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Thống chế Điều bát Nguyễn Văn Tồn (chữ Hán: 統制調撥阮文存, 1763–1820) was a general and official of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam.

He was a Khmer Krom. He was either born in Càng Long^[1] or in Trà Ôn, Cần Thơ Province^[2] (in present-day Vĩnh Long Province). His Khmer name was Duồn^[3] or Duông.^[4] At first he was a slave. He followed Nguyễn Ánh to Bangkok in 1784, in there he was promoted to cai đội and took the Vietnamese name Nguyễn Văn Tồn. He followed Nguyễn Ánh back to Southern Vietnam in 1787. He gathered an army of several thousand Khmers in Trà Vinh and Mân Thít (present-day Mang Thít), called the Xiêm binh đồn (暹兵屯, lit. "Siamese soldiers' camp"), to reinforce Nguyễn Ánh.

Tồn joint the battle of Quy Nhơn in 1801. He was captured by Tây Sơn rebels. He was appreciated by Tây Sơn generals and joint the rebels. He did fight bravely for them, however, not long after he escaped and joint the Nguyễn army again. He was promoted to cai cơ in the next year and sent to Trà Vinh and Mân Thít.

Siamese invaded Cambodia in 1811. Nguyễn Văn Tồn and Nguyễn Văn Thoại were sent to help him. They defeated Siamese army in Longvek. Nguyễn Văn Tồn was left in Phnom Penh to "protect" the Cambodian king Ang Chan. He was promoted to thống chế (統制), and received the title Dung Ngọc hầu (lit. Marquess Dung Ngọc) from Nguyễn dynasty.^[5]

Nguyễn Văn Tồn was appointed Điều bát nhung vụ in 1819. He was sent to Châu Đốc to dig the Vĩnh Tế Canal. He died in the next year. Emperor Minh Mạng mourned his death; the emperor compared him with Jin Midi, a prominent official of the Chinese Han dynasty of Xiongnu ethnicity.^[6]

His tomb was in present-day Trà Ôn District, Vĩnh Long Province. The tomb was called Lăng ông Tiền quân Thống chế Điều bát by local people.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "Lễ hội Lăng ông Tiền quân điều bát Nguyễn Văn Tồn – Vĩnh Long".
^ Philip Taylor (2007). Modernity and Re-enchantment: Religion in Post-revolutionary Vietnam. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 164. ISBN 978-981-230-438-4.
^ Ngọc Trảng Huỳnh, Viện nghiên cứu văn hóa - nghệ thuật Việt Nam. Phân viện tại thành phố Hồ Chí Minh (2002). Sổ tay hành hương đất phương Nam. Nhà xuất bản Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. p. 335.
^ Vương Hồng Sển, Tự vị tiếng Việt miền Nam (Nhà xuất bản. Trẻ, Tp HCM, 1999, tr.443)
^ Tìm trong di sản văn hoá Việt Nam: Thăng Long-Hà Nội. Nhà xuất bản Văn hoá-thông tin. 2002. p. 452.
^ "大南正編列傳初集 • Đại Nam chính biên liệt truyện sơ tập (q.24-29)".