Cholon
| Cholon, Ho Chi Minh City | |||||||||||||||
Binh Tay Market in Cholon
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | |||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | embankment | ||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Chợ Lớn | ||||||||||||||
| Hán-Nôm | |||||||||||||||
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Dī'àn |
| Wade–Giles | Ti1an4 |
| IPA | [tíˈân] |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | tai4ngon6 |
Chợ Lớn (
listen) is a quarter of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), in Vietnam. 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. The quarter is long inhabited by Chinese people, and is considered the largest Chinatown in the world by area.
The Vietnamese name Cholon literally means "big" (lớn) "market" (chợ). The Chinese name (and original name) of Cholon is (pronounced Tai-Ngon in Cantonese and Dī'àn in Mandarin, which means "embankment" (French: quais). 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 Cholon 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).
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