Être Caodaïste (Tôi là người Cao Đài)

 

Version vietnamienne

Nous, les Caodaïstes, nous devons savoir nous perfectionner. Il n’est pas indispensable pour nous de jeûner et d’invoquer Bouddha par des prières ou d’être cloîtrés dans la pagode afin de pouvoir être à la perfection. Nous avons la possibilité de le faire si nous avons toujours en nous les trois qualités suivantes: l’Amour, la Sagesse et la Volonté. À la naissance, nous avons eu déjà la bonté. C’est pourquoi, nos Aïeux ont eu l’habitude de dire:

Nhân chi sơ, tính bản thiện. Le genre humain est naturellement bon à la naissance.

Mais à cause des aléas de la vie, des rivalités injustifiées et des désirs immodérés qui continuent à nous accaparer sempiternellement, nous sommes devenus ainsi des gens malhonnêtes, perfides, égoïstes, ce qui nous fait perdre la bonté que nous avons acquise à la naissance. Tous les Sages de l’Antiquité avaient eu ces trois qualités évoquées ci-dessus.

Pour avoir l’idée sur ce que l’individu possède en termes de bonté ou non, il nous suffit d’observer sa conduite envers ses proches. C’est par cette observation que nous arrivons à le connaître, ce qu’avait dit le philosophe chinois  Jou Mencius.

L’Amour est une qualité nécessaire à la perfection mais elle ne peut pas être parfaite car nous avons besoin de la sagesse pour distinguer le vrai du faux, la raison du tort , le bien du mal. Il n’ y a pas mal des gens généreux qui, malgré leurs dons offerts à la construction des pagodes d’une manière non négligeable, continuent à être empêtrés dans un comportement néfaste car ils n’arrivent pas à discerner la raison du tort. Il leur arrive d’être mal considérés quelquefois par rapport à ceux qui n’ont jamais l’occasion de participer à cette contribution généreuse.

Au Vietnam, la dynastie des Lý était réputée pour sa ferveur irréprochable envers le bouddhisme par le biais d’un grand nombre de constructions de pagodes. Cela conduisit inexorablement le peuple à la misère à cause des impôts trop élevés et provoqua inéluctablement le mécontentement populaire qui était la cause principale de sa chute.

Quel que soit son niveau d’instruction, l’homme a toujours en lui la Sagesse car quand nous agissons mal ou non , nous le saurons grâce à notre propre conscience. Par exemple, quand on essaie de mentir, on se sent honteux envers soi-même bien que la personne à qui on a menti ne le sache pas. C’est la sagesse qui nous aide à faire cette distinction. Le philosophe français Blaise Pascal a eu l’occasion de souligner que l’homme est un roseau pensant.

Pour continuer à mentir ou à agir mal ou non, nous avons besoin de la Volonté. Il est facile d’évoquer cette qualité mais il nous parait difficile de la posséder car nous sommes obligés d’aller quelquefois à l’encontre de nos propres intérêts ou d’être perdants des fois aussi. Il nous arrive quelquefois de ne pas avoir la vie sauve. Je me réfère à quelques faits historiques chinois ou vietnamiens dans le but de nous permettre d’être ensemble à réfléchir et à admirer respectueusement les personnes considérées  comme  celles sachant se perfectionner car elles ont eu les trois qualités évoquées ci-dessus. Elles deviennent des personnages célèbres dans l’histoire de la Chine et du Vietnam.

D’abord, c’était le cas de Zhuge Liang (ou Gia Cát Lượng en vietnamien). Il fut à la fois premier ministre et conseiller de Liu Bei, le dernier survivant de la dynastie des Han (Lưu Hoài Ðức) en Chine. Les Barbares venant des steppes du Nord de la Chine et dirigés par Manh Hoạch aimaient à faire souvent des razzias sur le territoire de son royaume. Zhuge Liang arriva à capturer Manh Hoạch 7 fois mais ce dernier fut libéré immédiatement sur l’ordre de Zhuge Liang à chaque capture. Il était très généreux. Il était doté d’une sagesse extraordinaire car il trouva qu’il était nécessaire de convaincre Manh Hoạch par le biais de l’amour et des sentiments. Si Manh Hoạch avait été tué, il y aurait probablement un autre Manh Hoạch. Cela l’obligea à monter fréquemment des expéditions punitives et ne lui permit pas d’avoir les  mains libres pour restaurer la dynastie des Han et ramener la paix et le bonheur à ses citoyens.

