Admirable History of Vinh Te Canal in Chau Doc, An Giang

Admirable History of Vinh Te Canal in Chau Doc, An Giang

Vinh Te Canal is one of the worthwhile spots to visit in the Mekong Delta region when traveling to Chau Doc. With its splendid scenery and remarkable history, you'll undoubtedly find this place very interesting. Let's explore the Admirable History of Vinh Te Canal in Chau Doc, An Giang together with Vietnam Budget Carrental right now.

1. Where is this Vinh Te Canal?

The Vinh Te Canal is a waterway flowing through the provinces of An Giang and Kien Giang, situated in the Mekong Delta region. Vinh Te Canal, along with the Nha Le Canal, are among the largest canals in Vietnam's feudal history.

2. The actual length of the Vinh Te Canal

Today, starting from Chau Doc (An Giang) via National Highway 91 to Tinh Bien town, continuing on Road N1 running alongside the Vinh Te Canal (River), and reaching Dam Tich (Tan Khanh Hoa commune, Giang Thanh district, Kien Giang), where Road N1 diverges from the Vinh Te Canal, the distance is 63 kilometers. From the point where Road N1 diverges, the Vinh Te Canal flows a few more kilometers before merging into the Giang Thanh River. The current actual length of the Vinh Te Canal is approximately 65 - 66 kilometers.

3. Things For You To Do at Vinh Te Canal 

If you ever get the chance to visit An Giang, you should definitely check out Vinh Te Canal, especially during the floating season.

During the rising water season, the canal's water runs into the fields more than it should. Also, fish from the lake and the sea come down to the Hau River and flow along the Vinh Te canal to the fields during the flood season. People who go to Vinh Te Canal this time of year will be able to see the huge white fields and watch the farmers catch fish for a living while floating on a small boat.

The Vinh Te canal not only brings in mud to fill up thousands of areas of fields, but it also brings in a lot of food for the people who live here. People say that Vinh Te Canal is like a fish bag because the fish will go wherever the water goes.

There are a lot of boats going up and down the busy river on these days. People taking turns fishing from fishing boats that are parked close to each other, and the sound of nonstop laughter makes for a peaceful but exciting scene in the town.

People often make fish sauce to save if they catch fish that they can't sell. This place has also become the "capital" of fish sauce in the whole Mekong Delta because of this. People all over the country know Chau Doc's fish sauce names because of how delicious the sauce is, especially the sweet Linh fish caught in Vinh Te Canal.

The great things that generations of ancestors built are still there in the Vinh Te river every year. We can say that this is a great place to go back in time and find the old days of Vietnam, even though it's not the most special place to visit.

>>Read more: Private Limousine Ho Chi Minh To Chau Doc

4. Why is the famous canal named Vinh Te?

The present-day region of An Giang - Kien Giang carries many traces of Thoai Ngoc Hau's legacy. Throughout various periods, he served as a Garrison Commander in Vinh Thanh and Chau Doc's Border Security Officer while managing Ha Tien's border affairs. Before excavating the Vinh Te Canal, Thoai Ngoc Hau led a civilian militia to dig another major canal from Dong Xuyen (present-day Long Xuyen) to Rach Gia in 1818.

The Quoc Trieu Chanh Bien Toat Yeu ( Quốc Triều Chánh Biên Toát Yếu ) - Volume II, recording events in the 16th year of Gia Long's reign (1817), notes: "In November, they dug the Tam Khe River... His Excellency thought the place was near Chan Lap, which had dense terrain. The waterway to Kien Giang was muddy and overgrown with grass, making it impassable for boats.

His Excellency ordered Garrison Commander Nguyen Van Thuy to improve the waterway, coercing 1,500 of his people and the Cao Man residents to contribute rice money. He widened the old waterway, taking over a month to complete, benefiting the people greatly. His Excellency commended Mr. Thuy's work, naming the river Thuy Ha; to the east, there was Mount Lap, also called Thuy Son; the people were prohibited from cutting down trees."

Thoai Ha (or Thuy Ha) was "the first long river channel manually excavated in the South with the aim of developing transportation and commerce" (according to Thoai Ngoc Hau and the Exploration of the Hau Giang Region, by Nguyen Van Hau, Hương Sen Publishing House, 1972).

Hence, there was already a canal and a mountain range named after Thoai by King Gia Long (Thoai Son Mountain is indeed Mount Sap in Thoai Son district, An Giang province).

During the excavation of the canal connecting Chau Doc with Ha Tien, Chau Thi Vinh Te contributed significantly to her husband. Accounts about Thoai Ngoc Hau noted: "The second task is that among the canal diggers, apart from soldiers and civilians, there were women and daughters responsible for lighter tasks like cooking, carrying water... This sheds light on why the king praised Chau Thi Te for assisting her husband significantly, leading to his successful achievement, and why she was named after the canal and the mountain (of course, her work must have had female assistance)."

Therefore, despite the Vinh Te Canal being closely linked to Thoai Ngoc Hau's name, it was named after his wife for the reasons mentioned above.

5. Lesser-known Stories about the Canal Excavation Process

Those were the life-threatening damages at the construction site: diseases caused by the harsh climate, attacks by wild animals from the mountains creeping down at night to capture people, fatal snake bites, and accidents during labor.

The book "Thoai Ngoc Hau and the Exploration of the Hau Giang Region" mentions that to accelerate progress, authorities sometimes forced the civilian militia to work overnight. In areas near the mountain base, where the land was stony, they had to use thick iron chisels to dig. Due to exhaustion and sleepiness from working at night, people mistakenly swung their chisels and fatally struck each other.

Many people fled from these extreme hardships. Those who attempted escape but were caught faced continuous severe punishment at the construction site. Escaping and getting lost in the forest meant certain death due to hunger and becoming prey for wild animals. Escaping from the guards and getting lost in the forest, when reaching the Vam Nao River, the escapees had to overcome the "shark disaster" in this dangerous river section.

The book depicts: "They waited in the dead of night, gathered in groups, each person holding a banana tree as a floating tube, then jumped headlong into the water, swimming to avoid being eaten by the fish... out of ten people, only five or three survived, and sometimes they lost limbs as well."

For those who died at the construction site, the royal court later ordered the collection of the remains of the deceased civilian militia who died while carrying out the canal excavation. "Thoai Ngoc Hau and the Exploration of the Hau Giang Region" includes a passage: "The exhumation work had to be carried out by boat, searching from the Vam Kinh in Chau Doc to the Giang Thanh fork, nearly 100 kilometers... there had to be at least four, five tens (graves)." At that time, Thoai Ngoc Hau collected the remains of these unfortunate civilian militia members and placed them in a location called "nghĩa trủng," situated within the precincts of Thoai Ngoc Hau's tomb.

Here's a glimpse into the Admirable History of Vinh Te Canal in Chau Doc, An Giang. Perhaps after finishing the article, we've gained a sense of how the past unfolded in this place. If you want to truly grasp the scenery firsthand, prepare your belongings and visit this place right away.

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