The bubonic plague, or Yellow Death, was a horrible pandemic that spread itself throughout Europe and Asia between the 14th and 17th centuries. Though the disease most probably originated from Central Asia, it spread through travel, trade, and contact with infected persons or animals. The precise date of the first arrival of bubonic plague to Hanoi, Vietnam is somewhat unknown, owing to its extensive history of recorded epidemics without well-written accounts by early traders and travelers.
based in regards to a number of historical references, it seems many of the early European traders came into contact with indigenous people in Southeast Asia during the closing decades of the 1300s or early part of the 1400s, and this arrival of the mysterious disease would have taken several avenues- whether with overland transport, by sea exploration, or in port trade. At that time, the ravishing phases of the bubonic plague must have included some symptoms characteristically associated with smallpox fever, cough, and diarrhea, it could have quickly reached and even spread to Hanoi. Might this be so owed to Hanoi's proximity to major trading centers like Venice and Genoa, where goods were transported and exchanged among neighboring lands?
It may be said that while we can provide probable estimates of the date from some historical accounts, determination of the exact passage of the bubonic plague in Hanoi is still an analytical subject of ongoing research and inquiry. This is made more difficult by modern-day conflicts like urbanization, modes of diseases spread, and prevailing levels of medical knowledge at such times. This means that, to fix a proper date for the virus to have made its way into this age-old city, the completion of an in-depth review of sources and a study of the clinical features, population spread, and spread dynamics of the disease during that period would need to be undertaken. |