C’était pourquoi il continua à libérer impassiblement Manh Hoạch lors de chaque capture. Il avait une volonté incommensurable car il savait que pour empêcher Manh Hoach de trahir plus tard, il devait perdre beaucoup de temps, laisser tomber les intérêts personnels et se donner beaucoup de soucis avec son âge assez élevé. Ce serait moins fatigant pour lui s’il décidait de tuer Manh Hoạch car il n’était pas obligé de monter jusqu’à 7 fois l’expédition punitive. Lors de la dernière capture, lorsqu’il était sur le point de libérer habituellement Manh Hoạch, ce dernier commença à pleurer et à se rendre définitivement. Zhuge Liang a eu ces trois qualités évoquées ci-dessus. Bien qu’il ne soit pas religieux, nous pouvons affirmer qu’avec les trois qualités trouvées en lui ( l’Amour, la Sagesse et la Volonté ), il a su se perfectionner et il était considéré déjà comme un Sage à l’époque des Trois Royaumes.

Au Vietnam, il y a aussi des rois que nous pouvons considérer comme des Sages. C’est le cas du roi Lý Thánh Tôn qui a eu ces 3 qualités citées ci-dessus. C’est pourquoi il a été connu dans l’histoire du Vietnam comme un roi intelligent, distingué, charitable et vaillant. La révolte du roi du Champa, Chế Cũ l’obligea à monter une expédition punitive tout en laissant à sa concubine Ỷ Lan la régence. Face à la détermination de Chế Cũ, il n’arriva pas à le capturer après plusieurs mois d’expédition. Déçu, il fut obligé de rentrer au pays. Sur le chemin de retour, il apprit que son peuple ne cessait pas de vanter le talent de sa concubine Ỷ Lan dans l’art de gouverner le pays. Il se sentit honteux et décida de revenir au front. Lorsqu’il réussît de capturer Chế Cũ, il aurait pu tuer celui-ci pour apaiser sa colère mais il préféra le laisser rentrer dans son pays.

C’était pourquoi le Vietnam connut une période de paix, de prospérité et de bonheur. Il était très charitable car il laissa partir celui qui l’avait humilié devant son peuple. Il perdit beaucoup de temps pour arriver à le capturer. Sommes-nous capables de le faire comme lui si nous étions à sa place? Un beau jour, durant une période où l’hiver était rude, il s’adressa à ses mandarins dans les termes suivants :

En m’habillant de cette manière, je continue à être transi de froid. Comment arrivent-ils les gens à résister à ce froid rigoureux surtout les pauvres lorsqu’on sait qu’ils n’ont pas assez d’argent pour se nourrir?. Il faut leur donner dès maintenant de la nourriture et des habits supplémentaires.

Une autre fois, en tenant compagnie à sa fille, la princesse Ðông Thiên, lors d’une audience, il se tourna vers ses mandarins en leur disant :

J’ai un amour profond pour mon peuple comme celui que j’ai toujours pour ma fille. Malheureusement, le peuple est si peu instruit qu’il ne cesse pas de commettre des fautes. C’est pour cela que j’en ai tellement pitié. Je vous demande de bien vouloir diminuer les châtiments et les peines infligés.

Sa sagesse était incommensurable. Pour conquérir le Champa, il sut qu’il fallait convaincre et calmer Chế Cũ bien qu’il fût humilié et vexé de comparer ce qu’il avait subi par rapport à ce qu’avait fait sa concubine, une femme issue d’un milieu rural, Ỷ Lan pour son peuple durant son absence. Il pourrait tuer Chê’ Cũ pour apaiser sa colère et laver cet outrage passager. Mais c’était un homme courageux qui savait mettre les intérêts de son peuple devant ses intérêts personnels. C’était bien la personne ayant les trois qualités évoquées.

Quelle que soit la situation où nous sommes, nous, les Caodaïstes, nous devons essayer de nous perfectionner. Cela m’est arrivé de vouloir poursuivre cette démarche. Il faut reconnaître que ce n’est pas facile de la concrétiser. Je ne cache pas non plus que j’ai eu aussi les difficultés journalières mais je me sens soulagé énormément quand j’ai réussi à la concrétiser un peu. J’en suis ravi car je me rends compte que je commence à me perfectionner un peu même si cela parait infime.

Un jeune caodaïste 

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Cela me rappelle la phrase que Ung Giả Vi a écrite dans les Entretiens du Sage Confucius:

Nhân viên hồ tai! Ngã dục nhân, Tư Nhân chi hỷ!
Nhân có xa đâu! Ta muốn nhân thì nhân đến vậy!
La vertu n’est pas loin! On pourra l’avoir si on la veut vraiment.

ce qui me permet d’être convaincu que le BIEN ou le MAL existe bien en chacun de nous. Vous pouvez  le choisir à votre guise. Je comprends qu’il n’est pas nécessaire d’aller à la pagode ou à l’église pour pouvoir se perfectionner. Je suis capable de le faire si je n’oublie pas ce qu’a dit Maître (Thầy) ( Dieu ) dans la bible des Caodaïstes que j’ai eu l’occasion de lire:

Si tu veux être un vrai Caodaïste, il faut que tu aies l’Amour et le principe moral. Il est absolument nécessaire pour toi de te perfectionner.

