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Q. Did the Vietnamese really defeat the Japanese in Vietnam during WW2 or did the Japanese simply leave after the announcement of surrender?A. Quite a few stayed behind rather than go back to their defeated homeland. Some evaded trial for war crimes. All were welcome by General Võ Nguyên Giáp (victory at any cost), who arranged for them to receive Vietnamese citizenship and false identification papers. Many joined the Viet Minh, led troops and rose as high as colonel. Early major battles inflicted high French casualties. Many taught at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy. A few stayed in Vietnam as late as the 1970’s.Which Japanese military officers helped Ho Chi Minh?After the Armistice that ended the Pacific War, some tens of thousands of Japanese veterans remained in Vietnam, with more in nearby regions. They were actively courted by the Viet Minh, who needed their experience and expertise in the looming war with France. Some 1000 Japanese military personnel thus found themselves on the Vietnamese side, including 47 former Kempetai members and/or 46 officers.Most of the officers who stayed served as military instructors for the Viet Minh forces, most notably at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy. They imparted modern military science and training on their students. There were necessary conventional military knowledge such as how to conduct assaults, night attacks, company/battalion level exercises, commanding, tactics, navigation, communications and movements. In addition, they taught them how to fight against a superior enemy through sabotage, ambushes and raids. A few led Vietnamese forces into combat.Kenpei officers aboard a train in 1935.Those who belonged to the Kenpeitai were wanted by the allies. France primarily wanted to deprive the Vietnamese of Japanese military training and assistance. Beginning in 1951, these soldiers began to be repatriated.Lieutenant Colonel Mukaiyama, a staff officer in the 38th Army who became a technical advisor to the Vietnamese; killed in combat in 1946. Leader of Japanese forces in Vietnam, and ranked as a full colonel.Major Ishii Takuo, a staff officer in the 55th Division who had commanded a squadron of its cavalry regiment. The youngest major in the Imperial Arm, he led a number of volunteers to the Vietnamese cause, becoming a colonel and military advisor to General Nguyễn Sơn. He headed the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy before founding the Tuy Hòa Military Academy, and was killed by a land mine in 1950.Major Kanetoshi Toshihide, served with Major Igari in the 2nd Division and followed him to join the Viet Minh; he became Chief of Staff for General Nguyễn Giác Ngộ.Major Igawa Sei, a staff officer in the 34th Independent Mixed Brigade; he joined Viet Minh forces, and was killed in action in 1946. He conceived the idea of establishing the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy.Lieutenant Igari Kazumasa, commander of an infantry company in the 2nd Division's 29th Infantry Regiment; he became an instructor at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy.Lieutenant Kamo Tokuji, a platoon leader under Lietuenant Igari; he also became an instructor at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy.2nd Lieutenant Tanimoto Kikuo, an intelligence officer who was to remain behind in Indonesia, but linked up with the 34th Brigade to get home, only to end up an instructor at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy until 1954.2nd Lieutenant Nakahara Mitsunobu, an intelligence officer of the 34th Independent Mixed Brigade; became a decorated Viet Minh soldier, and later an instructor at the Quảng Ngãi Military Academy.Japanese Occupation of VietnamVietnam - WWII and Japanese Occupation (globalsecurity.org)Japanese soldiers serving with the Viet Minh (warbirdforum.com)JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF VIETNAM (alphahistory.com)1. In September 1940 Vietnam was occupied by Japanese forces, which were expanding throughout south-east Asia and seeking greater control over China’s southern borders.2. Japan’s vision was that Asian nations like Vietnam be absorbed into its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, a confederation free of Western influence or control.3. For much of World War II, the Japanese allowed the French colonial government to continue ruling Vietnam. Japan lacked the men for a full scale occupation of Vietnam.4. In March 1945 the Japanese, then in retreat from south-east Asia, abruptly ended French rule and seized control of Vietnam, installing Emperor Bao Dai as a puppet ruler.5. With French control ended and the Japanese distracted, Ho Chi Minh and the nationalist Viet Minh flourished, gaining numbers and seizing control of parts of north-western Vietnam. Japan’s defeat in August 1945 then raised the question of who would rule post-war Vietnam.Japanese troops enjoying leave in Saigon during World War II.The Japanese occupied Vietnam in September 1940 and remained there until the end of World War II (August 1945). The pretext for the invasion was Japan’s ongoing war with China, which began in 1937. By occupying Vietnam, Tokyo hoped to close off China’s southern border and halt its supply of weapons and materials. The occupation of Vietnam also fit into Japan’s long term imperial plans. Japanese leaders, driven by militarism and hungry for profit, dreamed of creating what they called a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, an economic coalition of Asian nations. Together these Asian countries would expel Western imperialists and capitalists, then share trade, resources and commodities between themselves. In reality, the Co-prosperity Sphere would be a quasi-empire, run from Tokyo for the benefit of Japan, its government and its corporations. Countries like China, Korea and Vietnam would be transformed into vassal states ruled by puppet governments. They would provide cheap land, labor and resources for Japanese industries. It was Japanese imperialism cloaked in a veil of Asian nationalism.From early 1940 Tokyo began pressuring French colonial administrators in Vietnam, demanding that Japanese soldiers be allowed into the country to secure the Chinese border. These requests were refused. In May 1940 soldiers from Nazi Germany invaded France; within a month the French government had surrendered and signed an armistice with Berlin. The French surrender at home weakened the French colonial government in Vietnam, which had little option but to concede to Japanese demands. An agreement signed in June 1940 allowed Japanese troops to control the northern border between Vietnam and China. Another signed in August acknowledged Japan’s rights and interests in south-east Asia. On September 20th the French governor general, Jean Decoux, signed an agreement with Tokyo giving the Japanese access to Haiphong harbor and allowing the placement of up to 6,000 troops in northern Vietnam. But the Japanese, dissatisfied with this agreement, broke it the following day. By midnight on September 22nd a Japanese invasion of Vietnam was underway.Jean Decoux, French governor of Vietnam during World War IIJapanese forces took just a week to secure control of Vietnam. By October there were around 10,000 Japanese soldiers stationed there, mainly around the ports, airfields and important industrial centers. For most of their occupation the Japanese left the French colonial government in place – though its authority was greatly diminished. This tactic contradicted Tokyo’s policy of “Asia for Asians” – but Japan could not spare the men for a full scale occupation of Vietnam. Instead, they preferred to leave the French in charge and develop Vietnam as a client state. This allowed Tokyo to ‘use’ Vietnam for its own ends without deploying large numbers of soldiers there (at no point did Japanese troop numbers in Vietnam exceed 35,000 men). Between 1941 and 1945 the French administration in Vietnam, led by Decoux, engaged in ‘co-existence’ with the Japanese. In May 1941 Decoux granted Japan ‘most favoured nation’ status, meaning the bulk of Vietnamese exports were allocated to Tokyo at low prices. Later, Japanese troops were given unrestricted access to Vietnam’s roads, rail network and ports. This allowed them to use Vietnam both as a thoroughfare for the conquest of Thailand and Burma, and a staging point for attacks further south.A French poster critical of Japanese imperialism in IndochinaThe Vietnamese people had mixed feelings about this dual imperialism. Some welcomed the arrival of the Japanese: they believed an Asian colonial power was preferable to Westerners. Two notable Vietnamese religious groups, Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, openly collaborated with the Japanese. Others, however, considered the Japanese to be no different to the French, just another troupe of foreign imperialists. The Japanese made an effort to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese – a policy that differed from their brutality and oppression in China. Propaganda told the Vietnamese that the Japanese were in their country as “liberators” rather than conquerors. Japanese language courses were organised in large cities; Japanese films, literature and poetry were translated into local languages. The Vietnamese people were told how Japan’s military supremacy was slowly driving the white imperialists out of Asia. But while some Vietnamese drew closer to the Japanese, most believed Japanese imperialism would be the same, or even worse, than that of the French. One peasant told his neighbors that “The Japanese are a hundred times crueler than the French. Even a worm or a cricket could not live under their brutal violence”.The Japanese presence in Vietnam also attracted foreign attention, particularly from the United States. In 1940 America was not yet at war with Japan but it was nevertheless working to restrict Japanese expansion. The US also wanted to protect its imports of raw rubber, half of which came from Vietnam. At first Washington backed the French colonial regime in Vietnam, hoping it would resist Japanese overtures. But when the French caved in to Japanese demands, the US changed tack. By 1943 president Roosevelt was openly talking of Vietnamese independence. By 1944, Washington was much more interested in the situation in Indochina. The Americans opened a military station at Kunming in southern China, while American advisers and Office of Strategic Services (OSS) agents supported both the Chinese Guomindang and Vietnamese resistance groups. The Americans worked closely with Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh, who supplied the US military with information about Japanese troop numbers and movements. It was more a working relationship than an alliance, however it gave Ho Chi Minh hope that Washington might later support Vietnamese independence, once the war had ended.By the start of 1945 the war was going poorly for Japan.Having surrendered the Philippines, the Japanese were in retreat across south-east Asia, relinquishing captured territory and incurring heavy losses. Tokyo had previously identified Vietnam as a fallback position for retreating Japanese troops, since it could be more easily occupied, secured and defended. In March 1945 the Japanese occupation force, claiming that French colonists were assisting the Allies, withdrew their support for the colonial regime. The French were removed from power in Vietnam; every French colonial official or military officer was arrested and locked up; all French soldiers were disarmed. Shutting down colonial authority in Indochina only benefited the Viet Minh, however, which flourished without pressure from French troops. The Japanese invited emperor Bao Dai to declare Vietnamese independence and handed him the reins of power, though both were only nominal. From March 1945 Vietnam became a member state of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, in effect a Japanese colony run by a puppet government.Ho Chi Minh with US officers and agents during World War IIHo Chi Minh declared the Japanese the “number one enemy” but resisted calls for a major Viet Minh campaign against them. Knowing the Japanese were in retreat, and that a major Allied attack was imminent, Ho preferred to wait. By June 1945 he felt strong enough to establish a Viet Minh-controlled zone in north-western Vietnam. This region was remote and had no strategic