Let us continue with an examination of two more of the Service géographique 1:25000 maps, this time “Thanh Chương” (Chef de Brigade Grossard, “Thanh Chương,” Carte des Deltas de l’Annam (Hanoi: Service géographique de l’Indochine, 1907) and “Lương” (Chef de Brigade Malandain, “Lương,” Carte des Deltas de l’Annam (Hanoi: Service géographique de l’Indochine, 1907). My apologies for the long delay in another post, but I had some distractions over the previous two weeks.
The map of Thanh Chương doesn’t have anything too surprising in comparison to the other maps in the series, with three exceptions: the abandoned village of Mỹ Lương, a previously unknown concession, and a named pagoda.
Mỹ Lương has caught my attention for a long time and I am quite interested in learning the history behind this “abandoned village”. Over a period of 100 years, to the present day, the space and land appear abandoned and disused, as if some kind of great disaster occurred there that has never healed. Thus,
The village as marked on the 1:25000 Service géographique map as abandoned:
The village as marked on the 1:50000 Army Map Service map “Cam Ngoc 6046-1” at 18.75611111N, 105.40833333E (18°45’21.83”N, 105°23’8.90″E):
And today on Google Earth:
What happened here, I wonder, and does it somehow reflect a larger problem that influences the Nghệ-Tĩnh Soviets?
The mystery concession is situated perhaps 500 meters to the East of Nghĩa Đông at 18.75 N and 105.5 E:
I don’t see it noted on any of my other maps, and it may not have existed in 1930 as the map is drawn from information in 1906, but I will add it to the Concessions map but as “East of Nghĩa Đông Concession” for the time being. Less clear than an earlier example of a concession about which I didn’t previously know, there is perhaps a visual artifact on the concession either on 1:50000 Army Map Service map “Pho Chau 6046-2” ̣See “Phố Châu, Sheet 6046 II,” Vietnam (Washington, DC: Army Map Service, 1971):
…and on Google Maps as Nam Thanh, Nam Đàn District, Nghệ An, Vietnam:
Like the abandoned village of Mỹ Lương, I wonder if there is memory of this small, isolated concession?
The Service géographique maps rarely name specific pagodas, so when the geographers did so, the pagodas must have had special importance. In this case, the Thanh Chương map identifies a Pagoda Cơ Yên, which today is called the Đền Bạch Mã in Thanh Khê, Võ Liệt, Thanh Chương District, Nghệ An, Vietnam at 18.77944444N, 105.34805556E (18°42’46.03”N, 105°20’52.82″E)
There are a couple of other places that are interesting. Usually on the 1:25000 Service géographique maps, markets are noted as (Me) or marché. On this maps (and others, I assume), two markets have their Vietnamese names instead: Chợ Ro at 18.72638889N, 105.38916667E (18°43’34.50”N, 105°22’8.09″E) and Chợ Ổ at 18.69861111, 105.42444444 ̣18°41’54.66”N, 105°25’28.44″E).
In contrast, I know that there’s a military outpost at Thanh Quả 18°44’6.99”N, 105°20’44.78″E (18.73527778N, 105.34583333E), but there’s no mention of it on the map. Curious. Perhaps in 1907, it didn’t yet exist.
The Luong Map doesn’t have too much of interest at all. There is a customs post (Poste de Douanes) at 18.82111111N, 105.30305556 (18°49’16.12”N, 105°18’11.45″E), in Xã Thanh Tiên, Thanh Chương District, Nghe An, Vietnam. More interesting perhaps are the clay quarries at 18.84388889, 105.47972222 (18°50’37.69”N, 105°28’47.40″E) and a listed freshwater spring (source) just to the West. It seems that the clay quarries may still function, but I wonder if the spring still runs?