Tu mérites de porter ainsi cette tunique blanche, symbole de la pureté. Tu te sens fier plus que jamais d’être un Caodaïste.

The Caodaïsm ( Cao Đài Giáo)

French version

 
titre_caodai

Caodaism is the third important religion in Vietnam after Buddhism and Christianity. Cao means « High » and Ðài means « Palace« . Cao Đài is the supreme palace where reigns God. Caodaism is a religion which encompasses, combines and is in harmony with several elements from other principal religions: Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Taoism while taking into account Vietnamese traditions. The Holy Seat is located at Tây Ninh, 90km northwest of Saigon. The number of its followers amounts to 7 million in Vietnam and 30,000 abroad, in particular in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe and the United States.

 One finds in the history of this religion three important episodes of revelations. The first and second took place in 6th century before our era. During the first manifestation, God appeared under the three forms of Jewish leader in the Middle East, Buddha in India and Fou-Hi symbolizing the cult of humanity in China. During the second manifestation, Buddhism reappeared in the form of Sakiamuni, Confucianism in that of Confucius, Christianity in that of Jesus-Christ, Taoism in that of Lao-Tseu and Islam in that of MohammedAs for the third manifestation, God has decided to reveal himself. This third manifestation based on Buddhism is often called « Ðại  Ðạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Ðộ« . All the religions that have preceded the revelation of Caodaism are only the different forms of the same reality in different manner according to the period,  habits and traditions,  places of revelations with the view to educating the humanity and leading it on the path of good  according to the God guide.

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The philosophy and profession of faith found in  Caodaism are of a disconcerting simplicity, closer to morals than to mystical transcendence.

  • Respect of the cult of ancestors.
  • Practice of meditation.
  • Practice of vegetarism.
  • Suppression of violence.
  • Respect of all religious forms.
  • Searching for liberation from reincarnation cycle.
  • Respect of the following five prohibitions:
  • Kill no lives
  • Be not dishonest
  • Drink no alcohol
  • Commit no adultery
  • Use no offensive words
  • Pray at least once a day and practice a vegetarian diet at least 10 days per month. The service is held at the Holy Seat of Tay Ninh everyday and takes place at precise hours:

    6:00 am, 12:00 PM (noon), 6:00 PM and 12:00 AM (midnight)

    Being woman in Vietnam

    French version

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    Being woman in Vietnam

    Vietnam is a country where Confucianism exerts its considerable influence on political life as well as on society. Becoming a state philosophy under the Han dynasty, Confucianism was employed on several occasions as a single model of the state organization and of the Vietnamese society.

    This Confucian influence is not foreign to traditional conditions imposed on the Vietnamese woman. She is subjected to the rule of the following three submissions: Tam Tòng

    Tại gia tòng phụ, xuất giá tòng phu, phu tử tòng tử

    • submission to the father before her marriage
    • submission to the husband during her marriage
    • submission to the elder son when widowed

    This rule was reminded in « Family Instructions » (Gia Huấn Ca) by Nguyễn Trãi, the advisor of king Lê Lợi at the beginning of 15th century, and under the Nguyen dynasty. The Gia Long code which was in force in 19th century, was the most retrograde and rigorous that Vietnam has ever known.

    In spite of that, the Vietnamese woman had a dominating role to play in the Vietnamese family and society. This is found through songs, poems, tales, and lullabies. There, the Vietnamese woman is described not only as a tender, submissive, and virtuous but also a hard working person endowed with an incommensurable patience.

    The Trưng Trắc Trưng Nhị sisters are heroines as much quoted and venerated as the heroes Quang Trung, Hưng Ðạo Vương Trần Quốc Tuấn etc…They are also the first women who fought side by side with the men in the struggle for independence. The most illustrious case remains the example of Nguyễn Thị Giang. Faithful to the Vietnamese tradition, she committed suicide in 1930 after the execution of her husband, the nationalist leader Nguyễn Thái Học.

    The Vietnamese woman is viewed as a perfect model to defend the motherland and national honor. One finds it in the story « Hòn Vọng Phu  » ( Waiting Rock ). It is the story of a woman petrified at the top of a hill, her child in her arms, looking out for the return of her husband who had left for the frontiers in the defense of the country. This model woman is found at several points all over the Vietnamese territory (Cao Bằng, Ninh Hoà etc….)

    One also finds this model woman in the story « Thiếu Phụ Nam Xương » (« The Woman of Nam Xương » or  » The Contempt » ). It is the story of a woman who committed suicide because of an erroneous judgment her husband had on her fidelity. A man is allowed to have weaknesses but not a woman. She must be a perfect model. That constitutes for so many years a lot of stirs and discussions. Some women tried to break that Confucian yoke. It was the case of poetess Hồ Xuân Hương who criticized taboos while composing sensual poems at the end of 18th century. She has always been affirmed from the literary point of view as a free woman. Her verses are always filled with erotic evocations.