significance to the Japanese, so they did not launch any major campaigns against it. Through the middle of 1945 the Viet Minh busied itself with organisation, propaganda and recruiting. Ho Chi Minh also had to deal with food shortages and famine, which were widespread in the north. The Viet Minh movement consolidated its hold in the north and began to spread into central Vietnam, gaining 100,000 new recruits. By the start of August 1945 the Japanese were on the verge of defeat and the resistance movement was stronger than ever. Viet Minh cadres began seizing control of Japanese-held villages and towns. In early August the US dropped atomic weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, attacks that led to the Japanese surrender. Yet another foreign power had occupied Vietnam, only to be defeated. As the Japanese mobilized to leave Vietnam, its people wondered who their new rulers might be.J. Llewellyn et al, “The Japanese occupation of Vietnam”, Alpha History.Vietnam - WWII and Japanese Occupation (globalsecurity.org)The signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (Nazi-Soviet Non-Agression pact) in August 1939, caused France immediately to ban the French Communist Party and, soon afterwards, to declare illegal all Vietnamese political parties including the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP). The colonial authorities began a crack down on communists, arresting an estimated 2,000 and closing down all communist and radical journals. The party consequently was forced to shift its activities to the countryside, where French control was weaker--a move that was to benefit the communists in the long run. In November the ICP Central Committee held its Sixth Plenum with the goal of mapping out a new united front strategy, the chief task of which was national liberation. According to the new strategy, support would now be welcomed from the middle class and even the landlord class, although the foundation of the party continued to be the proletarian-peasant alliance.With the outbreak of World War II, France was compelled to withdraw her best troops from Indochina in order to use them in the European theater. The result was that Indochina — particularly after France’s defeat in June 1940 — was left wide open to ever increasing Japanese pressures. As France collapsed, it was not as a casual onlooker that Japan viewed the debacle. Japan saw (with the clarity of insight of an Al Capone) that French Indo-China would need “protection” if it were to remain secure against the designs of unprincipled foreign powers who might seek to take advantage of France’s plight.Zealously intent on her professed role of protector of the weak, she brushed aside the feebly conventional protests of the Vichy-appointed Governor General (Vice-Admiral Jean DeCoux) and began pouring in “protection” in the form of Japanese troops—to the eventual total of seventy thousand. Japan demanded that the French colonial government close the Hanoi-Kunming railway to shipments of war-related goods to China. The Japanese, in particular, sought to obtain control of the Haiphong—Yunnan railroad in order to attack Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek’s main supply bases around Kunming. Indeed the armistice with Germany had hardly been signed before a Japanese military mission under General Nishihara appeared in Hanoi.In an agreement with the Vichy government in France in August 1940, Japan formally recognized French sovereignty in Indochina in return for access to military facilities, transit rights, and the right to station occupation troops in Tonkin. On 30 August 1940, Japan began to occupy a transit base at Haipbong and all major airfields of Tonkin. On 22 September 1940, however, Japanese troops invaded from China, seizing the Vietnamese border towns of Đồng Đăng and Lạng Sơn. As the French retreated southward, the Japanese encouraged Vietnamese troops to support the invasion. The communists in the Bac Son district border area moved to take advantage of the situation, organizing self-defense units and establishing a revolutionary administration. The French protested to the Japanese, however, and a cease-fire was arranged whereby the French forces returned to their posts and promptly put down all insurrection. Most of the communist forces in Tonkin were able to retreat to the mountains. In similar short-lived uprisings that took place in the Plain of Reeds (Đồng Tháp Mười) area of Cochinchina, however, the communist rebel forces had nowhere to retreat and most were destroyed by the French.Japanese Imperial Army soldiers advance to Lạng Sơn, in September 1940On 29 July 1941, Japan, further occupied naval and air bases at Saigon and Tourane, and shortly after Pearl Harbor, Indochina was in fact as much a Japanese-occupied territory as any of the other southeast Asian countries which were overrun by the Japanese forces. The only difference being that the French still maintained their internal administration and lightly-armed military forces. It is estimated that the total French military forces available in Indochina did not exceed 15,000 men.Japanese troops enter Saigon on bicycleEven during the Japanese occupation of Viet Nam during World War II, both the Nationalists and Communists focused on building their own separate underground intelligence and guerrilla networks. The Vietminh, which was short for Việt Nam Độc lập Đồng minh Hội, or Vietnamese League for Independence, was founded in May 1941. It was technically an umbrella organization under which nationalist, socialist, peasant, student, and other organizations combined to fight the Japanese, who had taken control of the country from its colonial overlords, the French. In reality, the Vietminh were led by a small handful of Communists, two of whom would figure prominently in America’s war in Vietnam. The first was Võ Nguyên Giáp, one of the principal founders of the Vietminh and leader of its tiny military force. The other was Ho Chi Minh.Nguyen-Ai-Quoc (the later known as Ho Chi Minh) speaking at the foundational congress of the French Communist Party in December 1920. Michael GoebelWhile in China early in World War II, Ho was imprisoned by the Kuomintang for his affiliation with the Communists. In 1943 the Nationalists released Ho to return to Vietnam with the expectation that he would foment trouble against the Japanese and send intelligence reports from Vietnam. Ho's return to Vietnam, under Chinese auspices, bore a remarkable similarity to Lenin's sealed-train ride under German auspices to Russia during the Great War. The Americans liked Ho and the Vietminh and were impressed by their enthusiasm and ability to learn quickly. They knew Ho was a Communist, but this was not an issue at the time because the United States was allied with the Communist Soviet Union in the war against Germany. If one could accept Joseph Stalin as an ally, then Ho was not a problem.The Americans also knew that Ho was first and foremost a nationalist, dedicated to freeing his country from all foreign control. During the war, that meant fighting the Japanese; after the war, it would be the French if they chose to try to reassert colonial control over Vietnam. Ho’s anti-Japanese resistance fighters helped to rescue downed American pilots and furnished information on Japanese forces in Indochina. On 10 August 1944 the Viet Minh (Viet Nam Independence League) called on the Vietnamese people to take up arms and contribute money to buy weapons to fight against Japanese occupation. Ho and Giap were simultaneously fighting the Japanese, while slowly extending Vietminh political control over much of northern Vietnam. Though he did make trouble for the Japanese, Ho's primary purpose was to organize the Vietminh to seize power in Vietnam after the departure of the Japanese, an aim he successfully achieved.Võ Nguyên Giáp (left) together with Viet Minh forces in the jungle near Kao Bak Lang in 1944.Backed (and confronted) by Japanese "protection", the Vichy-appointed Governor General Vice-Admiral Jean DeCoux maintained for four and a half years an outward semblance of French sovereignty; presenting to the world the seeming anomaly of a colony surviving the downfall of its mother country. By early March 1945, however, the disastrous course of the war made it necessary for Japan to revise her plans. The new government in France had been singularly unappreciative of the trouble Japan had gone to in providing protection for Indo-China; and the presence of the existing French Indo-Chinese Army under General Alessandri (15,000 French & 35,000 natives) might prove more than embarrassing to the Japanese in the event of an Allied landing. In view of this situation Japan decided to ring down the curtain on Act I of the Indo-China farce and shift the props in preparation for the next scene—in which (coached by her far-seeing empire-builders) she would play her best loved role, “The Emancipator.”With the war situation turning to the advantage of the Allies, the Japanese decided to eliminate the slight threat to their communications lines which the small colonial army represented, and on 9 March 1945, Japanese troops and secret police wiped out all French resistance. Only a few units succeeded in escaping the Japanese and succeeded in fighting their way through the jungle into Free China. Among these units was a task force of a few thousand men under the command of Generals Sabatier and Alessandri. At the same time, all French administrators and civil servants, as well as most of the white or Eurasian civilian population, were imprisoned in various internment camps. Some of these internment camps achieved a notoriety in the Far East comparable to that of Dachau and Buchenwald in Europe. In less than two months all resistance had ended, except for the desultory efforts by remnants under General Alessandri, and a military regime was established, with the Japanese Ambassador and six Consuls General serving as “advisors” to the Japanese Army.Japanese capture of HanoiWhile the Japanese eliminated the French, the various nationalist and Communist groups began to reorganize themselves in order to take over as rapidly as possible whatever regions the Japanese did not occupy. Soon, such groups controlled seven provinces in Upper Tonkin as well as large tracts of land in Annam. The elimination of the French brought about a complete breakdown of Allied intelligence which, hitherto had mainly relied upon its French contacts and this factor favored the activities of these groups. The new situation resulted in contacts between the gurerrillas and OSS as well as Chinese Nationalist intelligence groups. Many new weapons (bazookas, submachine guns) as well as radio sets and instructors were parachuted to them so that certain of the guerrilla units soon gained an appreciable amount of combat strength and efficiency. No distinction was made as to whether the groups in question were subordinated to a recognized liberation movement or whether they pursued aims of their own or of a particular political party. As it happens, it was the Communist groups under their Moscow-trained leader Ho Chi Minh which possessed not only the necessary strength but also the adequate purposeful leadership necessary to exploit the existing situation to the fullest.Eager to play to an appreciative audience (before the Allies might arrive) her role espousing the cause of freedom, Japan by mid-March 1945 had set upon gilded if unstable thrones the Kings of Cambodia, Luang Prabang (Laos) and the Emperor of Annam, and in her solicitude for these heretofore-oppressed peoples, offered counsel and guidance to the carefully selected government Cabinets. Japan’s actors however, proved more eager than artful, and their performance was disturbed by increasingly rude heckling of the Etsumei (Annamese Independence League). This anti-French organization (ignored by the Japanese in forming the Annamese Cabinet) had waited long years for independence and was to be neither deceived nor appeased now by the Japanese counterfeit. (Apparently deluded themselves, the Japanese reported aggrievedly to Tokyo that “the Anmanese have gone so far as to question Japan’s real motives.”)The Annamese Emperor, Bao Dai (who, the Japanese learned to their dismay, was “not nearly as weak-minded as the French had said”) recognized the importance of political harmony, and proceeded to reorganize his Cabinet to include some members of the Etsumei. The latter, however, were not to be thus easily