Thiên Hậu Temple (Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam)
The Thien Hau Temple (Miếu Bà Thiên Hậu in Vietnamese), officially the Ba Thien Hau Pagoda (Chùa Bà Thiên Hậu, "Pagoda of the Lady Thien Hau"), is a Chinese-style temple of the Chinese sea goddess Mazu on Nguyễn Trãi Street in the Chợ Lớn ("Chinatown") of District 5 in Ho Chi Minh City.
Chợ Lớn is a quarter of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). It lies on the west bank of the Saigon River, having Bình Tây Market as its central market. Cholon consists of the western half of District 5 as well as several adjoining neighborhoods in District 6 and District 11. The quarter is long inhabited by Chinese people, and is considered the largest Chinatown in the world by area.
The Vietnamese name Chợ Lớn literally means "big" (lớn) "market" (chợ). The Chinese name (and original name) of Chợ Lớn is 堤岸 (pronounced Tai-Ngon in Cantonese and Dī'àn in Mandarin, which means "embankment"). The Vietnamese reading of the Chinese name is Đê Ngạn, but this is rarely used. Vietnamese speakers exclusively use the name Chợ Lớn, while Chinese speakers (both inside Vietnam and in China) are the only users of the original Chinese name.
In 1778, the Hoa (Chinese minority of Vietnam) living in Biên Hòa had to take refuge in what is now Chợ Lớn because they were retaliated against by the Tây Sơn forces for their support of the Nguyễn lords. In 1782, they were again massacred by the Tây Sơn and had to rebuild. They built high embankments against the flows of the river, and called their new settlement Tai-Ngon (meaning "embankment" in Cantonese).
Chợ Lớn was incorporated as a city in 1879, 11 km from Saigon. By the 1930s, it had expanded to the city limit of Saigon. On 27 April 1931, Chợ Lớn and the neighboring city Saïgon were merged to form a single city called ‘Sài Gòn–Chợ Lớn.’ The official name, however, never entered everyday vernacular and the city continued to be referred to as ‘Sài Gòn.’ ‘Chợ Lớn’ was dropped from the city's official name in 1956, after Vietnam gained independence from France in 1955.
During the Vietnam War, soldiers and deserters from the United States Army maintained a thriving black market at Chợ Lớn, trading in various American and especially U.S Army-issue items. This was the area, near the Quan Âm Pagoda where photojournalist Eddie Adams took his famous execution photograph. Four Australian journalists were also killed in Chợ Lớn during the Tết Offensive in 1968.
Today, Chợ Lớn especially attracts many Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese tourists.
Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholon,_Ho_Chi_Minh_City
Thiên Hậu Temple (Hồ Chí Minh City, Vietnam)
The Thien Hau Temple (Miếu Bà Thiên Hậu in Vietnamese), officially the Ba Thien Hau Pagoda (Chùa Bà Thiên Hậu, "Pagoda of the Lady Thien Hau"), is a Chinese-style temple of the Chinese sea goddess Mazu on Nguyễn Trãi Street in the Chợ Lớn ("Chinatown") of District 5 in Ho Chi Minh City.
Chợ Lớn is a quarter of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). It lies on the west bank of the Saigon River, having Bình Tây Market as its central market. Cholon consists of the western half of District 5 as well as several adjoining neighborhoods in District 6 and District 11. The quarter is long inhabited by Chinese people, and is considered the largest Chinatown in the world by area.
The Vietnamese name Chợ Lớn literally means "big" (lớn) "market" (chợ). The Chinese name (and original name) of Chợ Lớn is 堤岸 (pronounced Tai-Ngon in Cantonese and Dī'àn in Mandarin, which means "embankment"). The Vietnamese reading of the Chinese name is Đê Ngạn, but this is rarely used. Vietnamese speakers exclusively use the name Chợ Lớn, while Chinese speakers (both inside Vietnam and in China) are the only users of the original Chinese name.
In 1778, the Hoa (Chinese minority of Vietnam) living in Biên Hòa had to take refuge in what is now Chợ Lớn because they were retaliated against by the Tây Sơn forces for their support of the Nguyễn lords. In 1782, they were again massacred by the Tây Sơn and had to rebuild. They built high embankments against the flows of the river, and called their new settlement Tai-Ngon (meaning "embankment" in Cantonese).
Chợ Lớn was incorporated as a city in 1879, 11 km from Saigon. By the 1930s, it had expanded to the city limit of Saigon. On 27 April 1931, Chợ Lớn and the neighboring city Saïgon were merged to form a single city called ‘Sài Gòn–Chợ Lớn.’ The official name, however, never entered everyday vernacular and the city continued to be referred to as ‘Sài Gòn.’ ‘Chợ Lớn’ was dropped from the city's official name in 1956, after Vietnam gained independence from France in 1955.
During the Vietnam War, soldiers and deserters from the United States Army maintained a thriving black market at Chợ Lớn, trading in various American and especially U.S Army-issue items. This was the area, near the Quan Âm Pagoda where photojournalist Eddie Adams took his famous execution photograph. Four Australian journalists were also killed in Chợ Lớn during the Tết Offensive in 1968.
Today, Chợ Lớn especially attracts many Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese tourists.
Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholon,_Ho_Chi_Minh_City