Hoang Hoa Tham (1845-1913)

Hoang Hoa Tham, called Truong Van Nghia, was born in Di Che village, Tien Lu district. In 1842, his father, Truong Than, gathered insurgent troops to fight against the royal court. He was wanted and had to change his name and quit to another place.

When the French colonialists invaded the northern part of the country, he took part in the insurgence led by De Nam. When De Nam died, he withdrew to Phon Xuong, Nha Nam, Yen The to build his base and changed his family name into Hoang and his first name into Tham. He was often called Hoang Hoa Tham or De Tham.

From 1887 to 1913, De Tham was the leader of Yen The insurgent army with its operation area covering Bac Giang, Thai Nguyen and Hung Hoa regions. He had military talent and could win the hearts of many excellent and stratagem generals, which made the enemy become more and more worried. The French colonialists in collaboration with its henchman province chief Le Hoan suppressed Hoang Hoa Tham in one hand and tried to seduce him on the other hand for many times but they failed to win his submission. In 1894, they agreed on reconciliation and cut off six cantons with 22 villages in Phon Xuong for him. On one hand, he pretended to accept the reconciliation, but on the other hand, he set up farms, built basis and contacted intellectual patriots such as Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh and Pham Van Ngon to expand the operation area. He was also the leader of Nghia Hung party. From that point, his continuous fight always caused great damages to the French colonialists and its henchmen. Then they had to mobilize great number of troops and made every effort on offensive. He suffered from great loss and had to hide in the forest. 

On February 19^th, 1913, he was assassinated by Luong Tam Ky’s henchmen. Phan Boi Chau composed a funeral oration for him, praising him as an Upright General. His third wife, Ms. Dang Thi Nhu, was also very famous. She helped him a lot in the fields of farming and battling. There exist many tales about the talent of De Tham and his wife in fighting against the enemy.

Because of his respect for the hero Yen The, Derow Sacbone, a French military officer, spent many years looking for De Tham’s tomb, and in 1944, he found out the tomb in the Ngo hill in Huu Phuc rice field.

All members of Hoang Hoa Tham’s family heroically sacrificed for the salvation of the country. His last daughter, Ms. Hoang Thi The, was captured and taken to France at the age of six or seven.  At the end of her life, she returned to Vietnam and died here. In accordance with her will, she was buried in Phon Xuong, where her father spent many years building the basis to fight against the enemy. The vestiges of Phon Xuong citadel still exist and there is one statue of De Tham and his memorial house in this place.

In Di Che, the Truong family also set up a simple altar in worship of Truong Van Nghia, a loyal descendant of the land and the family.