Read the History of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City in one breath

The book was published by Ho Chi Minh City General Publishing House and Tam Books in April 2025, with content compiled by Dr. Huynh Ba Loc, a Vietnamese history major, illustrated by artist Diep Xuong Vi and images provided by photographer Minh Hoa. The book also comes with a large-size 50x70cm Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City historical timeline, updated with data up to April 2025.

Ancient land of the South

The Southern region in general and Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City in particular have a rather late history of formation in terms of management - just over 325 years since Nguyen Huu Canh, following the order of Lord Nguyen, entered Dong Nai to govern and establish Gia Dinh Palace in 1698. In terms of chronology, the book opens the timeline at the time when Dong Nai culture appeared 4,500 years from the beginning of the Christian era until now.

Photographer MINH HOA has 34 photos printed in the book, confiding: “I was born and raised in Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City, so during the 36 years of holding a professional camera, I always spend time taking photos of heritage, history, culture, streets... as a way to show gratitude and repay the kindness of this city”.

Part 2: The pioneers: Saigon - Gia Dinh from the 17th century to the mid-19th century (1859) recorded the migration of Vietnamese people to the South to reclaim land, build houses, villages and create the Dong Nai - Gia Dinh region.

Next is Saigon during the French colonial period: Saigon - Cho Lon - Gia Dinh from 1859 to 1945 - when the French saw Saigon's potential in export and trade, "becoming a commercial center connecting the global economy". This is also where the patriotic young man Nguyen Tat Thanh left to find a way to save the country from Nha Rong Wharf on June 5, 1911.

Part 3: Struggle for unification: Saigon - Cho Lon - Gia Dinh from 1945 to 1975 summarizes 30 years of tense war against France and the US, ending with the historic victory on April 30, 1975, the country was peacefully unified.

“Never before has our country been as peaceful and developed as it is today, never before has our people been as eager to rise up, as eager to become a civilized and prosperous nation as they are in this era. To realize the Hung Viet dream, we certainly need great collective strength, we need common stories that unite the community. I believe that every Vietnamese person with a sense of community, every Vietnamese patriot has contributed more or less to the common prosperous future of the nation” - Excerpt from the preface of researcher TRAN QUANG DUC, who is also an advisor for the publication Read the History of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City in One Breath.

Tolerant land, generous people

The last part of the book is Peace and Development: Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City from 1975 to present with 50 years of remarkable development in many fields of economy, science education, culture and art, fine arts, book and newspaper village, culinary culture "broken rice, noodle soup, braised offal, bread, iced milk coffee"... with new symbols such as Suoi Tien cultural area, Phu My Hung urban area, Nguyen Hue - Le Loi walking street, Book Street, Phu My bridge, Ba Son, metro...

Book Street - one of the new destination symbols in Ho Chi Minh City after 50 years of peaceful reunification.

Up to now, Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City is not only a major center of Vietnam in terms of economy, finance, trade, culture, science - technology, innovation, education - training, an important gateway for Vietnam to connect with the region and the world, but also a city that develops harmoniously between traditional customs and modern, civilized urban architecture and lifestyle. The rich urban life with its own identity in the land of affection is the "generosity of the South", at the same time, the community land has the tolerance of "cohesion, dynamism, flexibility, adaptability, and acceptance of new values".

Read the History of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City in One Breath is the first work in the series Read the History and Culture of Vietnam in One Breath organized by Tam Books, with the desire to contribute to preserving and spreading the quintessence of Vietnamese culture for today and future generations. The book will be compiled in a clear, easy-to-understand style, close to the general reader about the historical, cultural and development characteristics of regions, communities or a specific field.

The outstanding feature of the publication Read in one breath History of Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City is the conciseness and comprehensiveness of information in the spirit of the title "read in one breath" so that readers can enjoy the content not in a formal academic style but with the emotions and nostalgia of cultural and historical memories. At the same time, combine the experience of viewing many vivid, concise visual pictures, maps and selected photos gathered next to it.

Loyalty

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/dong-nai-cuoi-tuan/202504/doc-mot-hoi-lich-su-sai-gon-thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-bb009a3/