo?

[@Duc_Anh_809]

The Montagnards refer to the ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands (Central Highlands) of Vietnam. They are ethnic groups that speak mainly southern island languages, before 1975 and after 1975 many forces there organized separatist armed groups. before the French discovered them, they didn't have a state of their own. Their crossbows are similar to the crossbows of the ethnic minorities in the mountainous north of Vietnam, the arrows are similar, but the arrows of ethnic minorities such as the Muong in the mountains of northern Vietnam can be impregnated with tree sap as poison. . In Vietnamese history, the crossbow appeared with the first legend of Au Lac state (the second of state of Viet ethnic people ni 218 BC ) country fighting against the Qin army from China, it was very useful for ambushes.

[@dingdong4156]

Oh nice

[@raphlvlogs271]

what type of wood or bamboo was the body of the crossbow made of?

[@CharlesUnkel]

Where could I get a new string and bolts?

[@jerryle379]

Actually depend on ethnic group , some fought for VietMinh and later current Vietnam state , while some fought for the south regime .

[@user-kg9fw1mi6e]

Does champa also used that crossbow?

[@obsrollin4133]

I came across an old crossbow looks similar to that on. do you have an email?I want to know what I have on my hands
Thank you.

[@langdavid6852]

Cool

[@pingASS_]

Awesome! Is the limb made from bamboo?

[@HistoricalWeapons]

vietnam hardwood that looks like rosewood

[@ianuser9650]

Thanks a lot

[@raphlvlogs271]

those tribes could have used their traditional weapons colonial era firearms and modern firearms all together during that war

[@xiaotian5863]

Yes

[@edfitzgerald6626]

The U.S. used as guides in the jungle and crossbows are quiet.

[@elshebactm6769]

🤠👍🏿

[@HistoricalWeapons]

Is the audio ok? Echo too much?

[@elshebactm6769]

@@HistoricalWeapons is fine, didn't bother me🤠👍🏿

[@HistoricalWeapons]

@@elshebactm6769 omg u wrote words for the first time

[@elshebactm6769]

@@HistoricalWeapons xd

[@greenmagic8ball198]

Weren't Montagnards on the Americans' side? The French used a 'divide and conquer ' strategy with ethnic groups in Indochina. They gave Montagnards and other ethnic minorities preferential treatment to get their support. The Vietnamese communists resented them for this and thus were enemies. The US offered training and advisement to the Montagnards and Hmong in their fight against communist Vietnam.

[@HistoricalWeapons]

such crossbows are used in northern vietnam not just exclusively by the montagnards.

[@greenmagic8ball198]

@@HistoricalWeapons I was moreso commenting on the passing mention of Americans facing this weapon in the hands of Montagnards. It's entirely possible that they encountered the weapon but unless I got my history wrong the Montagnards wouldn't be the ones using it. Anyway I enjoyed the video.

[@HistoricalWeapons]

@@greenmagic8ball198 thanks yes your comment make sense

[@nerhaci2074]

Wow

[@ThomasWilts98]

LenGth lenth 😩😑

[@HistoricalWeapons]

Gotta follow laws

[@dsasd778]

Nobody cares about crossbow history

[@fire_lord862]

I care 😌

[@HistoricalWeapons]

@@fire_lord862 same. there are millions of people who care about firearm history, sword history, but a very small group that care about crossbow history

[@markdennis254]

Nice

[@bugger6881]

Yes

[@Dnahwjjwjejnenex]

Yes

[@legntt3488]

Yes