Tomb of Mac Cuu

The place to start with Hà Tiên is the tomb complex of Mạc Cửu. It lies at the foot of Bình San mountain. Here the story of opening new land on the southwestern coast is kept in buildings and in old graves. A memorial ceremony is still held there every year.

Mạc Cửu came to Hà Tiên in 1680. In August 1708 he offered the land to Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu and was named its governor. The Nguyễn lords were a noble family who ruled southern Vietnam from the 16th to the 18th century. Even after the offering, Mạc Cửu kept the right to govern for himself. Seven generations of the Mạc family helped turn the land into an important trading hub between old Đại Việt and the countries around it. Đại Việt was an old name for Vietnam.

The story is bigger than one man who opened new land. It is the story of a family of Chinese origin who left their homeland, came here and chose to stay tied to Đại Việt for a century and a half. The Kiên Giang newspaper credits the family with laying the foundations of old Hà Tiên. They widened its land, opened streets and markets, encouraged trade and cared for culture and education.

The temple at the foot of the mountain is called Trung Nghĩa Từ. In Hà Tiên it is known as the Ông Lịnh shrine. The tomb complex and the temple were designed and built by Mạc Thiên Tích, the eldest son of Mạc Cửu. The work was finished between 1735 and 1739.

On either side of the temple gate hangs a pair of couplets written in Hán Nôm characters. Nôm is an old character script for writing Vietnamese. The couplets say: The first reads, A house of loyalty and righteousness, whose good name the whole clan honors. The second reads, Seven generations as a bulwark, and the whole country holds them dear. The lines are short, but they show how later generations see the role of the Mạc family.

In front of the temple lie two lotus ponds. Tourism records say that Mạc Cửu once had a pond dug so that people would have fresh water in the dry season. It is a small detail, but it says a lot. This was a ruler who thought not only of military affairs and trade, but of the drinking water of his people.

A stairway leads from the temple up Bình San to the tombs. The tomb complex of the Mạc family is divided into four zones: the princes, the ladies, the officials and the other members of the family. Many old tombs are scattered across the slope, silent under the trees.

The tomb of Mạc Cửu stands at the highest point of the complex. It is shaped like a half moon and cut deep into the mountain, with its back against the slope and its face toward the sea. Stone generals stand guard on either side, solemn in the green shade.

Every year on the 27th day of the fifth lunar month, a memorial ceremony is held for Đức Khai Trấn Mạc Cửu. The rite is also a time for Hà Tiên to recall the story of opening new land, and to bring the community together across many generations.

From the top of Bình San, the bay of Hà Tiên spreads out ahead, in the very direction the tomb faces. About three hundred years ago, Mạc Cửu looked out to sea the same way and decided to stay tied to this land until the end of his life.