stilled, and in addition to demands for lower taxes, release of Japanese Army rice for civilian consumption, etc., began clamoring for extension of Annamese sovereignty to the long-claimed States of Tonkin and Cochin-China. By July (1945) popular support for this last issue had become so strong that the Cabinet threatened to resign, being dissuaded only by a Japanese promise to “restore” the desired areas to Annam by September 1945.A further cause of Etsumei dissatisfaction and no little suspicion, was the return from Tokyo (after many years of exile for anti-French activities) of pro-Japanese Prince Cuong De. It was feared that the Japanese (in an effort to rectify their mistake in crowning Bao Dai), intended to install Cuong De as Emperor. The Japanese Army, ever disdainful of the Japanese Foreign Office and uninterested in these endless political artifices, saw in the Etsumei’s defiant attitude an affront to its dignity, and began making large-scale arrests. The Etsumei thereupon adopted a more aggressive attitude and, after a series of minor incidents, seized arms and ammunition from Emperor Bao Dai’s native Security Units (who had been armed by the Japanese). Thus equipped, the Etsumei on 24 July made what appears to have been a fairly large-scale surprise attack on Japanese troops in Tonkin, with resultant casualties to both sides. Before the Japanese Army could carry out extensive punitive measures against the Etsumei, rumors of Japan’s acceptance of the Potsdam Ultimatum began to spread amongst the Army officials.On 6 August 1945 the first atom bomb gave the signal of the beginning of the end of Japan’s military might. On the following day, Ho Chi Minh’s guerrillas became the “Vietnam Liberation Army,” a shadow government, called the "Vietnam People’s Liberation Committee" was set up during the following days. On 15 August 1945 Japan accepted the Allies' terms of unconditional surrender, ending World War II. That same day, the National Insurrection Committee called on all Vietnamese people to rise up against Japanese occupation. Vietnamese revolutionary forces rise up against Japanese occupation in World War II and seize power in the provincial capitals of Bac Giang, Hai Duong, Ha Tinh, Quang Nam, and My Tho provinces. From August 14 to 18, the general insurrection, later known as the August Revolution, spread to rural areas in the north, most of Central Viet Nam and parts of the south, to be crowned with complete victory on 19 August 1945.Ho Chi Minh and Emperor Bao DaiBy 20 August 1945, the Vietminh solidly held the whole north of Vietnam (as the three coastal territories of Indochina collectively was now called) while the Japanese quietly abandoned their puppets to shift for themselves. On 25 August 1945 Bảo Đại abdicated; his Cabinet resigned and the Etsumei established the “Provisional Government of the Viet Nam Republic” headed by President Ho Chi Minh.” After Bao Dai’s abdication he became an advisor to the Provisional Government, living in Hanoi under the assumed name of Prince Eisui.On 25 August, a "Provisional Executive Committee for South Vietnam,” including seven Communists among its nine members, took control of Saigon. Within a fortnight after Hiroshima, the red flag of the Vietminh flew over all of Vietnam. In the wake of the Japanese surrender, Ho Chi Minh took advantage of the facility vacuum and proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. On Sept 2nd, 1945, President Ho Chi Minh read the Independence Manifesto declaring the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at Ba Dinh Square. The election held under Vietminh auspices during January 1946 brought an overwhelming victory to the Vietminh.US Army officers stood at Ho’s side in August 1945 as he basked in the short-lived satisfaction of declaring Vietnam’s independence. American support for Ho was illusionary. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had opposed returning Vietnam to French colonial rule, but he did not necessarily support independence for Vietnam; he had suggested a United Nations protectorate, or even temporary control by China. When Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, so did any resolve by the US government to prevent a French return to Vietnam. His successor, Harry S. Truman, was more concerned with stability in a postwar Europe than with dismantling French colonial rule in Indochina.The victorious allied forces determined that the Nationalist Chinese would occupy North Vietnam and the British the south. The frequently witnessed Chinese-Vietnamese drama -- in which China seeks to control Vietnam while the Vietnamese maneuver to rid themselves of that control -- was re-enacted in 1945-1946. In accordance with an Allied agreement made at Potsdam, Chinese Nationalist forces entered Tonkin, in North Vietnam, after the Japanese defeat, supposedly to disarm the Japanese in the territory south to the 16th parallel. The Nationalists sent a force of some 180,000 men under General Lu Han, their wives and children, a band of porters, and few supplies. They selected the best living quarters, lived off the land, looted, and blackmarketed. They liquidated locally at a handsome profit the weapons, ammunition, and equipment seized from the surrendered Japanese. Purchase of some of these stocks by the Vietminh helped arm them for future hostilities.Ho Chi Minh, who had created the Vietminh guerrilla force to combat the Japanese, correctly perceived that a Chinese presence in Vietnam’s heartland posed a significant threat. Though the Japanese invasion had ended practically a century of oppressive colonial rule by France, he had no hesitation in making a case of the hated French to take over North Vietnam for yet another 5 years. When challenged to justify such seemingly perverse behavior, he famously replied “Higher to smell French shit for the subsequent five years than eat Chinese shit for the remainder of my life”.French reasserted controlThe French, too, had an obvious interest in Chinese withdrawal from Vietnam. The latter therefore were in a position to extract important concessions from the French. In exchange for their departure by March 31, 1946, the Chinese gained the French renunciation of extraterritorial rights and concessions in China. Although his analysis of the comparative strengths of the French and Chinese was precise, he misjudged the timing. The French predictably reneged on the deal and, with British assist, attempted to re-colonize Vietnam. It took an additional nine years of bitter preventing till the Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu finally drove the colonialists out of the country.Col. Christian de Castries, French commander at Điện Biên PhủChinese Communist support for the Vietminh against the French between 1946 and 1954, though estimated at less than 20 percent of Vietminh supplies (and perhaps one-ninth of the amount contributed by the United States to the French war effort), contributed significantly to the Vietminh success. Whether Chinese assistance, tangible or intangible, was indispensable to the Vietminh victory is impossible to judge.First Indochina War - WikipediaClockwise from top: After the fall of Dien Bien Phu supporting laotian troops fall back across the Mekong River into Laos; French Marine commandos wade ashore off the Annam coast in July 1950; M24 Chaffee American light tank used by French in Vietnam; Geneva Conference in 21 July 1954; A Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat from Escadrille 1F prepares to land on the French carrier Arromanches (R95) operating in the Gulf of Tonkin.Japanese soldiers serving with the Viet Minh (warbirdforum.com)This subject began to fascinate me when I read that the Japanese genius and war criminal Colonel Tsuji Masanobu spent his last years in Vietnam, helping defeat the Americans. Finally someone did serious research into the subject: As a French scholar, using French archives, Christopher Goscha concentrated on the years 1945-1950, and there is of course no proof that any of the individuals he mentions were still serving with the North Vietnamese or Viet Cong during the "American War." What follows is condensed, with Prof. Goscha's permission, from his article "Belated Asian Allies," which appeared in A Companion to the Vietnam War, edited by Young & Buzzanco and published by Blackwell in 2002.Masanobu Tsuji - WikipediaBelated Asian AlliesGoscha estimates that perhaps 5,000 Japanese stayed behind in Vietnam in the fall of 1945. (The translator renders their status as "deserters," but I don't think that's honest. How can you desert from an army that has surrendered?) Famously able to subordinate the means to the end, the Communists naturally put them to use in their war against the French. As Goscha points out, the Viet Minh had very little experience in warfare or government, as opposed to guerilla resistance of the sort they had used against the occupying Japanese. They would have been glad of the expertise available in the left-behind Japanese population, both military and civilian.Vietnam was divided at the 16th parallel by the victorious Allies, with the Chinese occupying the north and the British occupying the south. The Chinese gave the Viet Minh considerable freedom of action, while the British brought in French troops to relieve them of the burden of occupation; the French of course moved quickly to put down any independence movement.The first Japanese aid came in the form of arms: in the north, Vo Nguyen Giap equipped his troops with French weapons that the Japanese had issued to its puppet Indochinese Guard. Japanese weapons made their way into the black market soon after the surrender. It wasn't long before Japanese soldiers and officers also became available: there was no immediate way home for these men, even if they wanted to go. They hadn't been defeated in the field; they couldn't understand why the Emperor had ended the war; they had nothing to greet them at home but shame and desolation. Many had Vietnamese wives or girlfriends. When the war ended, they thought of themselves in the tradition of the Rōnin or leaderless samurai warriors. Like the ronin, they simply gravitated toward whatever employer was willing to hire them.And the Viet Minh wanted them, the officers and NCOs particularly, as training cadres. In September 1945, there were about 50,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians in northern Vietnam; by December 1946, about 32,000 had been repatriated and 3,000 escaped to the island of Hainan, leaving 15,000 still in the country. Perhaps a third of these, Goscha believes, may have joined the Viet Minh as cadre, combat troops, or civilian experts. In the British-occupied south, with the French returning and pressing the Viet Minh hard, a much larger proportion of the Japanese garrison was repatriated; Goscha estimates that only a few thousand remained in the summer of 1946, and that perhaps only a few hundred actually joined the Communist forces. (Apparently a larger number simply melted into the population as farmers and shop-keepers.)In Thai Nguyen province, the Japanese apparently ran an arms factory. In Hanoi, a western-educated Japanese scholar named Kiyoshi Komatsu directed the Viet Minh's "International Committee for the Aid and Support of the Government of the DRV." In Quang Ngai, a Viet Minh officers' school had six Japanese officers on the faculty; in southern Trung Bo province, 36 out of 50 military instructors were Japanese. Major Ishii Takuo, a young officer of the 55th Division in Burma, deserted in Cambodia in December 1945 with several comrades and made his way to Vietnam, where he became a colonel in the Viet Minh, provisional head of the Quang Ngai military academy, and later "chief advisor" to Communist guerrillas in the south. Some specialists, including doctors and ordnance experts, were forced to work for the Viet Minh against their will. The French identified eleven Japanese nurses and two doctors working for the Viet Minh in northern Vietnam in 1951."One of the results of the Japanese presence in the Viet Minh army was an increase in French losses at the beginning of the war," Goscha writes. During the first battles in the north, Japanese soldiers served in the front lines. In Hue in 1947, the French reported battling a Japanese assault force of 150 men. Also in 1947, Colonel Ishii helped set up an ambush that killed upwards of 70 French soldiers.Koshiro Iwai led Vietnamese units into battle and led commando raids