Saigon Weather

MAC DINH CHI

Citadels are built to last, and to withstand the onslaughts of enemies. but their walls do not always crumble to heavy artillery or to the wear and tear of time. As with many human endeavours, ego and fear can decide their fate.
The story of Gia Dinh alias Bat Quai Citadel alias Phung begins more than two centuries ago.
After recapturing Sai Gon, which was in the hands of the Tay Son armies from the north, Nguyen Anh, who later called himself Emperor Gia Long and became the first of the 13 emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty, ordered the building and reinforcement of the city's citadels and borders.
Thus was the Gia Dinh Citadel built in 1790. Because it was shaped like the Chinese-Buddhist Eight-Sign Theory explaining fundamental universal phenomena, the citadel was also called Bat Quai (Eight-Sign Theory). The 4.8m high laterite walls of the citadel stood where the streets of Le Thanh Ton, Dinh Tien Hoang, Nguyen Dinh Chieu and Nam Ky Khoi Nghia run today.
When Emperor Gia Long's fourth son (later called Emperor Minh Mang) took over the reins, he decreed that the citadel in Sai Gon should not be larger than the main one in central Hue. So in 1835, about 10,000 people destroyed the citadel and built a new one on the northeastern part of Bat Quai Citadel.
The new citadel was given a new name - Phung citadel.
This one lasted only 24 years. After capturing Sai Gon, the French decided to demolish it in 1859, afraid that one day the Vietnamese would use the citadel to defeat them. Explosives turned the citadel into debris and all the rice stored in the warehouse was burnt so that it would not fall into the hands of the enemy.
The front wall of the much-smaller Phung Citadel stood on what is now Nguyen Du Street, the rear one on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, the left wall on Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, and right one on Mac Dinh Chi Street.

The lighter side of grave matter

Apart from standing on the buried vestiges of historic citadel, Mac Dinh Chi links to more recent history also has a grave - and lighter - side to it.
Vuong Hong Sen, an archaeologist who had studied the south and its people for his whole life, says in his book Sai Gon nam xua (Sai Gon in the old days) that at the crossing of Mac Dinh Chi Street and Dien Bien Phu Street was the cemetery of those who died in the fighting in 1859.
"Because most dead patients of Dr. d'Omay, director of the health service until 1874, were buried at the cemetery, the French used to joke: "qu'on l'envoye a Bangkok" (send him to Bangkok Street) or: "qu'on l'envoye dans le jardin du pere d'Omay" (send him to rest in Old d'Omay's garden) whenever they wanted to get after someone," reads Sen's book.
It was called Rue No. 10 when the French decided to number the streets in 1826.
In January 1871, the one-way street which runs for about a kilometre from La Van Tam Park in Dien Bien Phu Streetto the Nhi Dong No.2 Hospital (Children's Hospital) in Nguyen Du Street, was renamed Bangkok.
In 1920, Bangkok became Massiges and since march 22, 1955, the street has been named after the renowned scholar and court official Mac Dinh Chi.

Deceiving looks

Mac Dinh Chi (1280-1350), who wrote under the pseudonym Tiet Phu , was a native of Lung Dong Village in northern Hai Duong Province's Chi Linh District. After being awarded a doctorate at the age of 24, Chi defiantly submitted his poem Ngoc Tinh Lien (Lotus Flower in a Well) to King Tran Anh Tong, instantly dissolving the latter's prejudice against the poet on account of his ugly countenance.
Chi's honesty won the heart of court officials and allowed him to serve the Tran court for three successive kings - Tran Anh Tong, Minh Tong and Hien Tong. He was twice appointed Vietnamese ambassador to Beijing where his talents captured the admiration of foreign diplomats and scholars.
It is said that Chi died in China while serving as ambassador, and that the inscription any of his fellow country men to take his remains back home.
It is hard to imagine now that as late as in the early 1930s, the area around the street was mostly bare land with very few houses. It was a place where people gathered to listen to strong-willed patriot scholar Nguyen An Ninh.
That kind of space has long since disappeared with even old villas either leased out to representative offices of foreign companies following the initiation of the doi moi (renovation) policy.
And like the citadels, the walls of the old villas have also crumbled, broken down to make room for street-front stores. But the old roofs can still be seen half-hidden behind the shops.
It is perhaps only to be expected that spaciousness was seen as too much of aluxury in the "one inch of land, one teal of gold" era.
For northerners living in the city, Mac Dinh Chi is the place to go for a steaming bowl of pho ga or mien ga (two kinds of chicken noodle soups). In the morning, city residents pack the eatery next to Hoa Vien Restaurant opposite Tran Cao Van Street to start their working day with a good breakfast and a cup of strong filter coffee.
And while they are having their breakfast, they can admire an old dark-brown wooden house that has survived the sweeping changes of the last few decades.
The peaceful street also houses the offices of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Committee, the Southern Hydro-meteorological Station, the private Ton Duc Thang Technology and Engineering University, the Ben Thanh Theatre, the Somerset Chancellor Court and the City View Commercial Office. - VNS