    One finds this vehement dispute by a woman of a Confucian society through the following poem that describes the cake Bánh Trôi Nước ( a white and round cake, having a sweetened core, immersed in a caramelized juice ) :

    Thân em vừa trắng lại vừa tròn
    Bẩy nỗi ba chìm với nước non
    Rắn nát mặc dầu tay trẻ nặng
    Mà em vẫn giử tấm lòng son

    My body is white, my shape is round,
    I float and sink with water and mound.
    My contour depends on the hand that kneads
    But I always keep my heart pure and sound.

    Hồ Xuân Hương referred to a woman who at that time, in spite of her tainted body and difficulties of life, continued to keep her heart pure and faithful. She was also the only one who dared approach her rights as a woman and talk shamelessly about carnal love. She succeeded in not being censored through her unequaled skill by proceeding with allusions and metaphors. To talk about eroticism, she used a soothing description of landscape and objects, things the most believed in a feudal society.

    There was even an anecdote about her told by the poet Xuân Diệu himself:

    It rained one day. The road became slippery. Hồ Xuân Hương fell suddenly. She spread herself all out on her body, her arms raised behind her head, her legs pulled apart. The boys laughed. She improvised a distich immediately:

    Giơ tay với thử trời cao thấp
    Xoạc cẳng đo xem đất vắn dài

    I raise my arm to measure the vastness of the sky
    I pull my legs apart to have that of the ground.

    It was also the case of the favorite Ỷ Lan of king Lý Thánh Tôn. She took advantage of the campaign conducted by her husband against Champa to assure a brilliant regency. She undertook at that time many social measures to help the poor and women in particular. Only in 1907 for the first time were classes opened for girls in a private school. The feminist movement started to be launched.

    Nowadays when the law recognizes equality of the sexes in all economic, political and social domains, there exists in fact this inequality. It is no longer a question of legality but a question of mentality. It continues to be omnipresent especially in rural environment.

    Peasant (Nông dân)

    Version française
    Version vietnamienne
     
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    As Vietnam is a country where Confucianism exerts considerable influence on society, the Vietnamese peasant always takes the second rank on the social scale compared to a scholar. Even in the majority of folk songs, an undeniable preference is noted for the learned men. The dream of having a learned man as husband is always an obsession for a Vietnamese girl in the old days.

    Chẳng tham ruộng cả ao liền
    Tham vì cái bút cái ghiên anh đồ.

    I neither need immense rice fields nor whole ponds
    I only like the scholar’s brush and his ink stone.

    However, thank to the farmer’s labor and sweat, Vietnam has currently become the third largest rice exporter after the United States and Thailand. Also thanks to his sacrifice, Vietnam territory has grown from Lạng Sơn to the Point of Cà Mau.

    It is the farmer that took possession from 16th century, of the territory filled with water and sunshine that is our Cochinchina during the Descent toward the South. It is also him that took up arms to defend the motherland when invaded. That is why he is often called peasant-soldier. It is also him that first revolted against the aristocracy and gave the brothers Tay Son the opportunity to grasp the power in 1770 in central Vietnam.

    It is also him that works the landscape of the two deltas with no cultivable piece of land is left unexploited. Everyday in the fields of these deltas are seen male and female peasants leaning under their conical hats, feet and hands in the clay, continuing to pull out rice seedlings from nursery beds or replant them in the paddy. His existence is a continual struggle. He loves his land more, and his precious cereal gives him so much anxiety and annoyance. He never stops resisting bravely the forces of nature: drought, flood, typhoon etc… He is always obsessed with overcoming the water. To work the soil, to thwart calamities, to prevent food shortage.

    That supposes his perfect mastering of hydraulic art: dike building, canal digging, breach filling, rampart elevating etc. It is the water that shapes his thick identity. He becomes more patient, more obstinate, more hard working and more methodical. For him, work is a supreme virtue, a value in itself. In the North, the peasant is poorer. He dresses in a more austere way and behaves with more reserve. Even on his face, the cheeks are more protrude, the features are marked. In the South, the peasant is more open, less reserved, craftier, and more outgoing. In spite of these differences, there is one thing in common between the peasant of the North and that of the South: realism.

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    The down-to-earth overrides sentimentality. His sharp observation of reality gives rise to an often wild humor towards other classes, in particular monks, sorcerers, quacks, aristocrats, etc. This humor is found in Ca Dao ( or proverbs ).

    Thẩy địa, thầy bói, thầy đồng,
    Nghe ba thầy ấy thì lông không còn.

    The geomancer, the fortune teller, the soothsayer,
    Listening to them and you will lose your shirt.

    Also in folk songs are found his joy of life, his simplicity, his righteousness, his economy. It is in these watery checkerboards filled with mud, and meticulously and economically gardened that appears the centennial rooting of the peasant tied to his labor, which makes him a diligent and obstinate combatant.