behind French lines; by 1949 he was a Viet Minh battalion deputy commander. Later he became a planner for the 174th Regiment, helping the Viet Minh to employ their newly acquired Chinese cannon.In 1951, the Viet Minh began to repatriate their Japanese (and European) helpers via China and Eastern Europe. After the Geneva Accords of 1954, which divided Vietnam into two halves, 71 Japanese left the Viet Minh and went home, and others returned over the years. "A handful would remain in Vietnam well into the 1970s," Goscha writes. "Others would never return." This doesn't necessarily mean they helped in the war against the Americans; more likely, these stay-behinds had simply gone native.The 1954 Geneva ConferenceSupporting information[Here's another discussion of the same question, by George Moore, which appeared on the moderated Vietnam War newsgroup several years ago. -- DF]A number of years ago, there was some discussion [here] about the Imperial Japanese soldiers who, in 1945 and 1946, volunteered to serve with the Viet Minh in exchange for protection from World War II era Allied war crime tribunals. Cecil B Currey's new book Victory At Any Cost: The Genius of Vietnam's General Vo Nguyen Giap reviews the subject. Below are some notes about it for any student who wants to look into it. Most critically, it should be easy these days to get a copy of the original American DIA report about it. See below. With a copy of that report in hand, a most interesting article could be written about a long forgotten subject.See page 125, where it is a question of Viet Minh repression of opposition groups just after the Chinese Kuomintang armies pulled out of Hanoi and northern Vietnam in June of 1946:"In this activity, Giap had the help not only of his regular Viet Minh cadres but of another special unit as well. In 1945, Giap had enlisted 1,500 fanatically "antiwhite" Japanese military personnel who offered their services to him following Japan's surrender to the Allies. For them it was more attractive than the idea of returning to a defeated and occupied homeland. These soldiers were led by 230 noncommissioned officers and forty-seven gendarmes of the once dreaded Japanese Kempetai, all of whom were wanted for questioning by the Allies on charges of suspected war crimes. The entire group was commanded by Colonel Mukayama from the general staff of the 38th Imperial Army. Giap arranged for them all to receive Vietnamese citizenship and false identification papers. Mukayama became one of Giap's firm supporters and willingly served him when called upon, as he was in this instance, to attack opponents of the Viet Minh regime."Unfortunately, the footnote to this text points only to the words "DIA Document". It does not matter however, because there is the name Colonel Mukayama. A search of old DIA documents for this name will certainly yield the original DIA report on the subject. It would have been written in 1945 or 1946.On page 166 of this same book [Curry's book] is the note that "Colonel Mukayama was killed in December of 1947 at Cho Chu during a battle with French paratroopers."Index of the classic 1952 book from Philippe Devillers Histoire du Vietnam de 1940 a 1952 yields the name Mukaiyama. Devillers has him listed as a Lieutenant Colonel. ""In the spring and summer (1946), preparations in the "chien khu" intensified. Japanese technicians and specialists offered their services to the Viet Minh as technical consultants and as instructors. In this group of fanatically anti white Japanese officers who offered their services to the Viet Minh government after the capitulation in Tokyo, was, for example, Lieutenant Colonel Mukaiyama, from the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese 38th Army.""Another angle on the subject is in a relatively new book by Professor [Jacques] Valette: La Guerre d'Indochine, 1945-1954. He reviewed the role of the Japanese: "Japanese deserters put themselves at the service of the Viet Minh, many of them coming from the Kempetai. The French services tended to over estimate their numbers: `army of 10,000 Japanese' near Hue, '7,000 Japanese' between Nam Dinh and Quinhon, in Tonkin, `7,000 above all in the provinces of Backan, Vietri and Lang Son'. In the spring of 1946, the French services revised their estimate: 2,000 Japanese were serving in armed Viet Minh groups. As for the Chinese, they were indifferent to the problem; their Japanese prisoners were hired and given civilian clothing because of their technical capabilities."Needless to say, Backan, usually spelled Bac Kan or Bac Can, Vietri and Lang Son were Viet Minh controlled areas at the time. It was the first Viet Minh "liberated" zone.The footnote for this text reads: "Note about the situation in the Hue region. Non dated and not signed - established for the services of the DGER in 1946. Private archives."What this means is that the note is now in the possession of Professor Valette. As of 1994, he was a Professor at the University of Poitiers in France and the President of the Indochinese War Commission at the Institute of Contemporary Conflicts. He is also the author of a book on Japanese French relations in Vietnam between 1940 and 1945.DGER is the acronym for one of the World War II era military intelligence services, Direction des Etudes et de la Recherche, which was later combined into the SDECE. Some explanation about it is on the web page. Most of their old Indochina related documents are available to the public at the main French Indochina archive in Aix-en-Provence in southern France. This archive, long used by many students, now has a web page.Which Japanese military officers helped Ho Chi Minh? (historystackexchange.com)Sources:Goscha, Christopher E. "Belated Asian Allies: The Technical and Military Contributions of Japanese Deserters,(1945-50)." A Companion to the Vietnam War (2002): 37-64.Goscha, Christopher E. "Building force: Asian origins of twentieth-century military science in Vietnam (1905–54)." Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 34.03 (2003): 535-560.Spector, Ronald. In the ruins of empire: The Japanese surrender and the battle for postwar Asia. Random House LLC, 2008.Kamo, Tokuji. Kwangai Rikugun Shikan Gakkō: Betonamu No Senshi O Hagukumi Tomoni Tatakatta Kunenkan. Tōkyō: Akatsukiinshokan, 2008.Ikawa, Azuhisa "ベトナム独立戦争参加日本人の事跡に基づく日越のあり方に関する研究", 東京財団研究報告 (2005)

Many called General Sam Houston a coward. How wrong they were. He did a tactical maneuver that many general in present day and ancient days did. He pulled a larger army away from it’s base of operations. He caused a larger army (that could easily defeat his army) to give chase and abandon all it military weaponry advantages. Santa Anna had to drop cannons, wagons, extra gun powder and food to keep up. Sam Houston crossed 6 rivers and elongated Santa Anna’s supply lines all the while, shortening his lines. He then pulled Santa Anna into a bayou. So what does Santa Anna do, he camps in a dry open clearing. He wasn’t liking all that mud (April is a wet month). He thinks he’s got Sam Houston’s army cornered. But Sam Houston’s army is hidden on two sides of Santa Anna. This is the classic pincher move. Houston attacks at dawn. This is when the enemy is the most tired. The sun was at Houston back (he was attacking from the east and NE. This is what called Jamming in radar terms. The enemy can’t or has hard time seeing you. The Battle only lasted 18 minutes but in reality, many Texian hunted down the fleeing Mexican Soldiers, including Santa Anna.For the Texians, it started here, Santa Anna takes the AlamoThe Mexican Army of Operations numbered 6,019 soldiers and was spread out over 300 miles (480 km) on its march to Béxar. General Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma was put in command of the Vanguard of the Advance that crossed into Texas.Santa Anna and his aide-de-camp Almonteforded the Rio Grande at Guerrero, Coahuila on February 16, 1836,with General José de Urrea and 500 more troops following the next day at Matamoros. Béxar was captured on February 23 and, when the assault commenced, attempts at negotiation for surrender were initiated from inside the fortress.Bowie dispatched Green B. Jameson with a letter, translated into Spanish by Juan Seguín, requesting a meeting with Santa Anna, who immediately refused. Santa Anna did, however, extend an offer of amnesty to Tejanos inside the fortress. Alamo non-combatant survivor Enrique Esparza said that most Tejanos left when Bowie advised them to take the offer.Cos, in violation of his surrender terms, forded into Texas at Guerrero on February 26 to join with the main army at Béxar.Urrea proceeded to secure the Gulf Coast, and was victorious in two skirmishes with Texian detachments serving under Fannin at Goliad. On February 27 a foraging detachment under Frank W. Johnson at San Patricio was attacked by Urrea. Sixteen were killed, and 21 taken prisoner, but Johnson and 4 others escaped.Urrea sent a company to Agua Dulce searching for James Grant and Plácido Benavides who were leading a company of Anglos and Tejanos towards an invasion of Matamoros. The Mexicans set a trap, killing Grant and most of the company. Benavides and 4 others escaped, and 6 were taken prisoner.The Convention of 1836 met at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 1.The following day, Sam Houston's 42nd birthday, the 59 delegates signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, and chose an ad interim government.When news of the declaration reached Goliad, Benavides informed Fannin that in spite of his opposition to Santa Anna, he was still loyal to Mexico and did not wish to help Texas break away. Fannin discharged him from his duties and sent him home.On March 4 Houston's military authority was expanded to include "the land forces of the Texian army both Regular, Volunteer, and Militia."At 5 a.m. on March 6, the Mexican troops launched their final assault on the Alamo. The guns fell silent 90 minutes later; the Alamo had fallen.Survivors Susannah Dickinson, her daughter Angelina, Travis' slave Joe, and Almonte's cook Ben were spared by Santa Anna and sent to Gonzales, where Texian volunteers had been assembling.Retreat: March–May 1836[edit]Texian retreat: The Runaway Scrape[edit]Further information: Runaway ScrapeSam HoustonThe same day that Mexican troops departed Béxar, Houston arrived in Gonzales and informed the 374 volunteers (some without weapons) gathered there that Texas was now an independent republic. Just after 11 p.m. on March 13, Susanna Dickinson and Joe brought news that the Alamo garrison had been defeated and the Mexican army was marching towards Texian settlements. A hastily convened council of war voted to evacuate the area and retreat. The evacuation commenced at midnight and happened so quickly that many Texian scouts were unaware the army had moved on. Everything that could not be carried was burned, and the army's only two cannons were thrown into the Guadalupe River.When Ramírez y Sesma reached Gonzales the morning of March 14, he found the buildings still smoldering.Most citizens fled on foot, many carrying their small children. A cavalry company led by Seguín and Salvador Flores were assigned as rear guard to evacuate the more isolated ranches and protect the civilians from attacks by Mexican troops or Indians.The further the army retreated, the more civilians joined the flight.For both armies and the civilians, the pace was slow; torrential rains had flooded the rivers and turned the roads into mud pits. As news of the Alamo's fall spread, volunteer ranks swelled, reaching about 1,400 men on March 19.Houston learned of Fannin's defeat on March 20 and realized his army was the last hope for an independent Texas. Concerned that his ill-trained and ill-disciplined force would be good for only one battle, and aware that his men could easily be outflanked by Urrea's forces, Houston continued to avoid engagement, to the immense displeasure of his troops.By March 28, the Texian army had retreated 120 miles (190 km) across the Navidad and Colorado Rivers.Many troops deserted; those who remained grumbled that their commander was a coward. On March 31, Houston paused his men at Groce's Landing, roughly 15 miles (24 km) north of San Felipe.Two companies that refused to retreat further than San Felipe were assigned to guard the crossings on the Brazos River.For the next two weeks, the Texians rested, recovered from illness, and, for the first time, began practicing military