Ha Tien

Hà Tiên layers three things one on top of another: the story of opening new land, the poems of earlier writers and the natural scenery. Few places in the southwest of Vietnam can tell all three at once.

The first layer belongs to the Mạc family. Records link Mạc Cửu to how Hà Tiên came to be. In 1708 he sent a memorial pledging himself to the Nguyễn lord and asking that the Hà Tiên region be joined to Đại Việt. The Nguyễn lords were a noble family who ruled southern Vietnam from the 16th to the 18th century. Đại Việt was an old name for Vietnam.

Mạc Cửu died in 1735 and was honored after his death. The people of Hà Tiên still worship him today. Each year, from the twenty-fifth to the twenty-seventh of the fifth lunar month, a memorial ceremony is held for Đức Khai Trấn Mạc Cửu. It thanks an ancestor who cleared and defended this land.

Hà Tiên is often spoken of through its ten fine views, Hà Tiên thập cảnh. Names such as Thạch Động Thôn Vân and Đông Hồ Ấn Nguyệt belong to that list. So does Bình San Điệp Thúy. They are place names, and they are also poetic images made by people of the old days. Some of this scenery can be seen directly. Some of it has to be heard as a layer of culture, a way earlier generations felt the landscape.

At Bình San, the story centers on the tombs and the temple of the Mạc family. The Hà Tiên ward website says the family chose this area for its own tombs and for its loyal officials. The place shows that Hà Tiên is more than a spot by the sea. It was a frontier region that once mattered a great deal on the sea to the west. There a family of Chinese origin helped clear land and build, and became tied to Vietnamese history.

Then the scenery turns to limestone mountains and caves, at Thạch Động and Đá Dựng. Thạch Động is a mass of limestone about 48 meters high, about three kilometers from the center of Hà Tiên. Inside the cave stands Tiên Sơn Tự Pagoda, where the Buddha is worshipped. Folk tales here speak of paths up to heaven and down to the underworld, and of the story of Thạch Sanh. Those details are best heard as folk tales, not as results of a geological survey or an archaeological record.

Đá Dựng is a range of limestone hills about six kilometers from the center. Its many caves and hollows include Mẹ Sanh Cave and Bồng Lai Cave. Others are Thần Kim Qui Cave and Biệt Động Cave. One more is called Khổ Qua Cave. Đá Dựng is also a historic site tied to a revolutionary base during the Vietnam War. It was recognized as a national historic site in 2007.

Mũi Nai and Đông Hồ bring a different scene, of sea and still water. Mũi Nai lies on the Gulf of Thailand, about six kilometers west of the center. The Ministry of Culture recognized it as a national scenic site in 1989. Đông Hồ is a lagoon. It takes in water from the Giang Thành River and opens to the sea, so it has a salty season and a fresh season. Many waterbirds live there.

If Bình San gives the story of history, and Thạch Động and Đá Dựng give the feel of rock and the depth of caves, then Mũi Nai and Đông Hồ are the softer side of Hà Tiên. They hold water, wind, sunset and the rhythm of life along the coast in the southwest of the country.