    For a Vietnamese peasant, his field, his soil are symbolized by this constant mixture of land and water. It is still by these words đất nước that he indicates his motherland. His attachment to this land is so deep that one can say only in one sentence:

    His destiny is that of Vietnam.

     

    Mekong delta river (Đồng Bằng Cửu Long)

     

    Version française
    Cửu Long nơi có chín rồng
    Có sông nhiều cá có đồng lúa xanh
    Thưở xưa là đất tranh giành
    Người Nam nhắc đến không đành lìa xa

    The Mekong delta is the former territory of the kingdom Founan (Phù Nam). The Mekong delta’s natives are  the mixing of several Vietnamese, Khmer, Cham and Chinese peoples. A fifth of the population lives in this delta. The least hectare, the least cultivable parcel of the delta are exploited by peasants consisted of Vietnamese of Khmer origin, Chinese,Chàm, and Vietnamese. That is why a multitude of religions is found there: Buddhism, Catholicism, Caodaism, Islam, and Hoà Hảo. Irrigated and sprinkled by the Mekong River, this delta produced itself alone one-half of the rice of the country, which allows Vietnam to become the third largest exporter of rice in the world.

    The Mekong delta is currently divided into  12 provinces: Long An, Tiền Giang, Bến Tre, Ðồng Tháp, An Giang, Kiên Giang,  Vĩnh Long, Trà Vinh, Hậu Giang, Sóc Trăng, Bạc Liêu  and Cà Mau.

    Đồng Bằng Cửu Long

    Before becoming an integral part of Vietnam, this delta belonged to the Khmer people. The first Vietnamese colonists appeared only at the beginning of the 16th century on this territory that was until then just a marshy area infested with crocodiles and filled with mangroves. It is only in 17th century that this territory became Vietnamese under the scepter of the lords Nguyễn. It was also the arena of violent clashes between the Tay Son’s armies and the Nguyen’s partisans supported by the mercenaries recruited by Pigneau de Béhaine at the end of 18th century.

    One finds in this delta a labyrinth of channels and rivers that add up to 4,000 kilometers, which is equivalent to the length of the Mekong river itself. This river is born out of the snows from Tibet in the province of Qing Hai, flows for more than 4,500 km before reaching the delta and crosses six countries: China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Kampuchea, and Vietnam. It divides itself at the capital of Kampuchea, Phnom-Penh into two branches, Mekong and Bassac that enter Vietnam separately. In Vietnam, its upper course is divided into four arms at Vĩnh Long to throw itself into the East Sea. (Biển Đông).

    The great lake Tonlé Sap, located at the center of Kampuchea is not only a natural fish tank but also a natural regulator of the water flow making it possible to prevent the flood of the delta. In summer, because of monsoon rain, the level of Mekong is higher compared to that of the lake to which it is connected by a channel. The lake fills itself, passing from 3,000 square kilometers in season of low waters to more than 10,000 square kilometers at the end of the monsoon. The lake begins to reverse its water into the delta by the time the rain ends. The Mekong delta does not need big water management works or dikes to protect itself from swelling, which proves to be essential for the delta of the North. Thanks to the irrigation of Mekong, the delta is so fertile. Gardens, fields, rice plantations and orchards are seen everywhere.

    These orchards are in fact small plots of land irrigated by channels connected to each other by bamboo bridges often called Cầu Khỉ (Monkey Bridges). When referring to the delta, the term « cò bay thẳng cánh«  is often used. This means the delta is so vast that the cranes can extend their wings as they fly over. 

    It is in this delta, at Sadec, that Marguerite Duras’ mother ran the girls’ school. A young Chinese of good family lived there too. He will become the hero in « The Lover « . This novel has made Marguerite Duras a superstar of the French literature overnight allowing her to win the Prix de Goncourt in 1984 and ensure the sale of one million three hundred thousand copies in paperback in Midnight Editions and one million copies in hardcover at France-Loisirs.

    It is also in this delta that are seen every morning, hundreds of sampans converging toward the famous floating market of Phùng Hiêp at the crossroad of seven channels in the direction of Cần Thơ to Sóc Trăng, or toward lesser known markets such as Cái Răng and Phong Ðiền. Also seen are merchants with conic hats trailing their mountains of fruits, legions of ducks, chickens and pigs to the market on their small boats, or other rudimentary means of transportation (bicycles, rickshaws). It is thanks to the orchards of the delta that one finds a great number of fruits: sapotilles, ramboutans, caramboles, corrosoles etc… at the markets of Saigon. It can be said that the delta feeds Saigon and a greater part of Vietnam. In the northeast of the peninsula lies the Plain of Reed ( Ðồng Tháp Mười ) which was a Việt Cộng refuge yesterday and which becomes the Asian Camargue today.