drills. While there, two cannons, known as the Twin Sisters, arrived from Cincinnati, Ohio.Interim Secretary of War Thomas Rusk joined the camp, with orders from President David G. Burnet to replace Houston if he refused to fight. Houston quickly persuaded Rusk that his plans were sound.Secretary of State Samuel P. Carson advised Houston to continue retreating all the way to the Sabine River, where more volunteers would likely flock from the United States and allow the army to counterattack.Unhappy with everyone involved, Burnet wrote to Houston: "The enemy are laughing you to scorn. You must fight them. You must retreat no further. The country expects you to fight. The salvation of the country depends on your doing so."Complaints within the camp became so strong that Houston posted notices that anyone attempting to usurp his position would be court-martialed and shot.Santa Anna and a smaller force had remained in Béxar. After receiving word that the acting president, Miguel Barragán, had died, Santa Anna seriously considered returning to Mexico City to solidify his position. Fear that Urrea's victories would position him as a political rival convinced Santa Anna to remain in Texas to personally oversee the final phase of the campaign.He left on March 29 to join Ramírez y Sesma, leaving only a small force to hold Béxar.At dawn on April 7, their combined force marched into San Felipe and captured a Texian soldier, who informed Santa Anna that the Texians planned to retreat further if the Mexican army crossed the Brazos River.Unable to cross the Brazos due to the small company of Texians barricaded at the river crossing, on April 14 a frustrated Santa Anna led a force of about 700 troops to capture the interim Texas government.Government officials fled mere hours before Mexican troops arrived in Harrisburgh (now Harrisburg, Houston) and Santa Anna sent Colonel Juan Almonte with 50 cavalry to intercept them in New Washington. Almonte arrived just as Burnet shoved off in a rowboat, bound for Galveston Island. Although the boat was still within range of their weapons, Almonte ordered his men to hold their fire so as not to endanger Burnet's family.At this point, Santa Anna believed the rebellion was in its final death throes. The Texian government had been forced off the mainland, with no way to communicate with its army, which had shown no interest in fighting. He determined to block the Texian army's retreat and put a decisive end to the war.Almonte's scouts incorrectly reported that Houston's army was going to Lynchburg Crossing, on Buffalo Bayou, in preparation for joining the government in Galveston, so Santa Anna ordered Harrisburg burned and pressed on towards Lynchburg.The Texian army had resumed their march eastward. On April 16, they came to a crossroads; one road led north towards Nacogdoches, the other went to Harrisburg. Without orders from Houston and with no discussion amongst themselves, the troops in the lead took the road to Harrisburg. They arrived on April 18, not long after the Mexican army's departure.That same day, Deaf Smith and Henry Karnes captured a Mexican courier carrying intelligence on the locations and future plans of all of the Mexican troops in Texas. Realizing that Santa Anna had only a small force and was not far away, Houston gave a rousing speech to his men, exhorting them to "Remember the Alamo" and "Remember Goliad". His army then raced towards Lynchburg.Out of concern that his men might not differentiate between Mexican soldiers and the Tejanos in Seguín's company, Houston originally ordered Seguín and his men to remain in Harrisburg to guard those who were too ill to travel quickly. After loud protests from Seguín and Antonio Menchaca, the order was rescinded, provided the Tejanos wear playing cards in their hats to identify them as Texian soldiers.San Jacinto[edit]San Jacinto Battlefield with troop movementsThe area along Buffalo Bayou had many thick oak groves, separated by marshes. This type of terrain was familiar to the Texians and quite alien to the Mexican soldiers.Houston's army, comprising 900 men, reached Lynch's Ferry mid-morning on April 20; Santa Anna's 700-man force arrived a few hours later. The Texians made camp in a wooded area along the bank of Buffalo Bayou; while the location provided good cover and helped hide their full strength, it also left the Texians no room for retreat.Over the protests of several of his officers, Santa Anna chose to make camp in a vulnerable location, a plain near the San Jacinto River, bordered by woods on one side, marsh and lake on another.The two camps were approximately 500 yards (460 m) apart, separated by a grassy area with a slight rise in the middle.Colonel Pedro Delgado later wrote that "the camping ground of His Excellency's selection was in all respects, against military rules. Any youngster would have done better."Scouting Mexican lancers were taunted by the Texian fife and drum tune "Will you come to the bower?".Over the next several hours, two brief skirmishes occurred. Using the Twin Sisters, Texians won the first, forcing a small group of dragoons and the Mexican artillery to withdraw.Mexican dragoons then forced the Texian cavalry to withdraw. In the melee, Rusk, on foot to reload his rifle, was almost captured by Mexican soldiers, but was rescued by newly arrived Texian volunteer Mirabeau B. Lamar.Over Houston's objections, many infantrymen rushed onto the field. As the Texian cavalry fell back, Lamar remained behind to rescue another Texian who had been thrown from his horse; Mexican officers "reportedly applauded" his bravery.Houston was irate that the infantry had disobeyed his orders and given Santa Anna a better estimate of their strength; the men were equally upset that Houston had not allowed a full battle.Throughout the night, Mexican troops worked to fortify their camp, creating breastworks out of everything they could find, including saddles and brush.At 9 a.m. on April 21, Cos arrived with 540 reinforcements, bringing the Mexican force to approximately 1200-1500 men which outnumbered the Texian aggregate forces of approximately 800 men (official count entering battle was reported at 783).General Cos' men were mostly raw recruits rather than experienced soldiers, and they had marched steadily for more than 24 hours, with no rest and no food.As the morning wore on with no Texian attack, Mexican officers lowered their guard. By afternoon, Santa Anna had given permission for Cos' men to sleep; his own tired troops also took advantage of the time to rest, eat, and bathe.Not long after Cos arrived with reinforcements, General Houston ordered Smith to destroy Vince's Bridge (located about 8 miles from the Texian encampment) to block the only road out of the Brazos and, thereby, prevent any possibility of escape by Santa Anna.Generall Sam Houston described how he arrayed the Texian forces in preparation of battle: "Colonel Edward Burleson was assigned the center. The second regiment, under the command of Colonel Sydney Sherman, formed the left wing of the army. The artillery, under the special command of Col. Geo. W. Hackley, inspector general, was placed on the right of the first regiment, and four companies under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Millard, sustained the artillery on the right, and our cavalry, sixty-one in number and commanded by Colonel Mirabeau B. Lamar...placed on our extreme right, composed our line."The Texian cavalry was first dispatched to the Mexican forces' far left and the artillery advanced through the tall grass to within 200 yards of the Mexican breastworks.The Texian Twin Sisters fired at 4:30, beginning the battle of San Jacinto.After a single volley, Texians broke ranks and swarmed over the Mexican breastworks, yelling "Remember the Alamo! Remember La Bahia (Goliad)!", to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Mexican soldiers were taken by surprise. Santa Anna, Castrillón, and Almonte yelled often conflicting orders, attempting to organize their men into some form of defense.The Texian infantry forces advanced without halt until they had possession of the woodland and the Mexican breastwork; the right wing of Burleson's and the left wing of Millard's forces took possession of the breastwork.Within 18 minutes, Mexican soldiers abandoned their campsite and fled for their lives.The killing lasted for hours.Many Mexican soldiers retreated through the marsh to Peggy Lake.Texian riflemen stationed themselves on the banks and shot at anything that moved. Many Texian officers, including Houston and Rusk, attempted to stop the slaughter, but they were unable to gain control of the men, incensed and vengeful for the massacres at the Alamo and Goliad, while frightened Mexican infantry yelled "Me no Alamo!" and begged for mercy to no avail.In what historian Davis called "one of the most one-sided victories in history",650 Mexican soldiers were killed and 300 captured.Eleven Texians died, with 30 others, including Houston, wounded.Although Santa Anna's troops had been thoroughly vanquished, they did not represent the bulk of the Mexican army in Texas. An additional 4,000 troops remained under the commands of Urrea and General Vicente Filisola.Texians had won the battle due to mistakes made by Santa Anna, and Houston was well aware that his troops would have little hope of repeating their victory against Urrea or Filisola.As darkness fell, a large group of prisoners was led into camp. Houston initially mistook the group for Mexican reinforcements and reportedly shouted out that all was lost.Mexican retreat[edit]"Surrender of Santa Anna" by William Henry Huddle shows the Mexican president and general surrendering to a wounded Sam Houston, battle of San JacintoSanta Anna had escaped towards Vince's Bridge.Finding the bridge destroyed, he hid in the marsh and was captured the following day, wearing the uniform jacket of a private. This subterfuge was uncovered when other Mexican prisoners cried out in recognition of their commander.He was brought before Houston, who had been shot in the ankle and badly wounded. Texian soldiers gathered around, calling for the Mexican general's immediate execution. Bargaining for his life, Santa Anna suggested that he order the remaining Mexican troops to stay away. In a letter to Filisola, who was now the senior Mexican official in Texas, Santa Anna wrote that "yesterday evening [we] had an unfortunate encounter" and ordered his troops to retreat to Béxar and await further instructions,Urrea urged Filisola to continue the campaign. He was confident that he could challenge the Texian troops. According to Hardin, "Santa Anna had presented Mexico with one military disaster; Filisola did not wish to risk another." Spring rains had ruined the ammunition and rendered the roads nearly impassable, with troops sinking to their knees in mud. The Mexican troops were soon out of food and began to fall ill from dysentery and other diseases.Their supply lines had broken down, leaving no hope of further reinforcements.Filisola later wrote that "Had the enemy met us under these cruel circumstances, on the only road that was left, no alternative remained but to die or surrender at discretion" For several weeks after San Jacinto, Santa Anna continued to negotiate with Houston, Rusk, and then Burnet. Santa Anna suggested two treaties, a public version of promises made between the two countries, and a private version that included Santa Anna's personal agreements. The Treaties of Velasco required that all Mexican troops withdraw south of the Rio Grande and that all private property be respected and restored. Prisoners of war would be released unharmed and Santa Anna would be given immediate passage to Veracruz. He secretly promised to persuade the Mexican Congress to acknowledge the Republic of Texas and to recognize the Rio Grande as the border between the two countries.When Urrea began marching south in mid-May, many families from San Patricio who had supported the Mexican army went with him. When Texian troops arrived in early June, they found only 20 families remaining. The area around San Patricio and Refugio suffered a "noticeable depopulation" in the Republic of Texas years.Although the treaty had specified that Urrea and Filisola would return any slaves their armies had sheltered, Urrea refused to comply. Many former slaves followed the army to Mexico, where they could be free. By late May, the Mexican troops had crossed the Nueces. Filisola fully expected that the defeat was temporary and that a second campaign would be launched to retake Texas.William B. Travis, the garrison commander, sent Albert Martin to request a meeting with Almonte, who replied that he did not have the authority to speak for Santa Anna.[88]

