Old hometown Rang beach, Bau land...

According to historical records, after the 17th century, the group of "Ngu Quang migrants" following the policy of Lord Nguyen sailed to Binh Thuan in particular and the South in general to reclaim land and establish settlements. On the way, there were boats that docked on both sides of a cape that extended out to the sea, which was later named Mui Ne, forming two beaches, Front and Back, convenient for boats to anchor to avoid the wind (waves) according to the two seasons of the south (south) and north. In the early days, the names of villages and hamlets were based on nature. A part of the population went deep into the forest to reclaim land and cling to natural ponds to get water for daily use, lowland areas established vegetable gardens, coconuts, bananas, highland areas were used for farming sesame, beans, melons, potatoes... forming villages and hamlets associated with the names of natural ponds. Thien Nghiep commune alone today has a total of 13 large and small lakes: Bau Me, Bau Queo, Bau Tang, Bau Sen, Bau Ghe, Bau Dien, Bau Noi, Bau Ron, Bau Niem, Bau Chai, Bau Don, Bau Chat, Bau Quy...

Fishing net at Rang beach. (Photo: Archive)

According to the family genealogy and the instructions of our ancestors, in the early days, the population concentrated in Bau Me area first because the land here was the most fertile in the region, the land was quiet and good for growing coconut and banana gardens, and especially there was a little rice field with a green color located in the middle of a large area of dry, high-altitude fields. Typical of this Bau Me land is a hamlet that has been named Dien Vien hamlet since who knows when, meaning fields and gardens, suggesting a peaceful, happy, and reunited life. The folk name Bau Me is because there is a large lake surrounded by tamarind trees. After years of land exploitation, environmental deformation and the destruction of war, a few decades ago there was only one tall tamarind tree left, with a trunk that two people could not hug around. Unfortunately, someone had cut down this only remaining tamarind tree to get wood and make charcoal.

From the center of Bau Me, a new trail is opened up to reach Bau Ghe. In Bau Ghe, like other clusters of lakes, the mountains and lakes are connected together, water flows from the mountains to the foot of the lake, Bau Ghe mountain leans down to Bau Ghe, looking down from above it looks like a large boat with a pointed bow, long range, and wide compartment, so people call it Bau Ghe. Around Bau Ghe there are many other small lakes, such as Bau Noi because it is located on a high mound, Bau Dien is square like the word Dien, Bau Quy because the mountain standing next to the lake looks like a turtle, and Bau Niem, Bau Don, Bau Chai are located next to each other and have water all year round, but the young people today cannot explain it. From here, following the low mountain ranges down to Rang beach in the south, small nameless streams meander along the foot of the mountain, the edge of the forest to Bau Chat (located below Bau Me) flowing down to Rang bridge at km18 of road 706 (Nguyen Dinh Chieu) creating a scenic spot Suoi Tien with cool water at the foot, the multi-shaped stalactites evoking the image of fairies on the cliffs, an indispensable spot for tourists every time they come to visit Mui Ne National Tourist Area.

Along with the Bau Me center, Thien Nghiep also has two residential areas that have been concentrated for a long time, the Bau Sen area and the Bau Tang area. From Bau Me, turn left and you will see Bau Sen, from there, go straight and you will see Bau Tang. It is called Bau Sen because in the past, the lake was full of lotus flowers, a mountain rising up against the sky was also called Bau Sen mountain. Bau Tang mountain stands next to the lake with bushes that look like natural parasols from afar, so it is called Bau Tang. Now Bau Sen no longer has lotus flowers but has switched to raising freshwater fish, it is an interesting place for many young people to go fishing, sit and watch Bau Sen mountain leaning over to reflect on the rippling water, and flocks of familiar birds such as white storks, green parrots, silver carp, doves... flying back and forth chirping. Bau Tang has always been famous for its chewy custard apples on sandy soil: thin skin, few seeds, thick flesh, sweet taste...

Returning to the early days of settling down, after a period of settlement, a part of Bau Me population spread down to exploit the Rang sea area. That is the area from Bai Truoc (Mui Ne) going down to form a sea arc and then meet a small cape called Mui Da because there are many rocks there, the beach is called Bai Rang because about 2 nautical miles offshore from the shore there are 3 clusters of reefs lying deep under the bottom forming the caves of a reef/reef area, many species of seafood gather to breed and breed all year round. From that cape and reef area, coconut trees with thick roots cling to the sweet underground water from the sand dunes, baskets and fishing nets stretch out to the sea, so that every day in the thatched houses warmed by the fire.

