The tomb is located in the middle of the intersection of Ho Chi Minh City, but no one dares to move

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The ancient tomb is located in the middle of the junction

It was pouring rain. Rainwater carried sand, garbage drifted to the mouth of the sewer and then got stuck by a marble tombstone located at the intersection of alleys in Ward 16, District 11, Ho Chi Minh City.

Seeing that, a resident living in the alley quickly came to the river, removed all the garbage from the tombstone, and re-attached the fallen incense sticks. This is a special tomb in Ho Chi Minh City when it is located right at the mouth of the sewage drain and is bare in the middle of the fork in the road.

People living around said that the tomb has been in this location for a long time, the age must be more than 100 years. Ms. Nguyen Thi Giau (64 years old, ward 16) said that since she was born, she has seen this grave in front of her house.

In her childhood years, she often went with her friends to rest by the green rocks around the grave. “We played hide and seek by the graves. There are even older children who climb up and sit on the tombstone. Later, when we grow up and have knowledge, we don’t climb the grave anymore,” said Mrs. Giau.

Sharing the same comment, Mr. Phan Minh Tam, deputy head of the Executive Board of Quarter 3 (ward 16), said that the grave dates from before the liberation of the South. Previously, the tomb was quite high above the ground, the stone tombstone was erected neatly, about 1.5m high.

Later, over time, the grave was gradually flattened by wind and rain. “When the locality began to dig a road, install sewer pipes, the grave was reburied and taken to another place. Currently, the location of the grave remains only a stone stele. However, due to the lifting of the road, the stele was also half buried”, Mr. Tam shared.

The tombstone is made of solid granite. On the front, the stele has many Chinese characters engraved. The upper part, the beer is engraved with delicate decorative patterns. Despite the impact of time, the kanji carved on the tombstones are still clearly visible.

The horizontal row above the stele is engraved with two words Dai Nam. This was the national title of our country from 1806 to 8/1945. The right column in the direction of the reader’s gaze: Mau Tuat Nien (roughly translated as the year of Mau Tuat). The middle column is engraved: Ba Phu Huy… (roughly translated: Tombstone of the uncle named …)

Below this column of text may be added the name of the deceased. However, this section has been buried by a simple plan built by local people with concrete. So, until now, almost no one knows the name of the owner of the tomb.

Do not dare to move

Based on the national title Dai Nam and the inscription Mau Tuat, it can be speculated that the tomb dates back to 1898. Up to now, the tomb is more than 120 years old. Until the people discovered and preserved, the tomb was still lying in the middle of the alley.

Mr. Tam said: “In the past, when building roads and laying sewer pipes, authorities had meetings with people to get opinions on the relocation of tombstones. However, people living around the grave do not agree.”

Meanwhile, Mrs. Giau believes that ancient tombs are very sacred. At the time when the authorities dug the road to make the culvert, the tombstone was uprooted. When pulled up, the tombstone also fell into the manhole of the sewer.

However, after that, the person who directly took the tombstone suddenly fell ill. In addition, people want the tombstone to be returned to its original place, so the local government accepts and does not move the tombstone anymore.

Since then, the tombstone has been planted close to the mouth of the sewer pipe, located at the crossroads of the alley. In order for people not to bump into tombstones when moving in the alley at night, the local government installed lights right above the tombstone.

Sau said: “People here have spiritual beliefs in this ancient tomb. In the past, relatives passed on the story that the owner of the house near the grave wanted to sell the house to move abroad to settle down. I don’t understand how, they keep trying to sell but can’t.”

“After that, they brought incense, lamps and fruits to the grave to beg and beg. Soon, they sold the house with ease. After selling the house, they also offer sacrifices. Currently, even though the grave has been reburied, only a stone stele remains, but we still smoke incense and worship daily,” she added.

In addition to the tomb located in the middle of the upper fork, this alleyway also has a number of other tombs in very special locations. There are tombs located close to the house wall, there are tombstones that become part of people’s house walls, there are graves that are almost unmarked with only a small hole left for incense sticks.

However, local people pay great attention to the preservation and care of these graves. In particular, the unique tomb located in the middle of the road is daily smoked by people. Because there are no relatives to take care of, people automatically use mortar, cement, and bricks as a place to burn incense for the deceased.

Mr. Tam said: “During the year, on the 2nd and 16th of every month, people around the grave bring fruits and salty foods to offer to the deceased. Every day, people automatically take turns to incense the graves.”

“People here are used to the presence of graves, especially the one located in the middle of a fork in the road. So they don’t mind, they don’t see the tomb lying in the middle of the road causing obstruction and difficulty in circulation,” he added.

Articles, photos, clips: Ha Nguyen