Is there a scientific reason behind our Tamil/Indian Tradition & Custom?Most of the practices, customs and traditions or rituals have some basis, some of which are truly scientific. The tradition might also be right under the conditions prevailing at the time it was made part of the social conduct. Later on, they get incorporated more as practices as over the years, the actual reasons are forgotten.Most of the Tamil Hindu customs and traditions had some scientific reason behind them. Most of the Tamil customs and traditions are derived from our ancestors. Tamil has a very long history dating back to thousands of years. Traditions and customs were taught at a very young age and followed as part of life.You may be thrilled and happy to know the real intention of the customs we follow in our day to day lives.For instance, when disinfectants were not known much, the people have been using cow's urine. Cow dung has been used to plaster mud houses and mud floors.Why Ancient people provide drinks in Silver Tumblers?People have been giving water, hot drinks etc to guests in silver tumblers. The guests felt honored as they were offered drinks in cups made of a precious metal.Scientifically, the silver Metal served a specific purpose for the host. The metal was germicidal and so it helped prevent any infection that the guests might carry inside.WHY DURING MENSTRUATION WOMEN WERE NOT ALLOWED TO DO ANY WORK OR COOK ANY FOOD ITEMS?The women in the families were required to be kept in quarantine for three days in order to prevent infection (as menstrualtual discharge had some toxic substances) and also to give the women the much needed rest during the period.This seems like a regressive thought that our ancestors suffered from, but our ancestors kept in mind the discomfort and trouble that a woman goes through while menstruating, suffering from cramps and exhaustion.To keep women away from all work and to give her the much-needed rest, this theory of banning a menstruating woman in those days and not allowing her to cook (because cooking was a major activity and the woman had to cook for many members) came into being. Though over the ages, it did become a notoriously backward practice.Why should not use left hand to receive/handover anything?In Tamil culture, the left hand is primarily used for personal hygiene purposes and hence using left hand to receive or hand over anything from anyone is considered as an insult.But now, since people are more healthy conscious, they were keeping both their hands hygienically clean and so no probs !!After attending a funeral, why to take bath and why cooking is not done in those houses?After attending a funeral both men and women stay outside the house. Then they go to the well and have a bath, wash all their clothes and then only enter the house. This is preventing any infection from the funeral house. This is more prevalent in the villages. I.e. Every person visiting the house of the dead person during the mourning period is believed to suffer from pollution. The first thing; he is expected to do on leaving the house of the dead person is to have purificatory bath. Only after this bath, they have to drink off even a glass of water or to eat and enter the main parts of his own house. The house where death was occurred is considered polluted and cooking is not done for few days. The neighbors supply them food.Why a bundle of Neem leaves were hung on chicken pox affected houses?If anyone in the house suffers from an infectious disease like chicken pox, a bundle of Neem or margosa leaves are hung at the gates of the house indicating there is an infection a brilliant method of isolation.Also Neem act as anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, anti-protozoa and anti-viral, thus helps in protection from all the micro-organisms, which are always ready to invade in our body causing serious ailments. Neem tree is commonly known as margosa tree in English.Why our Tamil/Indian ladies wearing pottu/Bhindi in their fore-head?On the forehead between the two eyebrows a spot considered a major nerve point in human body since ancient times. The Pottu is believed to prevent the loss of "energy", The red 'kumkum' between the eyebrows is said to retain energy in the human body and control the various levels of concentration.While applying kumkum the points on the mid-brow region and Adnya-chakra are automatically pressed. This facilitates the blood supply to the face muscles. The entire body emanates energy in the form of electromagnetic waves - the forehead and the subtle spot between the eyebrows especially so. That is why worry generates heat and causes a headache.Using plastic reusable "sticker Pottu/bindis" is not very beneficial, even though it serves the purpose of decoration.The tilak and pottu cools the forehead, protects us and prevents energy loss. Sometimes the entire forehead is covered with Santhanam/Sandalwood.That's why, in Tamil Functions like Marriage, Traditionally dressed Tamil girls stay at the main entrance to welcome the guest with Panner (Rose water), Santhanam (Sandalwood), and Kunkumam (Vermilion).APPLYING HENNA BEFORE AUSPICIOUS OCCASIONS:Henna is typically applied during special occasions like weddings and during festivals. Henna is applied to hair, hands, and feet and believed to bring good luck.Our ancestors have advised applying heena to hands, to the bottom of the feet, and hair, etc, especially at the onset of rainy season.This was because during rainy season, the susceptibility to get infected by germs was manifold and henna’s anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties were believed to fight those germs. Though henna is seen as an adornment, scientifically, henna extracts show antibacterial, antifungal, and ultraviolet light screening activity.Henna is anti-fungal and can be effective against psoriasis [A noncontagious inflammatory skin disease]. Henna is most commonly used as a natural hair and skin dye, but henna also contains a compound called lawsone [hennotannic acid], which is what gives heena its antibacterial and antifungal capabilities. Henna is effective against prevention of dandruff too.Why to take Bath daily in the morning?We find that in olden days people took bath in rivers, mountain pools, waterfalls and the seas. This habit is in vogue even today. Pulanadal or river bath is described as a significant act in all Tamil Classics. The Tamil proverb "Even if it be the humble gruel to consume, have it after a bath." Summarize the significance Attached to the daily bathing. ie Bathing is an integral part of daily routine in every Tamil's life.The practice of regular oil bath, men taking on Wednesdays and Saturdays and women folk on Tuesdays and Fridays has been in vogue In Tamil nadu from ancient period. Its origins are unknown. Yet its significance can be understood by the advice of AVVAIYAR'S statement that one should is regular in Saturday's oil baths. (Athi-16)That a bath keeps us healthy through personal hygiene is a well-known fact. But there are other aspects as well that are not well known. Polygraphic studies proved that water enhances electro-magnetic activity. In the context of this finding, the practices like washing hands and feet before entering temples and taking bath every day, worshipping with wet clothes and offering prayer standing in the middle of water chest-deep in rivers and tanks etc., seem to be more scientific than a mere act of cleanliness.Human body is Center of electric currents and impulses. A continuous process of generation and consumption of electric energy takes place in the human body. More energy is generated in our body whenever we are excited and battle various emotions as well as indulge in intense physical activity. However, at night when we retire until the next morning this generation and consumption level of power drops drastically. This is the reason why we feel so lethargic on waking up in the morning. We are neither active physically non mentally. Washing our face immediately clears the cobwebs of drowsiness. A bath certainly freshens up completely and puts us in our best shape. This happens due to the fact that water consumes the electricity in our body. This is known as Electro-magnetic activity. Therefore, taking bath has more to do with such scientific reasoning than merely cleanliness.DO NOT TAKE BATH IMMEDIATELY AFTER EATING:If a person is immediately taking bath after a meal, the digestion process gets slowed down by a great deal as cold water activates certain chemicals in the body that rushes the blood to the skin to keep it warm and the digestion process takes a backseat. So, it was always advised by our ancestors to take food after having a bath. ie Bath will increase blood flow to the hands, feet and body that causes the amount of blood around the stomach will continue to decrease. This will weaken the digestive system in our stomach.START ALWAYS WITH SPICY FOOD AND END YOUR MEAL WITH SWEETS:Our ancestors have stressed on the fact that our meals should be started off with something spicy and sweet dishes should be taken towards the end. The significance of this eating practice is that while spicy things activate the digestive juices and acids and ensure that the digestion process goes on smoothly and efficiently, sweets or carbohydrates pulls down the digestive process. Hence, sweets were always recommended to be taken as a last item.CONSUMPTION OF JAGGERY IN DIET AND IN SWEETS:Jaggery (Vellam- made of Sugarcane juice) is an excellent remedy for respiratory diseases. The benefit of jaggery includes its ability to cleanse the body and act as a digestive agent. Jaggery is full of minerals. Jaggery effectively cleans respiratory tracts, lungs, food pipe, stomach, and intestines. It pulls out dust and unwanted particles from the body. It also helps in giving relief from constipation.In India, it is recommended to take a small amount of jaggery after having had a heavy meal.Jaggery facilitates the digestion process. Jaggery activates digestive enzymes and speeds up digestion. Unlike sugar, jaggery is very rich in minerals, especially iron with traces of other minerals. While most of the iron in it comes through processing in iron vessels, the other minerals come right from the sugar cane juice, since this juice does not undergo refining or bleaching of any kind. So, jaggery is a very good source of minerals for the body.MEDITATION UNDER TREES:Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment after meditating under a Peepal (Arasa Maram) tree or Bodhi Tree. Peepal trees have many medicinal uses. Juice extracted from the leaves is used for eardrops. The bark is used to heal inflammations of the neck and glandular swellings. Chewing the roots of a Banyan tree is said to help prevent gum disease. Many rishis and sadhus wrote great epics of literature sitting under the Peepal trees.What is with trees and enlightenment?Hence, sitting under a tree meant fresh oxygen for brain cells, and fresh oxygen activated brain cells and people tended to think wisely and intelligently.Even Sir Issac Newton thought about gravity while he was sitting under an apple tree.The four trees “Peepal, Gooler, Banyan, and Pakad are called to be the storehouse of Sun rays. The wood of these trees is considered very auspicious for Havans in Indian scriptures.Peepal tree has been given the prime importance among all these trees and worshipped even today. The reason is right from the root to its leaves; the tree contains the medicinal values and cures many diseases like biliousness & heart diseases, relieves constipation, Jaundice, leprosy, gum diseases etc.,. That was the reason our ancient sages recognized the importance of this tree and declared- Peepal tree is the abode of Gods and Goddesses.The veracity of the fact has been traced during excavation of an ancient civilization by the name Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. It has been ascertained that the civilization existed around 1300- 1700 B.C. The findings establish that the inhabitants of that civilization. Almost all experts call the civilization "proto-Dravidian" and many are of the opinion that they are the ancestors of Tamils worshiped the tree known as Peepal in English or Arasa Maram in