    In spite of its lack of archaeological richness, the delta continues to play a vital role economically for Vietnam. It becomes thus the object of greed and confrontation for so many years. It was French Cochinchina at one recent time. Even Hồ Chí Minh, when alive, has agreed to its importance by burying his father at Sadec. There are folks whose names remain anchored in the memory of the Vietnamese people. Phan Thanh Giản, Võ Tánh, Nguyễn Trung Trực, Hùynh Phú Sổ, are among these folks and are issue of this corner.


    Without the delta, Vietnam is never free and independent….. 
    It is the granary of Vietnam.


    Hà Tiên (English version)

    French version

    Vietnamese version

    Facing to the Gulf of Siam, Hà Tiên is located about 8 kilometers from the Cambodian border. It is also the city marking the end of the long walk towards the South started by the Vietnamese. Before being known as Hà Tiên, it initially was called  Phương Thành then Mang Kham in the past. Its economic growth has been due to the massive arrival of the Chinese, supporters of the former Ming dynasty (or Minh Hương in Vietnamese) whose most known was Mac Cửu (Mac King Kiou).

    Being hostile to the new dynasty of the Manchus (Qing) and leaving China at the 17 years age, this one,was established with his family in Cambodia in 1671. He was appointed a few years later by the Cambodgian king as provincial chief of Mang Khảm . Thanks to his generosity and business talent, he succeeded to transform Mang Kham into a port city flourishing and animated in the region. For countering against the Siamese’s ambition, he needed the Vietnameses protection, in particular that of the Nguyễn lords to the detriment of the Cambodian ones. They agreed to confer to him the title of commander of troops (tổng binh) in this region. Consequently, Mang Kham belonged to Vietnamese territory and changed name into becoming Hà Tiên. According to the legend, one saw appearing on the river, the ballad of Immortals (Hà river in Vietnamese). It is also the reason for choosing this name. Hà Tiên became a few years later the starting point for the conquest of Cambodian districts: Long Xuyên (Cà Mau today), Kiên Giang (Rạch Giá), Tran Giang (Cần Thơ), Tran Di (Bạc Liêu) with his son Mac Thiên Tứ. This latter was a character out of the ordinary. His fate was tied closely to that of Nguyễn Ánh, future emperor of the Nguyên Dynasty. It became the famous rampart of the Nguyễn against the Tây Sơn. With the years of vicissitudes of Nguyễn Ánh, he had to take refuge in Thailand with all the family and the son of Nguyễn Ánh, Prince Xuân. To sow doubt among the Siamese, the Tây Sơn did not hesitate to falsify documents and make them responsible for a conspiracy against Siamese king Trịnh Tân (Phraya Tak Sin).

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    His entire family was executed with the prince Xuân. To preserve his honor and fidelity, he committed suicide in September 1780. Mac Thiên Tứ was also a greatest poet of his time. He made Hà Tiên famous by his volume of poems entitled « Hà Tiên Thâp vịnh » praising the beauty of its natural and marvellous sites.

    This volume continues to grow in the coming years with the addition of 10 poems written by each of 31 poets belonging to the club of the poets « Chiêu Anh Các » created under the initiative of Mac Thiên Tứ. That constituted in all 320 poems to which Nguyễn Cư Trinh added the last ten poems to give a value priceless to this volume that continues to be transmitted to the posterity.

    Ones does not forget his famous poem in Six-Eight to tease an young girl in Quảng Nam (Center of Vietnam), disguised as a young student taking part in the evening of the illumination festival. By seeing this young man, he does not hesitate to send the following four verses:

    Bên kia sen nở nhiều hoa
    Người khen hoa đẹp nõn nà hơn em
    Trên bờ em đứng em xem
    Mọi người sao bỗng không thèm nhìn hoa

    On the other side, the lotus has many flowers
    The person who admires them is more prettier than you.
    On land, you continue to admire them
    Everyone is not be interested to admire your « flower »

    Without hesitation, he replied promptly by the four following verses:

    Mặt ao sen nở khắp
    Trông hoa lẫn bóng người
    Trên bờ ai đứng ngắm
    Sao chẳng thấy hoa tươi?

    The surface of the pond is filled with flowers of lotus
    Ones finds here at the same time these flowers and the people’s shadows
    On land, each one is admiring them
    Why isn’t a beautiful flower found?

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    Lotus

    This poetic exchange enabled him to have sympathy and to discover that this young student was only one girl disguised as a boy to avoid the pirates, coming from the Center of Vietnam, following her father to make the trade and bearing the name Nguyễn Thi Xuân. Mac Thiên Tứ took her later as wife of second rank . But the latter failed to die because of the jealousy of his wife . She was forced to withdraw herself in a pagodon to finish her last remaining days. Before her death, she left a poem showing her purity and nobility in a nauseaous world filled with turpitudes by comparing her with a lotus flower:

    Vươn khỏi bùn nhơ thoát vươn lên
    Phỉ lòng trong trắng giữa thiên nhiên
    Xuân thu đậm nhạt bao hồng tía
    Ðừng sánh thanh cao với đóa sen.

