Nguyen Cuu Van and the land of Tan An

Báo Long An•26/07/2023

A street in Ward 4, Tan An City, is named after Nguyen Cuu Van.

Nguyễn Cửu Vân was the grandson of Nghĩa Quận Công Nguyễn Cửu Kiều and the only son of Dực Đức Hầu Nguyễn Cửu Kế. He is considered by the official history of the Nguyễn dynasty to be a renowned general with immense contributions to land reclamation, settlement, construction, and defense of the southern border region during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He is also one of the five High-Ranking Deities (including Lương Văn Chánh, Bùi Tá Hán, Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, Nguyễn Cửu Vân, and Trần Thượng Xuyên) enshrined in the Văn Thánh Temple of Vĩnh Long province.

According to the book "Dai Nam Liet Truyen Tien Bien" (Volume 4) of the Nguyen Dynasty's National History Institute, Nguyen Cuu Van rose to the rank of Chief Commander. In the 14th year of Emperor Hien Tong's reign, the year of At Dau (1705), there was an internal conflict in Cambodia, with the brothers Nak Yem and Nak Tham raising armies and fighting each other. Nak Tham sought Siamese reinforcements to fight Nak Yem. Nak Yem fled to Gia Dinh to ask Lord Nguyen for help. Lord Nguyen appointed Nguyen Cuu Van as Chief Commander, leading both land and naval forces to fight the Siamese army. Upon reaching Sam Giang, Van encountered the Siamese army, intercepted them, and the Siamese army was defeated and fled. Nak Tham followed the Siamese army. Van collected many spoils of war and presented them to King Chieu Thuy Yen, then helped King Chieu Thuy Yen stabilize the situation. King Chieu Thuy Yen ceded the Vung Gu region of Cambodia to him. After receiving Vung Gu, Nguyen Cuu Van immediately organized the establishment of military camps, established plantations, and created the first rice paddies in Cau Uc. The Vũng Gù region - now Tân An City - officially entered the map of our country from that time.

According to the book Gia Dinh Thanh Thong Chi, until the early 18th century, Vung Gu was still a desolate, overgrown area with sparse population consisting of Khmer, Vietnamese, and Chinese people living together. To accelerate land reclamation, the Nguyen lords employed various methods, focusing on plantations and using soldiers as the main force in combination with poor people to jointly reclaim the land. Nguyen Cuu Van was a pioneer in using the army to reclaim the Vung Gu area, which at that time was a border region frequently harassed by bandits. With foresight, Nguyen Cuu Van ordered the construction of defensive ramparts from Quan (Thi) Gai to Luong Phu market, and dug canals at the headwaters of the Cau Uc and My Tho rivers to bring water to create moats outside the ramparts, ensuring a tight defense (according to Dai Nam Liet Truyen).

Rach Thu Tuu is one of 19 canals that connect with the Bao Dinh canal in Tan An City. Photo: QH.

The Vũng Gù canal was valuable for both the economy and national defense, as it was then a remote border region of our country. In 1819, King Gia Long ordered the governor of Định Tường, Nguyễn Văn Phong, to lead nearly 10,000 laborers to dredge, deepen, and widen the Vũng Gù canal, naming it Bảo Định River (Bảo Định Giang); later known as Bảo Định Canal.

Besides connecting to the Vam Co Tay River in the north and the My Tho River in the south, the Bao Dinh Canal also flows through 19 natural streams to the west and east, creating the canal system as it exists today. Therefore, in addition to its security and defense functions, the Bao Dinh Canal also served for land reclamation, irrigation, and waterway transportation in the southern part of Vietnam. During the process of "opening up land and establishing villages," Nguyen Cuu Van sometimes applied overly harsh policies, causing Lord Nguyen to summon him and reprimand him: "You are the son of a general, defending a region, yet you did not think ahead about caring for the people. Those displaced people who have just returned, if you force them to do (heavy) work, how can they endure it?"

From then on, Nguyen Cuu Van gathered the displaced people, using his benevolence and authority to appease them, distributing land, and establishing basic administrative units so that people, even those far from the central government, could feel secure in establishing their livelihoods on the land they owned. Nguyen Cuu Van also worked with General Tran Thuong Xuyen to pacify the borderlands, winning the hearts of the various ethnic groups so that they could live in harmony with each other, earning the great admiration of the Cambodian people.

When Nặc Thâm returned from Siam plotting against Nặc Yêm, Nặc Yêm immediately sent messengers to Trấn Biên to report the situation and request assistance from Nguyễn Cửu Vân, the then Deputy General of Trấn Biên. Nguyễn Cửu Vân and Trần Thượng Xuyên reported the matter to Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu, who, trusting the two wise ministers, granted them the authority to make their own decisions. Generals Vân and Xuyên resolved the matter peacefully, bringing stability to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Nguyen Cuu Van also established many religious and spiritual sites in the newly developed lands. He built temples and pagodas and received imperial decrees from Lord Nguyen, such as the "Imperial Decree Ho Quoc Tu" pagoda in Tran Bien. (These temples and pagodas are now recognized as ancient relics by the State). Acknowledging Nguyen Cuu Van's contributions in the South, the historians of the Nguyen dynasty affirmed in the Dai Nam Liet Truyen that: "Regarding the expansion of the South, Van's contributions were immense."

With that merit, from the year Ất Mùi (1715) - the 11th year of the Vĩnh Thịnh reign (Nguyễn Phúc Chu), which is the 24th year of Emperor Hiển Tông's reign, he was granted by imperial decree to approve the land he had reclaimed as an official land for personal gain (officially granted land as a private reward); "improved land" (land approved by the imperial decree), "Nguyễn công tự điền" (land dedicated to the Nguyễn family).

The exact birth and death dates of Vân Tường Marquis Nguyễn Cửu Hành/Nguyễn Cửu Vân are unknown. He had six sons and four daughters. His eldest son, Triêm Ân Marquis Nguyễn Cửu Búa (known in history as Cửu Triêm), and his fifth son, Đàm Ân Marquis (known in history as Cửu Đàm), both excelled in succeeding him and left many historical marks in the South. Triêm Ân Marquis Nguyễn Cửu Búa was the Deputy Commander of the Trấn Biên garrison. Đàm Ân Marquis Nguyễn Cửu Đàm was in charge of national defense and built the Bán Bích rampart (1772) to protect the Saigon-Gia Định region, which is now one of the important historical relics of Ho Chi Minh City.

According to Do Thanh Binh, Standing Vice Chairman of the Long An Provincial Historical Science Association, Long An province is preparing to hold a scientific conference on Nguyen Cuu Van. The selection of a park in the center of Tan An city to erect a statue and name the park Nguyen Cuu Van is also being considered, reflecting the principle of "drinking water, remembering the source." It is hoped that this scientific conference will provide us with much new information about the historical figure Nguyen Cuu Van.

Quang Hao

(This article is based on the document "Civil and Military Officials of Thuan Hoa in the Expansion of Southern Vietnam" by Vo Vinh Quang, published in Xua&Nay No. 552, June 2023.)

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