Tamil.They belief that Women circumambulate the peepal tree to be blessed with children or to gain a desired thing or person. Scientifically, Its juice has an enzyme that stimulates child bearing capacity. So people go around the tree for want of a child, by aspiration of the air emanated by the tree. The most important value of this wonderful tree is that, a person dying with snake bite can be cured and can get life.Scientific research suggests that the Peepal tree is best antidote [counteracts or relieves a harmful or unwanted condition; remedy ] to all kinds of pollution, specifically, water pollution, air pollution and noise pollution. Also this is the only tree that emits oxygen even in night whereas other trees emit oxygen only at day time by photosynthesis.Most plants largely uptake Carbon dioxide (CO2) and release oxygen during the day (photosynthesis) and uptake oxygen and release (CO2) during the night (respiration). Some plants such as Peepal tree can uptake (CO2) during the night as well because of their ability to perform a type of photosynthesis called Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM). However, it is not true that they release large amounts of oxygen during the night. Trees will continue to photosynthesize as long as there is light. there is always some light at night, like moonlight etc, but its intensity is less hence provides less energy for photosynthesis.As peepal tree is huge it gives lots of oxygen during day & lots of carbon di oxide during the night. So people feel giddiness or breathlessness at night when they stand under this tree. People think that there is a ghost or evil sprit under the vast trees like Banyan & Peepal.WHY NOT TO EAT DURING ECLIPSE AND TO STAY INDOOR?Solar eclipses and lunar eclipses have been dreaded natural phenomenons and continue to scare people even now.our ancestors gave a religious touch to eclipses and prohibited people from venturing out during eclipses and eating anything during the phenomenon knowing the harmful effects the radiations could cause.Long before the scientific revelations threw light about the harmful radiations coming out of the solar eclipse and the negative effect it could have on eyes and health.Also due to radiation and difference in frequence, eating at that time may cause digestion problem as well.Science behind Abhishekam:Abhishekam is mentioned in the Agama tradition. It is specified in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and was performed to all Kings of olden times.Abhishekam is the process where the granite stones are given a herbal bath. This technique allows for relating the Divine energy (we call God) with personal affinity. This also helps in sustaining the energy installed in the diety (under the stone statue or vigraham) for a longer period, by cooling the granite structure.Water being an electrolyte, transmits energy much faster than air. Pouring certain items, most of which are edible, on these energized dieties (stones) - energized by the link (copper wires connected from the kumbham (brass structures above the temple structures) to the copper yantram (plate with certain scientific carvings) under the granite diety, releases powerful positive vibrations (can be seen through a Kirlian camera) that can be picked up more easily than from the air. Hence these structures are not removed/moved, once installed (pratishtam), instead a drain system is provided.The sound vibrations caused by the chanting of mantras in a specific way enhances these transmissions.This is the science behind Abhishekam.Why to wake-up early in the morning?Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.*-Benjamin FranklinEarly rising means waking up before sunrise. Waking up at this time means that the blood circulation in our body and mind is positive. Waking up after sunrise causes negative blood circulation and blood flow becomes sluggish. Late rising also induces baseless and negative dreaming and weakens the immune system.Benefits of rising early:The body and mind will stay fresh if you get up before sunriseConstipation and indigestion will remain under controlThe mind and mood will remain cheerful throughout the dayYou will have sufficient time to think, plan and organise the day lying ahead of youThe power and capacity of the mind will increaseThe memory will sharpenThe eyesight will not get weakenedGetting up early before the Sunrise is a must for the Tamils. (Silappathikaram: 14-5 to 13.) This is followed still in all rural parts and by a majority in the urban areas. Avvaiyar in her didactic poem the AATHICHUDI, (Ref. 106) advised the children and youth to get up "BEFORE THE DAY BREAK".Which direction should a bed face for peaceful sleeping?1. A Tamil treatise on almanac [The Varshaadi Nool ] says:Sleeping Eastward is good;sleeping Southward prolongs life;sleeping Westward and Northward brings ruin.Even the Ayurvedic physician seats his patients facing eastward before diagnosing the disease or administering his medicine.2. Vastu sleeping direction:[Aintiram Ainthi'ram) is a Tamil text on Vastu Shastra attributed to Mamuni MayanThe Science related to numerical order enables one to know the principles of role of number, space order nature of inner space and significantly know the potency of micro-structure. (atoms)"Mayan's Aintiram ...page 347]East:Sleeping with head resting in the East enhances memory, health and spiritual inclination. It is usually advised by Vastu Shastra Consultants to plan the children's room in such a way that their Vastu sleeping direction comes out to be east. This leads to higher concentration and retention power.South:Vastu Shastra highly recommends this direction as your usual sleeping position with head towards the South. This is believed to provide sound sleep and increase the wealth and prosperity in the household.West:This is not a very advisable sleeping position. Vastu Shastra says sleeping with head resting in West might cause disturbed sleep due to nightmares, some major illness and tendency towards violence.North:The Vastu sleeping position with head in the North direction is strongly opposed. It might cause major illnesses and sleepless nights for the person sleeping in such a position.We all know that our planet has a magnetic pole stretched from north to south with the positive pole at the north and the negative pole at the south. Now, health scientists tell us that we too have a similar magnetic stretch with the positive pole at the head and the negative one at the feet.It is common knowledge that like poles repel and unlike poles attract not only scientific but also in social spheres. When we lay our heads on the north side, the two positive sides repel each other and there is a struggle between the two. Since the earth has a greater magnetic force, we are always the losers, and rise in the morning with headache or heaviness.But when we lay our heads in the southern direction, there is mutual attraction and we wake up fit, fresh and free, unless afflicted by some illness. We also know that our planet revolves itself from west to east, and sun's magnetic field enters earth from east side. This magnetic force enters our head if we lie with head on the east and exits through feet, promoting cool heads and warm feet as per the laws of magnetism and electricity. When the head is laid towards the west, cool feet and hot head – result - an unpleasant start for morning.Now we may realize why the ancient people said, that our intellect improves by east facing head or house, and life lengthens with the head facing south.Throwing Currency Coins into a River:Many of us would have noticed our co-passengers throwing coins into rivers especially when traveling over river bridges.The general reasoning given for this act is that, it brings Good Luck back to us. It is also believed that it will bring back Goddess of Wealth, Lakshmi to our households.In the ancient times, most of the currency used was made of copper unlike the stainless steel coins of today. Copper is a vital metal very useful to the human body. The intake of copper with water is very good for health. Throwing coins in the river was one way our fore-fathers ensured we intake sufficient copper as part of the water. Rivers were the only source of drinking water. Making it a custom by saying it will bring good fortune to us has ensured that all of us follow the good practice.Joining both palms together to greet others:In Tamil culture, I have seen people greeting others by joining their palms together. This is termed as “VANAKKAM" as per Tamil traditions. This is the most common way of greeting others.Vanakkam: The Tamil way of greetingWhile greeting others, we join both the hands together. Joining both hands ensures joining the tips of all the fingers together; which are denoted to the pressure points of eyes, ears, and mind. Pressing them together is said to activate the pressure points. This helps us to remember the person for a long time.The joining of hands at the level of the heart symbolically signifies the greeting from the heart/soul. Both hands join together at the palms straight across the chest signifies a salute from the soul, or a welcome from the heart. Some others say that it signifies, bow to the God in you or bow to you or my soul bows to your soul.But what is little known is that the five fingers represent the five elements“ this is best expressed in Mudras. Mudras are very common in various dance systems like Bharatha Natiyam, Kathakali and Kuchipudi.The significance of the five fingers is that :Thumb stands for fire energy (thumbs up sign for success or victory?)Index finger stands for Air/Wind energy,Middle finger stands for space/Akash/Shunya“Ring finger stands for Earth energy (another reason for putting the ring on this finger) andLittle finger stands for water energy.The true meaning of VANAKKAM is the neutralization of all the energies by bringing both the hands together so that each finger of one hand touches the corresponding finger of the other hand, to denote that the person does not have any powerful positive/negative energies to affect the other person. Thus, it is a true gesture of friendship and welcome.Shaking hands often involve touching another person. Even though it is a very friendly gesture, it can often transmit unfriendly germs. Sometimes, we might be uncomfortable shaking hands with a person who has a sweaty palm, or whose cleanliness we may not trust. But shaking hands in the corporate world is an accepted norm everywhere. Shaking hands is the most trusting gesture that we can see in day to day life, and is part and parcel of our everyday life.But is shaking hands the only way to greet?No. Just the other day, I was visiting a patient in the hospital, and the attendant was telling everyone NOT to shake hands, as it might transmit germs. This is especially true since we travel in buses, touch the doors, knobs, handles, purse, etc, and we do not know how much of germs we may carry. Whereas the Tamil way of greeting by doing VANAKKAM is so clean, and..cool!Tying Mango and Neem Leaves to the doors on auspicious days:The general reason given for this act is that tying mango and neem leaves would not allow the evil powers to enter the house.On auspicious days and on special occasions, all of us gather at one place along with our relatives and friends. Photosynthesis is a process where in plants take in carbon-di-oxide and gives out oxygen. This process helps in circulation of oxygen and in turn keeps the room temperature at an optimum level. Mango leaves and neem leaves are very effective in the photosynthesis process comparative to other plants. Neem leaves purify the bacteria too. In order to keep the temperature cool and to circulate air, we tie mango leaves and neem leaves to all the doors.Why do elders rotate crystal salt, lemon around head?Dristhi is stated as an evil eye [a look that is believed by many cultures to be able to cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike/' (Kan padudhal) literally means 'casting an eye'(with an intention to cause harm)/ on the person who feels jealous about others. It is believed that if a person gets Dristi, he would be ruined or would fell sick due to the evil eye. As a cure and remedy to this evil eye, elders take dristhi by revolving salt or lemon around the person.Salt can be considered as the first antibiotic. Not only that, the salty and acidic substances would less affect the magnetic field. Keeping these properties if lemon and salt in