    Leaving mud, the lotus flower continues to open out
    It is glad to be pure in nature
    Its perianth becomes more or less purple in the course of time
    But one should not compare the nobility with this flower.

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    When one evokes Hà Tiên, one does not forget to think of Mac Cửu and his son Mac Thiên Tứ because it is thanks to them that Vietnam succeeded in achieving its long walk towards the South. Nothing is more astonishing than to see the deep attachment and respect which the Vietnamese reserved for Mac Cửu and his family through his temple in Hà Tiên.

    Tự Đức mauseolum ( English version)

    Version française

     

    Xung Khiêm Tạ

    Unlike other royal tombs of the Nguyễn Dynasty, Tự Ðức mausoleum  is primarily a possible place of refuge during his reign. That is why there is not only a palace which was later transformed into a place of worship after his death but also a theater and two small and pretty pavilions in red wood (Du Khiêm and Xung Khiêm) where he liked to sit for the relaxation and the composition of his poems. This mausoleum which was built during 1864-1867 by three thousand soldiers and workers, had approximately fifty buildings surrounded by a stone and brick wall 1500 meters in length in an area of 12 ha.

    Khiêm Lăng (謙陵)

    Tự Đức was crowned king at a time where he have had to cope not only with development of Western capitalism but also internal strife (war grasshoppers led by  poet Cao Ba Quát, the eviction of his elder brother Hồng Bàng at his enthronement etc..). For taking refuge, he did not hesitate to order the construction of his tomb as a place of relaxation in his lifetime and remains a place of residence for eternal future life.

     

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    In this mausoleum, the pavilion Hoa Khiêm is the main building where the Emperor worked and the pavilion Lương Khiêm is where he lived and slept. One finds also in the domain of his mausoleum two other tombs: those of his wife, Queen Lê Thiện Anh and one of his three adopted son, King Kiến Phúc.

    The architecture of this mausoleum reflects not only the nature of the romantic poet emperor Tư Ðức but also the freedom that is lacking so far in the other mausoleums. Nothing is surprising to see this mausoleum become one of the favorite places choosen by most foreign and Vietnamese tourists.

     
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    Mausoleum of Minh Mạng emperor (English version)

     

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    Version française

    Version anglaise

    Galerie des photos (Bộ hình ảnh)

    Mỗi lăng mộ vua chúa đều có một cảnh quan và một nét quyến rũ riêng. Lăng Minh Mạng nổi tiếng với sự hài hòa hoàn hảo giữa kiến ​​trúc và môi trường tự nhiên. Lăng bắt đầu được xây dựng dưới triều đại của ngài (1820-1841) và chỉ được hoàn thành vào năm 1843, hai năm sau khi ngài qua đời bởi người kế vị là vua Thiệu Trị.

    Đền Sùng Ấn, được người kế vị  (vue Thiệu Trị) dâng tặng cho  vua Minh Mạng và hoàng hậu, được hoàn thành thông qua ba tầng lầu và cổng  Hiền Đức. Phía bên kia của ngôi đền này, có ba cây cầu đá bắc qua hồ Thanh Minh (Hồ Minh Trung). Cây cầu trung tâm được gọi là « cầu của Trí tuệ và Chính nghĩa » (Trung Đạo Kiều), được xây bằng đá cẩm thạch và chỉ dành cho hoàng đế sử dụng. Đình Minh Lâu (Đình Ánh Sáng) tượng trưng cho Tam Hoàng: Trời, Người và Đất. (Thiên Nhân Địa).

    Từ cây cầu đá bắc qua hồ Tân Nguyệt, người ta có thể đi qua một cánh cổng bằng đồng, một bức tường tròn tượng trưng cho mặt trời và ở giữa hàng rào thiêng liêng này là lăng mộ của hoàng đế, một gò đất được bao quanh bởi những cây thông tự nhiên.

    Each royal tomb has a particular landscape and a own charm. That of Minh Mang is known for perfect harmony between architecture and  natural environment. It began to be built during his reign (1820-1841) and was completed only in 1843, two years after his death by his successor Thiệu Trị.

    The temple Sung Ấn , dedicated to Minh Mang and his wife by his successor, may be achieved through  three terraces and the gate Hiền Ðức. On the other side of this temple, there are three stone bridges spanning Lake Pure Clarity. (Hồ Minh Trung). The central bridge known as the « bridge of the Intelligence and righteousness » (Trung Ðạo Kiều , built in marble was used only by the emperor. Pavilion Minh Lâu (Pavilion of Light) represent the Triad: Heaven, Human being and the Earth. (Thiên Nhân Ðịa).

    From a stone bridge spanning the lake Tân Nguyệt (Lake of the New Moon), one can reach through a gate in bronze, a circular wall symbolizing the sun and in the middle of this sacred fence it is the emperor ‘s tomb, a mound of soil surrounded by natural pines.