During the Nguyen Dynasty, this coastal area had a main road passing through it and was named Thien Khanh village (today's Ham Tien) where Thuan Tinh station was located (commonly known as Tram hamlet). According to the genealogy of the Mai family, which Mr. Mai Hoang Nhan, a former teacher at Ham Tien Secondary School, is the fourth generation to keep, his great-grandfather was a Mai who was assigned to be the Station School; and the large residential area formed by the lakes belonged to Thien Nghiep village. Before 1945, both of these villages belonged to Mui Ne district, Thach An commune, Ham Thuan prefecture. After a hundred years of "turmoil" and bombs of war, the Thien Nghiep village's Ancestor Temple, built in the central area of Bau Me, was damaged. After the liberation day, the people restored it on the old land to worship the tutelary god and the ancestors who had contributed to reclaiming the land and establishing the village. Currently, the people still keep 12 royal decrees of the Nguyen Dynasty from the 5th Tu Duc period (Tu Duc Ngu Nien). The house of the ancestors of Thien Khanh village is located on the coast, so it has been preserved and renovated by the people with a spacious worshiping facility located in the middle of the green coconut forest of Rang. However, the ancestors of Thien Nghiep village are the origin, so every year on the 18th day of the second lunar month, families in Rang, Mui Ne and Bau areas, along with families working and living far away, all return to Bau Me to attend the peace-praying ceremony (Spring ceremony) and the death anniversary of the ancestors.

After the August Revolution of 1945, during the resistance war against the French, the old Thien Khanh village was named Quang Canh commune. That was the name of a native of Rang, with full name: Ho Quang Canh. Ho Quang Canh was the son of Mr. Ho Si Lam, from Nghe An, a patriot during the Duy Tan period who went to Binh Thuan to work as a traditional medicine doctor in Rang coastal village. In 1926, Ho Quang Canh graduated from Phan Thiet French-Vietnamese Primary School, he went to Saigon to work as a train station worker, in the spring of 1930 he joined the Indochinese Communist Party, in 1931 he returned to Rang during the summer vacation to open a private teaching class and sow the seeds of revolution in his hometown, in 1933 he sacrificed himself in Ban Me Thuot prison. Currently, a paved road from Rang intersection (706-Nguyen Dinh Chieu) to Bau Me, Bau Sen (Thien Nghiep commune) 7,500 meters long, 6 meters wide is named after him and the commune's primary school is also named after Ho Quang Canh.

Thien Nghiep village is associated with Le Hong Phong war zone, so it was extremely fierce, especially during the resistance war against the US. Remember in the early 1960s, the Saigon government tried to build a system of strategic hamlets, in this land, towards the sea there were Rang hamlet and Ba La hamlet, and towards the forest there was Giong Thay Ba hamlet. The large land named Giong Thay Ba existed long ago because there was a third teacher whose real name was Huynh Lien, from Binh Dinh, a Confucian scholar who was good at reading and medicine, who gathered people here to reclaim land and make a living. Teacher Ba was admired by the people for his virtue, teaching the words of the sages and curing people, after a long time the people called the land "Giong Thay Ba". Standing at this high mound, you can see Rang beach to the south, Bau Me mountain to the east, Bau Sen mountain to the west, Bau Tang mountain to the north. In August 1962, the enemy swept through and forced the people of Bau Tang, Bau Me, Bau Sen into the strategic hamlet of Giong Thay Ba. In May 1965, Giong Thay Ba hamlet was destroyed, nearly 5,000 people rose up and fled to their old land, the enemy gathered the remaining people to Rang hamlet and Ba La hamlet located close to the sea. The name Ba La hamlet comes from the name of Ba La hamlet, a coastal hamlet located at the end of Rang beach, bordering Mui Ne's Front beach, with a story still passed down. In the past, there was an old woman in the hamlet with a straightforward and outspoken personality. When she saw someone doing something wrong, she would loudly scold them, regardless of who they were, poor or rich, children in the house or strangers outside the alley... Her scolding echoed throughout the hamlet, from then on, no one knows when people called the hamlet Ba La hamlet and the slope before entering Mui Ne was Ba La slope (!?).

After April 30, 1975, within a short time, people in Ba La left the hamlet, dismantled their houses, and moved their belongings back to their old villages. At that time, Thien Khanh commune was called Hong Hai and Thien Nghiep commune was called Hong Tien, belonging to Thuan Phong district. In October 1975, Thuan Phong district was merged into Ham Thuan district and in November, Hong Hai and Hong Tien communes were merged to form Ham Tien commune. From then on, Ham Tien commune was a commune-level administrative unit belonging to Ham Thuan district. In 1983, Ham Tien commune was assigned to Phan Thiet town. However, the name has entered folklore, people living on the coast are called Rang people, while those living deep in the fields are called Bau people...

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