mind, we revolve salt and lemon around the person.The salt and lemon when revolved around, it would kill all the bacteria around the person. It forms an aura layer of antibiotics around the person. Not only has this, revolving around the person balance the magnetic field too. This would make the person affected with dristi feel better.Why Fasting?A lot of our time and energy is spent in procuring food items, preparing, cooking, eating and digesting food. Certain food types make our minds dull and agitated. Hence on certain days man decides to save time and conserve his energy by eating either simple, light food or totally abstaining from eating so that his mind becomes alert and pure. Since it is a self-imposed form of discipline it is usually adhered to with joy.Also every system needs a break and an overhaul to work at its best. Rest and a change of diet during fasting is very good for the digestive system and the entire body. The more you indulge the senses, the more they make their demands. Fasting helps us to cultivate control over our senses, sublimate our desires and guide our minds to be poised and at peace.The act of putting water around the plate :The act of putting water around the plate in which we have food and to keep some part of what is served in the plate outside the plate on the ground while you sit on the floor to have dinner/lunch.As we know water acts as a repellent to many tiny creatures that roam on the floor seen and unseen, hence the circle of water stops them to approach the plate when kept on the floor also they are attracted towards the part of food kept outside the plate making it safe to consume the food. This practice is redundant while eating on dining table which is presumable cleaner than the floor. Those who still practice it on table are just following tradition without knowing the meaning behind it.What is the scientific reason behind the Ear-piercing?We have nerve branches from all the body at the tip of the ears. and earrings are worn to keep these nerves activated. They say that to check if all organs work fine for a new born baby, they generally pull its ear and if the baby cries out loud, it really is healthy.Earrings are worn by getting the ears pierced in the ear lobe area where the important pressure point exists.Scientific reason behind wearing bangles in hands?The bangles or kaappu or vaalayal are worn in hands and it continuously applies pressure on the point as depicted in the figure :Scientific reason behind wearing Kolusu in legs?The anklets are worn in legs and it continuously applies pressure on the points as shown in the figure.Scientific reason behind wearing Thali or mangalsootra in Neck?The ˜Thaali Kodiâ [mangalsootras] are worn in neck and it continuously applies pressure on the points as shown in the figure below:Scientific reason behind wearing pottu or Bhindi in fore-head?Similarly the ˜Pottu apply pressure on the third eye areaNow all these pressure points are the points which when pressed increases fertility both in men and women. These pressure points are used in Acupressure therapy these days to treat fertility related problems in the entire world. Most of these ornaments are used by Indian women after marriage and the sole purpose of the establishment of marriage institution was child birth and survival of the human race.Probably this was the reason our ancestors and thinkers again associated these ornaments with high dignity and made people feel it to be auspicious, pious and Godly. This tradition of ours is only symbolic mark of a rich tradition now and has lost its significance in today’s world of fashion and the mad race of looking beautiful by compromising on its health benefits.Why did we get this punishment? or Scientific reason behind Thoppukaranam?Remember the good old school punishments? Holding the earlobes with arms crossed over your chests, bending the knees and then sit and then stand and so on. If you still cannot figure out the punishment just see this picture. I hope now you remember. Even we do this steps in temple when we pray to Lord Vinayaka/Ganesha.Talking about the logic behind this Punishment/Prayer (தோப்புக்கரணம் in Tamil), it is very interesting to know that this particular posture increases the blood flow in the memory cells in brain and synchronizes the right and left side of the brain to improve function and promote calmness, stimulates neural pathways via acupressure points in the earlobe, sharpens intelligence and also helps those with autism, asperger syndrome, learning difficulties and behavioral problems.Now US Scientist claimbing this as a Super Brain Yoga.Why does "wedding" Prohibit during July-August or in the Tamil month of Aadi?The monsoon months are the weakest months of the year, easily causing diseases due to change in the climate because of the pouring rains. Monsoon is strong during these days spreading diseases through water and air. That is why marriages, family celebrations and other communal activities are not held during this month.These practices link the people to the age old sentiments and customs that have passed on to our modern generations traditionally. According to traditions this month is inauspicious.Why newly married bride were sent to their parents house in Tamil month of Aadi?The real meaning behind this has many scientific implications. If the bride conceives in this month, she will deliver the child in the second half of May (Chithirai), the hottest period of the year, which may harm both the child and the mother. Moreover, contagious diseases like small pox, measles, etc. are more prevalent during this time.Another practical reason is that this season is the time for busy agricultural tasks of cultivation. All people have to focus their whole attention to agriculture, Rivers and streams are filled with water due to monsoon rains and men cannot waste their time in other engagements. They have to get up very early in the morning and involve themselves in their duties.Putting small pieces of Dharbai during an eclipse:The practice of putting small pieces of Halfa grass (Dharbai in Tamil) during an eclipse may seem odd. Normally, the grass is made to float on any water body, including milk, during the eclipse. And after the eclipse, the grass is taken out and thrown and the water/milk used. To the casual observer it may seem a simple ritual.But in essence, Scientifically the small pieces of grass floating on the surface of the water in the vessels actually disturbs the surface tension, due to which invisible infrared/ultraviolet rays which abound during an eclipse, does not affect the water body since the disturbed surface tension deflects the rays through refraction. Sounds incredible?Also, there is the added feature of Halfa grass that is believed to absorb negative rays. Hence, the practice of putting grass on water during an eclipse seems very much scientific indeed!What is the significance of the Thoranams?Tamil Hindus festoon the upper frame of their main door with mango leaves and marigold flowers on festivals and auspicious occasions.The twigs of the green mango leaves and the orange flowers serves as a decorative and also has a lot of medicinal value.The threshold [An entrance or a doorway or A piece of wood or stone placed beneath a door; a doorsill] below is smeared with a lot of turmeric paste and dots of vermilion (kumkum) on it makes it a very pretty site. During functions the main door is flanked by banana saplings or trees. This completes the picture of a ceremony.The significance of the thoranams being:The saplings and the green mango leaves give a lot of oxygen which is needed in the surrounding area .The leaves and turmeric have germicidal (anti-germ) properties.The mango leaves and the marigold flowers also give a lot of positive vibrations which helps the people who gather in that place.A marigold flower repels mosquitoes and some insects.Why Rangoli in the entrance of House?Rangoli will be traditionally made at the doorstep with rice flour everyday afresh.This practice serves a very simple purpose that of feeding the lower organisms as ants and insects thereby keeping them at bay from entering the household. Birds will also intake these rice flour made rangoli or "Kolam" in Tamil.Traditional dress: Saree & VaettiThe ancient Tamil people mainly wore garments that were wrapped and draped, rather than sewn [untailored]. This was not because they did not know the art of sewing. Early Tamil people were experts in fine weaving but because they preferred the flexibility and creativity that draped clothing allowed.Light Loose, flowing garments were practical in the hot climate of southern Asia, and the Sari & Vaetti/ Dhoti woven of cotton or silk, was both cool and graceful.ie Generally the climate of Indian subcontinent is warm and humid. Saree and its male counterpart vaetti [dhoti] was most suited for this land.The Ancient Tamil concept of beauty was that of small waist and large bust and hips, and the sari seemed to be the perfect dress as it exposes the waist of a woman and emphasizes the waist and bust with the pleated fabric.The sari, being an unstitched drape, enhances the shape of the wearer while only partially covering the midriff. In Indian philosophy [example, In ancient Indian tradition and the Natya shastra (an ancient Indian treatise describing ancient dance and costumes)], the naval of the Supreme Being is considered to be the source of life and creativity, hence the midriff is to be left bare by the sari. Hence by tradition, the stomach and the navel is to be left unconcealed.Along with dhoti [vaetti], the angavastram [shawl] or thundu (an extra piece of cloth) will be draped depending on its use. Farmers carry it on one shoulder and treat it as sweat towel. Also woman used a breast band and a veil or wrap that could be used to cover the upper body or head.Both could be easily turned into working dress or party-wear. Also both are a versatile piece of clothing, suitable even in our modern societies. The one dress that is universal is the sari & dhoti. It fit every one every body shape.They really applicable for one size fits all ie. saris & vaetti [sarongs] are more or less one size fits all,since these garments are wrapped or tied. If chosen and worn carefully along with the right accessories, saree & dhoti can look good on all women & men.Also sari is comfortable to manage household chores. Working class tucks the same length above the ankles and if they have to work in water or fields, they would tuck the front pleats between the legs to the back, and tie the upper portion round the waist. This left them free movement of hands and legs.Rani [queen] Velu Nachiyar, Belawadi Mallamma and Kittur chennamma fought enemy troops on horse back, wearing saree this way.Now a days, the sari is usually worn over a petticoat [pavada/pavadai in the Tamil], with a Blouse forming the upper garment.Why do we light a lamp?Light symbolizes knowledge, and darkness, ignorance. Knowledge removes ignorance just as light removes darkness. Also knowledge is a lasting inner wealth by which all outer achievement can be accomplished. Hence we light the lamp to bow down to knowledge as the greatest of all forms of wealth..Take off his/her shoes/sandals before entering:In the great Biblical story of Moses, when Moses, the hero of Exodus, approaches the burning bush he is asked to take off his sandals. The reason he is told by the voice of God from the burning bush is that it was holy ground that he was standing upon.In most of the religions, one is required to take off his/her shoes/sandals before entering the holy place, be it a temple, sanctum sanctorum or the altar.One can safely assume that it is because of general cleanliness..பொங்கல் திருநாளின்போது இல்லங்களில் காப்புக் கட்டுவார்கள்:காப்பு நான்கு தாவரங்களைக் கொண்டு கட்டப்படுவது. கூழைப்பூ, ஆவாரம்பூ, மாவிலை, வேப்பிலைகளால் கட்டப்பட்டு வீட்டின் கூரைகளில் செருகப்படும். கூழைப்பூ பாம்புக்கடிக்கு சிறந்த விஷமுறிவு மருந்தாகும். பாம்பு கடித்து விட்டது என்று அறிந்தவுடன் கூழைப்பூவை கசக்கிச் சாறெடுத்து கண்ணில் விட்டால் அது விஷத்தை முறிக்கும் என்பது தமிழர்கள் கண்டறிந்த உண்மையாகும்.அந்த கூழைப்பூவை பாதுகாக்கத்தான் வேப்பிலையும், மாவிலையும், ஆவாரம்பூவும் ஒன்றாக கட்டப்படுகின்றன. இப்படி பொருளறியாத பல தமிழ் மரபுகளை நாம் அறிந்து பாதுகாக்க வேண்டும்.யார் வேண்டுமானாலும் பயன்படுத்திக் கொள்ளலாம் என்கிற பொது உடைமை நோக்கில்தான் வீட்டுக்கு வெளியே காப்பு கட்டப்படுகிறது. எதிர்பாராமல் ஏற்படும் விபத்துகளை எதிர்கொள்ளவே இத்தகைய முன்னெச்சரிக்கை நடவடிக்கைகளை தமிழர்கள் ஏற்படுத்தியிருந்தனர்..