    Trung đạo kiều

    Hiếu Lăng (孝陵)

    Map of  the Minh Mạng emperor mauseoleum

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    • 1 Ðại Hồng Môn
    •   The red main gate
    • 2 Sùng Ấn Ðiện
    •   The cult of temple
    • 3  Hoàng Trạch Môn
    •    The Hoàng Trạch gate  of pavilion of light
    • 4  Minh Lâu
    •    The pavilion of light
    • Trung Ðạo Kiều
    •     The bridge of the Intelligence and righteousness
    • 6  Mộ của vua Minh Mạng
    •      The mausoleum of Minh Mang emperor

     

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    Forbidden city of Huế (Tử Cấm Thành)

    Version française

    The forbidden city   is encircled by a 4-metre high  brick wall with a classic coating. This wall also is  surrounded by a ditch filled with water. Each door preceded by one or several bridges gives access on each side. The Ngọ Môn Gate is the main entrance and it is reserved for the King.

    It is a powerful  masonry  foundation drilled with five passages and surmonted by an elegant wooden structure with two levels, the Belvedere of five Phoenixes (Lầu Ngủ Phụng). In the East and West of the Citadel, one finds respectively  the gates  of humanity and virtue which are highly decorated and pierced each by  three passages. The gate of humanity has been completely  restored in 1977.

    World cultural heritage of Vietnam

    Once we have gone precisely through the Ngo Môn Gate, we see appearing on the main axis the sumptuous palace of Supreme Harmony or  Throne palace that can be reached through the Esplanade of the Great Salvation (Sân Ðại Triều Nghi). It is in this Palace that the emperor, seated in a prominent symbolic position, received the salvation of all dignitaries of the empire  hierarchically aligned  on the esplanade at the time of great ceremonies. It is also the only building kept after so many years of war. Behind this palace, it is the imperial residence.

    © Đặng Anh Tuấn

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    • 1 Noon gate (Ngọ Môn)
    • 2 Throne palace (Điện Thái Hoà)
    • 3 Archives pavilion  ( Thái Bình Ngự Lâm Thư Lâu)
    • 4  Royal theatre ( Duyệt Thị Đường)
    • 5 Pavilion of  Splendor (Hiến Lâm Các)
    • 7 Gate of virtue (Hiền Đức Môn)
    • 8 Gate of humanity (Hiển Nhơn Môn)

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    Huế city (English version)

     

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    Version française

    For the majority of Vietnamese, Huế always remains the intellectual and artistic foyer of Vietnam. It always looks like a sleeping princess. It knows how to keep its charm and grace that it has had since the Champa occupation with its citadel, the Perfume river and above all the famous Thiên Mụ ( or The Celeste Lady ) pagoda . The cruel beauty of its women wearing the white tunic ( áo dài ) accompanied by a conical hat (or nón bài thơ) , the fineness of its poetry, the union of its parks and pagodas with varnished tiles, the culture of its madarinal court make it more charming, noble, and majestuous.

    One remembers Hue through the follwing two famous popular verses:

    Gió đưa cành trúc là đà
    Tiếng chuông Thiên  Mụ, canh gà Thọ-Xương

    While the wind smootly moves the bamboo branches 
    One hears the Thiên Mụ bell, and the Thọ-Xương rooster’s song

    Before becoming the imperial capital of the Nguyễn, it was first the strong place of Chinese Jenan’s command of emperorQin ShiHuangDi in 3rd century B.C., then it was gradually integrated in the kingdoms of Lin Yi and Champa since 284 of our era. Then it was the object of greed of the Chinese and the Vietnamese when the latter  gained their independence. It was partially controlled by the Vietnamese in 1306. This control was only wholly when Hue became a dowry from king Chế Mẫn of Champa to the Vietnamese in exchange of his marriage with princess Huyền Trân.

    Cố Đô Huế

    It was the imperial capital of a reunified Vietnam from 1802 to 1945 and knew no less than 13 emperors of the Nguyễn dynasty, of whom the founder was Nguyễn Ánh known under the name of  » Gia Long ». On the left bank of the Perfume river, in the middle of the city center, three surroundding walls circumscribe the imperial city and protect the forbidden purple city whose orientation was set in relationship with four cardinal points by geomancers of the court. As an admirer of the Ming dynasty, emperor  Gia Long did not hesitate to give Huế a striking resemblance of the Forbidden City of Peking.

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    The royal tombs were built  at the exit of the city, along the river. Hue was the target of several conquests, French first in 1885, Japanese next in 1945 and then French in 1946. It was the witness of deadly combats during the Mậu Thân Tết offensive in 1968. Many times, it was also the actor of nationalist resistance in colonial time and during the last five decades.

    Despite its aristocratic appearance, Huế knows how to conserve in difficult time the history of Vietnam that is to say the Vietnamese soul.