Hồ Nguyên Trừng (chữ Hán: 胡元澄, pinyin: Hu Yuancheng; also known as Lê Trừng, Chinese: 黎澄; pinyin: Lí Chéng; courtesy name Mạnh Nguyên; 1374–1446) was a Vietnamese scholar, official, and engineer.
[1] Hồ Nguyên Trừng played a role in the Ming-Hồ war where he led the army of Đại Ngu (Hồ dynasty) as well as invented various new types of weapons for the Đại Ngu military.
One of his famous inventions was an early version of the "Eruptor" cannon, which was later adopted by the Ming dynasty to be used in many decked war vessels.
Nonetheless, his yearning for a return to his motherland never ceased to exist.
He wrote the Nam Ông Mộng Lục, containing various stories about famous people of Giao Chỉ (the former name of Vietnam during Chinese occupation) that he either knew personally or through historical facts as a dedication to his motherland.