Land of the Wind

Because Ky Lan Ho - Cu Mi Thuong is related to a book being written about the South of the province, I decided to go to Tan Thang commune, Ham Tan district for the seventh time this year.

The old farmers and veteran fishermen passed away one after another, bringing with them a part of history that the younger generation can hardly touch or acknowledge. Looking at a bustling Tan Thang, houses close together, life improving day by day like today, few people return, one can imagine a famous Ky Lan Ho - Cu Mi Thuong land running along the old route of the mandarin newspaper (Trieu Thanh Thai) when it was still part of Phuoc Thang commune, Binh Thuan province. And it is also impossible to imagine that from the 9 families from the Central region that were initially recruited by priest Huynh Cong An, together with a number of Cham and Chau Ro people, a crowded village of more than 2,000 households was formed as it is today.

Who named the homeland?!

After passing Son My, an official working in Tan Thang Commune People's Committee had arranged in advance to take me along the Ko Kieu River, from Ko Kieu Bridge past the dam and water tower, which supplies clean water to the entire commune, then following the rural traffic route and newly built irrigation canals, we circled through National Highway 55 (formerly Inter-Provincial Highway 23) straight to the Chua River, which is the border with Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. Returning for lunch and resting at Cu Mi beach. Here, I coincidentally met the restaurant owner, he said he was a great-grandchild of the first 9 households to come here to settle down. Through learning about the survivors of these 9 families and further looking up and talking with trusted people, the story of land reclamation and the ancient village and district names began to "appear" more clearly!

… Around 1885, after completing the land register of the land taken from Lien Tri hamlet, Tam Tan village, Duc Thang commune, Tuy Ly district to establish Tan Ly village, forming La Gi parish, priest Huynh Cong An recruited 9 Catholic households from Quang Binh , Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, along with a few neighboring people to reclaim the wild land called Ky Lan Ho - Cu Mi Thuong. (There is a hypothesis that the word Cu Mi is a phonetic variation through the process of Vietnamization from the word Bhummi - the meaning of this Cham word means homeland; Ky Lan Ho is due to the feng shui shape of the land imprinted in the thinking, in the dreams, and desires of the pioneers who founded the village in the past, not due to the thrilling stories later embroidered). In 1916, Ham Tan district was established including two communes Phong Dien and Phuoc Thang of Tuy Ly district (Phong Dien commune has 4 villages: Phong Dien, Hiep Nghia, Tam Tan, Tan Ly; Phuoc Thang commune has 5 villages: Phuoc Loc, Ham Tan, Pho Tri, Ham Thang, Thang Hai). The name of Ham Tan village of Phuoc Thang commune was changed to Ham Tan district because the district headquarters was located in the village, which is a part of Phuoc Hoi ward, La Gi today.

Discussing this period, researcher Phan Chinh added: “After 1910, the district and prefecture levels were equal. The place name Ham Tan was just a village taken from the land of Phuoc Loc ward (this place name is the oldest, at the same time as Van Ke, Tan Hai, Tan Quy, Tan Nguyen (ie Tam Tan - 3 communes combined). The old seal - made of bronze (around after 1916) - the frame reads (administrative unit - the first letter): P. Binh Thuan/P is Province; C. Phuoc Thang/C. is Canton; H. Ham Tan/H. is District (in the New Vietnamese Dictionary by Thanh Nghi - Minh Hoa Publishing House before 1975, the word “district” was not translated, but the word “District Road” was translated as Bureau du huyen or “Quan huyen” was translated as Chef d'un huyen… and V. Ham Tan/V. Lang- Village. Thus, Ham Tan village geographically lies on the right bank of La Di River (Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi book recorded as La Di - Dinh River".

What people today know better is the period after the establishment of Binh Tuy province (1956). The province at that time consisted of 3 districts: Ham Tan, Tanh Linh and Hoai Duc. (Ham Tan has 6 communes: Phuoc Hoi, Binh Tan, Ba Gieng, Hiep Hoa, Tan Hiep, Van My; Ham Tan district capital is located in Tan Hiep, now Tan Hai market area, La Gi town).

Such a long talk is to prove that the name of Ham Tan village has become the name of the district, the name of the county, today is Ham Tan district of Binh Thuan province and is also the basic foundation for us to better understand the connection, the ancient origin of Ky Lan Ho - Cu Mi Thuong and the whole "windy region" in the South of the province.

A veteran war invalid of Tan Thang land told me another story about the place name, which is Tuyet Mai village (Suoi Don area and Cat Lon village behind Tan Thang school today). The name Tuyet Mai village is one of many touching stories about the fierce and heroic years of fighting against the US.

At that time, the people staying in Hiep Hoa commune all went into the forest to establish bases. At that time, in addition to the hamlets, communes, and surrounding areas, the district also had liberated areas such as Van My (Tan Thanh), Kim Binh (Phu Sung), Hiep Hoa, and Ba Gieng. In the sixties, the enemy attacked fiercely, and the lives of cadres, agency employees, and people in the liberated areas fell into a state of severe hunger. They dug up cassava roots, cycads, sweet potatoes, wild bamboo shoots, and water spinach to eat instead of rice, but the forest resources were also running out. There was no salt, so they had to eat bland food, so their limbs were weak, they could not walk, and their bodies developed edema. On the other hand, in areas where we produced crops such as Hiep Hoa, the enemy increased the spraying of toxic chemicals to destroy the living environment. Everyone had to plow, till the land, and harvest at night. To have food, sometimes they had to sacrifice their own lives.

