The story of the Nguyen Dynasty prince

Dinh Vien Cong Nguyen Phuc Binh (1797-1863) was the 6th prince of King Gia Long, his mother was concubine Duong Thi Su. He was a prince passionate about business. In ancient Hue, there was a saying "Phu bat nhu Dinh Vien" which means: No one is as rich as Dinh Vien.

Gia Lac Market 2012 in Ho Chi Minh City

The prince loves business…

In the 16th year of Gia Long (1817), Prince Nguyen Phuc Binh was appointed Dinh Vien Cong by King Gia Long. In the same year, he established his palace in Tay Thuong village, Phu Thuong commune, Phu Vang district of Hue capital (now My Thuong ward, Hue city).

Going against the ideology of "prioritizing agriculture and suppressing commerce" at that time, Dinh Vien Cong especially liked business. Hue was the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty, so products from everywhere had to be fully supplied to this land. Goods in the area near Dinh Vien Cong's palace were very rich, from ceramics, silk, paper and pens to medicinal herbs, food, etc. From here, goods were transported from boats to horse-drawn carriages to supply the Hue capital.

Because Dinh Vien Cong's mansion was opposite the Dinh market ferry on the Huong River, where boats were bustling with trade, Dinh Vien Cong had a row of warehouses built near this ferry. He bought all the goods from merchants and then resold them for profit. Normally, ships had to wait for quite a long time because merchants had to wait for all their goods to be sold and then wait for enough goods to leave the dock. Dinh Vien Cong's actions allowed merchants to sell their goods immediately and buy the goods they needed without having to wait. Although the profit was less, they could buy and sell in large quantities and make many trips during the year. In addition, Dinh Vien Cong personally went to Japan to research the market for importing and exporting goods.

… and loved Tuong, opened Gia Lac market

As a lover of the art of Tuong (hat boi), Dinh Vien Cong not only established a troupe to serve the government but also built Tuong theaters at Dinh market and Nam Pho market.

He established Gia Lac Tet market right on the way to Vy Da village, at the intersection of Nam Pho village. The market was established on Lunar New Year.
Binh Tuat (1826) under the reign of King Minh Mang. The name Gia Lac means “Increasing joy”. The market took place during the Tet holidays, initially only for royal family members and mandarins but later expanded to include common people.

What is interesting about Gia Lac market? According to old documents, people in Dinh market area, Gia Hoi old town today go to Gia Lac market to have a chance to tell fortunes about boats on the occasion of the New Year because they have to cross the river. If when they arrive at the dock, the boat is waiting, it means they will have a leisurely New Year. On the contrary, when they arrive at the dock, the boat has to cross the river, it is a sign that they will have a difficult year.

And it is customary for people going to Gia Lac market on the first day of Tet to buy an areca nut and a betel leaf with the wish for peace in the new year. Betel nut at Gia Lac market is fragrant betel nut. Areca nut at the market is Nam Pho village areca nut, famous for its sweetness in Hue. Areca nut and betel nut here are especially favored by Hue people even though the price is higher than other regions. Therefore, Hue people have a saying: Nam Pho areca nut, each fruit has a price. Dinh market betel nut, each leaf has a price (“Giac” is called hao by Northerners, cac by Southerners, worth 1/10 of a silver coin).

People who go to Gia Lac market buy goods from the market according to their preferences. Goods sold in the market are quite diverse, such as bowls, glasses, clothes, jewelry, fresh flowers, vegetables, fruits, etc. Especially Hue specialties such as powder buds, paper flowers, Nam Pho rice noodles, banh beo, nam, loc, it, ram, wet, khoai, etc. Children buy statues of Ba Trung riding an elephant, Mr. Trang holding a fan, to he, areca candy, ginger candy, etc.

Gia Lac market also attracts a large number of people to celebrate Tet thanks to a series of interesting games such as rice pounding song, bai choi, bai vu, bau cua, duck ring throwing, climbing the greasy pole, swinging, tug of war, wrestling, etc.

Gia Lac market attracts a large number of people to celebrate Tet.

Dinh Vien Cong launched a pork leg noodle cooking contest right at Gia Lac market. The chef who won first prize would receive four words: “perfect, five achievements”. Perfect is the perfect point of the capital’s specialty dish: delicious, fragrant, sweet, rich, pure, nutritious, eye-catching, good at choosing, good at cooking, good at presenting. Five achievements are five factors: everyone knows, can buy, can eat, can process, can find the ingredients right in their locality.

People come to Gia Lac market not because of the need to buy and sell but because this is a long-standing habit. They take joy and luck as the main thing, so everyone dresses neatly and elegantly, especially when walking and talking to each other, they are thoughtful and polite.

Gia Lac market was maintained until 1945, nearly a hundred years after Dinh Vien Cong passed away. In 2002, Hue culinary artist Ho Thi Hoang Anh recreated Gia Lac market on the campus of the University of Munich (Federal Republic of Germany), then the market was recreated at the year-end party at Le Lieu Unique (France). On February 15, 2012, for the first time in Vietnam since 1945, the ancient Hue Tet Gia Lac market was recreated on the rooftop of the Sailing building (Ho Chi Minh City) also by Hue culinary artist Ho Thi Hoang Anh./.

Nguyen Van Toan

Source: https://baolongan.vn/chuyen-ve-hoang-tu-nha-nguyen-a205113.html