Ha Tien Thap Canh: The thrilling story of Binh San Mountain

Binh San Mountain - Mac Cuu Tomb is not only a scenic spot but also contains many thrilling stories that have been passed down to this day.

The governor dredged the pond and prayed for rain.

In 1718, the Siamese army attacked and burned Ha Tien, Mac Cuu fled to Lung Ky. After the war was over, he brought his family back to Ha Tien to rebuild the country. During this time, Mac Cuu dug a large pond to provide water for the local people. This pond was the predecessor of the lotus pond in front of the Mac Cong temple gate. During the French occupation of Ha Tien, they built stone embankments on the pond's banks and a straight road leading to the temple, splitting the pond into a crescent shape, so the pond was named "Crescent Lotus Pond".

A corner of the temple of Thai Cong Mac Cuu

PHOTO: HOANG PHUONG - NGOC PHAN

Poet Dong Ho in the article "Canh vat Ha Tien" published in Nam Phong magazine (from issue 150 - 153 in 1930) described a semicircular pond in front of Trung Nghia Tu (ie Mac Cong Temple) with many lotus flowers growing, most beautiful in summer. The pond was fenced around, with space left for stairs up and down, and a stone wall built 5 inches high to prevent dirty water from flowing down from the street.

Every year, from January to December, there are always people coming to get water. They go to the pond to get water in the afternoon until sunset or on moonlit nights. Ox carts get water twice a day, the busiest on the days before Tet. Each cart has a pair of oxen pulling it, loaded with about a dozen tin cans of water. When getting water, the cart must park 5 meters away from the well. There is an underground water source in the pond, so there is always water. But after about 10 years, the mud fills up, so it has to be dredged again. In 1916, it was dredged once, in 1926 it was dredged again and continued in the following years.

In the Pho Thong newspaper (May 11, 1959), author Ngoc Tinh published a story about dredging a pond in 1956 with quite thrilling and magical details. That year, the Ha Tien Governor saw that the pond was dry so he ordered someone to pump water to dredge the pond. When the pond was dry, he found two turtles as big as winnowing baskets, he let them into the pond at Tam Bao pagoda. But from then on, the lotus pond always dried up, the rainy season only poured water on the To Chau mountain side, while the Binh San side was dry. The price of buying water increased to 30 dong per load.

Knowing that the people were worried, the Governor went to Mac Cong temple to burn incense and pray for rain. When he was about to perform the ceremony, a child ran in and said that if he wanted the lotus pond to have water like before, he had to bring two turtles back and release them into the pond. Following the child's words, the Governor ordered the two turtles to be brought back to the lotus pond. Two hours later, a heavy rain fell, and the lotus pond was filled with water again.

Nowadays, the lotus pond in front of Mac Cong temple has been completely changed. All the pond banks are built with cement and bricks, the surrounding roads are clear, new trees are planted, and it has become a park.

Lotus pond in front of the temple of Thai Cong Mac Cuu

PHOTO: HOANG PHUONG - NGOC PHAN

The governor dug up the grave to find the treasure.

After Mac Cuu passed away, the book Dai Nam liet truyen tien bien recorded: "In the spring of Binh Thin year (1736), Emperor Tuc Tong appointed Mac Thien Tich as the Admiral of Ha Tien town, granted him 3 tax-exempt dragon-card boats, and ordered the opening of a mint to facilitate trading. Thien Tich then divided the offices, recruited soldiers, built citadels, and expanded the market streets. Merchants and travelers from all countries gathered in large numbers."

There are many speculations that the Mac family's assets are very large and are buried somewhere in Binh San Mountain. In the monthly Van Hoa (No. 80, April 1963), poet Dong Ho wrote an article recounting the story of a French provincial governor who, under the pretext of renovating Ha Tien city, planned to take soil and rocks from Binh San Mountain to fill the forest and then excavate the tomb of Mrs. Nguyen, Mac Thien Tich's first wife, to find treasure. According to the author, this was a deliberate action and before carrying out this work, the provincial governor had researched and read a lot about the history of the Mac family, so he intended to find treasure according to folk rumors.

The road around Mac Cong temple was paved with bricks and planted with trees, becoming a park.

PHOTO: HOANG PHUONG - NGOC PHAN

The road up to the mausoleum is shaded by green trees.

PHOTO: HOANG PHUONG - NGOC PHAN

During the Qingming season of the year of Tan Hoi (1911), the provincial governor mobilized exiled prisoners in Ha Tien to destroy Lang mountain, excavate the tomb of the Nguyen family's wife, and move it to another place. The prisoners tried to destroy it for more than a week but could not reach the tomb. On the 10th day, they pried open the stone stele, revealing a part in front of the tomb, where the coffin was placed. The mouth of the tomb was open enough for several people to crawl through. Using a flashlight, they could see the gold and red paint on the coffin. The prisoners stopped to wait for local officials and descendants of the Mac family to come and witness the exhumation. After the rituals, Mr. Mac Tu Kham, a 7th generation descendant of the Mac family, held a candle to shine on it, picked up each piece of bone, and brought it up.

After the excavation, there were many rumors that some people picked up gold buttons, some got bright red agate buttons, some picked up pieces of brocade and brought them home to make scarves to ward off evil spirits so that children would not wake up. Then there were stories of picking up strings of zinc coins, porcelain plates, taking pieces of coffin wood to worship... People also asserted that Mr. Mac Tu Kham was given a gold hairpin with a diamond attached by the provincial governor. Later, when he was poor, Mr. Kham sold it to a Frenchman named Chapuis, who was in charge of the lighthouse in Mui Nai, because no one in his country dared to keep sacred things. There were also rumors that after buying the hairpin and bringing it home, Mr. Chapuis's family encountered many unfortunate accidents...

As for the governor, after digging the grave, while riding a horse near the Mac family tomb, the horse suddenly neighed loudly, throwing him to the ground, causing him to be paralyzed for many days. Afterwards, the governor personally brought offerings to the tomb of Mrs. Nguyen (aka Mrs. Hieu Tuc) and the tomb of Mrs. Co Nam, promising not to touch their graves again. (to be continued)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ha-tien-thap-canh-chuyen-ly-ky-o-nui-binh-san-185250921203835004.htm