Tu Hien Inlet

There is a small inlet in Phú Lộc where the water of Cầu Hai Lagoon runs out to the sea. Its name is Tư Hiền. The name holds more than the lay of the land. It holds the memory of people who passed through this place in many earlier dynasties.

The inlet belongs to the Vinh Hiền area of Lộc Bình, in the city of Hue. Seen from above, it is the point where the calm, flat surface of the lagoon meets the deep blue waves of the sea. Wind comes in from the sea and wind goes out from the lagoon, and the two currents of air twist together right at the mouth. It is a special feeling, found only in places where fresh water and salt water touch.

The inlet is also tied to a tale about Princess Huyền Trân, daughter of Emperor Trần Nhân Tông. She went south to Champa in exchange for two territories, Ô and Lý. With them, the southern border of Đại Việt moved outward. Champa was an ancient kingdom on the central and southern coast of what is now Vietnam. Đại Việt is an old name for Vietnam.

People say that when the farewell party passed through this inlet, the sadness of parting hung in the air as heavy as clouds before a storm. One of the dynasties that followed gave the inlet its name to keep that story in mind.

Beside the tale of the princess, the people of the area pass down another story, about a loyal wild elephant. The elephant followed the party for many days and would not leave, though no one knew where it had come from. When the party stopped beside the inlet, the elephant stood still and gazed out over the water. Only then did it turn and go back to the forest. That sight sank deep into the memory of everyone who saw it, and over the years it became a part of the soul of this place.

Tư Hiền has not always been the only name. Through the dynasties, the inlet has carried other names, and each one is a layer of history. Even so, the people of Phú Lộc still call it Tư Hiền, the way a thread is kept running from one generation to the next.

On an early morning the water in the lagoon is still flat as a mirror, and the first light turns the far sea gold. At the mouth of the inlet, two worlds of water lie in a single view. On this side is the lagoon, quiet and blue-green. On the other side is the sea, wide and open, with a horizon too far to reach.