Faced with that situation, the Ham Tan District Party Committee Office established a self-sufficient production unit led by comrade Nguyen Hoa. This self-sufficient production unit planned to clear fields, cultivate rice and potatoes to provide food for the entire agency. Around August 1966, there was a concentrated mobilization to harvest rice and corn in the fields (the District Party Committee Office had allocated two adjacent fields, with an area of over 20,000 square meters) and mill and pound rice. This mobilization had nearly 20 comrades participating, divided into 2 groups. Group 1 included comrade Tuyet, comrade Mai and comrade Thu, whose task was to guard the fields (chasing away parrots and monkeys that destroyed rice and corn), group 2 was led by comrade Nguyen Thanh Hai.

At first, an old L.19 aircraft circled the production area, then immediately two fighter jets flew in, one launched a rocket, the other dropped two petrol bombs. The fire broke out fiercely. Ms. Tuyet (Coi) and Ms. Mai (Hiep) who were tending the field were sacrificed, comrade Tuyet was hit by a rocket, her body was torn into many pieces, comrade Mai was burned by a petrol bomb and curled up. After burying the two beautiful girls, comrades and teammates sympathetically named this mournful village Tuyet Mai village.

"Working hard to mend the net but can't mend a single wound in the heart"

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hanh, a woman who sat mending nets on Cu Mi beach, confided in me that when mentioning the sacrifices of her relatives during the resistance war. But she also shared: This land has a lot of pain, but we must overcome the pain to live and strive to live better! Her confession is also the feelings and determination of the people here.

In Tan Thang, there are many families whose members all participated in revolutionary activities such as Mr. Pham Tien's family, Ms. Tam Ly's family, Mr. Sau Kem's family, Mr. Tu Nhieu's family, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tam's family... Many children of Tan Thang's homeland, including Catholics and Cham people such as brothers and sisters: Luong Van Thin, Tran Ngoc Chau, Nguyen Xi, Phan Thanh Kim, Pham Van Ba, Pham Van Nam, Nguyen Thanh Tam, Luong Van Nhut, Nguyen Van Minh, Le Van Hai, Thong Van Duc... and many others were enlightened to join the revolution, fight and heroically sacrifice in the fight against the Americans to save the country right in their beloved homeland. The people of the liberated Hiep Hoa area were truly a solid spiritual and emotional support for the collective units stationed at the base. The people's feelings for the revolution were truly passionate and deeply affectionate. The affection and support of the people of the liberated area of Hiep Hoa - Tan Thang was a great source of encouragement for cadres, party members and soldiers on the path of working and fighting for the revolutionary ideal, national liberation and homeland liberation. Those were the decisive factors in the victory of the revolutionary movement in Tan Thang. From 1975 to 2020, the 45-year journey of renovating and building a countryside can be said to be full of difficulties and challenges, but left all of us with pride.

After the war, from a village where production was completely dependent on nature, with fragmented and backward farming, the majority of people's houses were made of bamboo and simple thatched walls... Today, Tan Thang has been renewed, people's lives are changing from "striving to eat well and wear warmly" to "striving to eat well and dress well". From a self-sufficient production style, with a life of shortages, to now being self-reliant, developing a production-business model of goods with high economic value; many people have organized production according to the model of combined agricultural - forestry - fishery farms. People's houses are built spacious and solid. The number of households with motorbikes, cars, audio and visual equipment accounts for over 98%. The number of households using the national grid, using landline and mobile phones accounts for over 95%. Children of school age in grade 1 is 100%. Tan Thang has universalized primary and secondary education. Children receive full health care and annual vaccinations.

Comrade Nguyen Thanh Truong, Secretary of the Tan Thang Commune Party Committee, said: “To have achieved today's achievements, first of all, we must mention the leadership role of the Party Cell and the Tan Thang Commune Party Committee - the decisive factor in all victories in the work of reforming and building the homeland, the efforts, efforts, determination of cadres, party members and the spirit and will of the people of Tan Thang Commune to enrich themselves and build the homeland, build a new society. In 1975, there were only 3 party members, now it has become a Party Committee with 110 party members, including 13 affiliated Party Cells. Through the periods, the Party Cell, Party Committee and Party members have steadfastly adhered to the revolutionary ideals and the path of building socialism chosen by the Party and President Ho Chi Minh; solidarity and high consensus within the Party when implementing policies and resolutions. This is a fine tradition of the Party members, Party Cell and Tan Thang Commune Party Committee. The Party Cell and Tan Thang Commune Party Committee always closely follow the direction The Central Party Committee, the Provincial Party Committee, and the District Party Committee regularly organize the dissemination and popularization of the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws to all cadres, party members, and the people. From the leaders to each party member, they are all close to the people, listening to and absorbing the reflections, recommendations, thoughts, and legitimate aspirations of all classes of people to lead, direct, and organize implementation. The Tan Thang Party Cell and Party Committee have implemented policies on economic and social reform and development in accordance with the characteristics of the local situation. Especially thanks to the Party's innovation policy in economic development, Tan Thang has made progress in production and life. The Tan Thang Party Cell and Party Committee, through all periods, have focused on Party building, political system building, and new rural construction. In all work, the Party's principles and the State's laws are ensured.

Tan Thang today not only has a bustling residential area, bustling trade along Highway 55, from Ko Kieu Bridge to Chua River, but also covers a beach area like a virgin's waist forming two real and unreal shores, the sea breeze is strong and cool, all year round the sound of the waves is steady like a lullaby about the vague sadness. That area has deeply imprinted, marked in the hearts and memories of many children of the homeland, of many wanderers or people who live far away from home for a living, far from home for a living. That homeland is the end of Binh Thuan province, the land at the end of the wind from "La Di" pouring in, so the story is also scattered along a long stretch of the affectionate shore!

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