Cholon: The Rice Empire That Forced the Colonial Government to Negotiate

In 1679, more than 3,000 people sailed on roughly 50 boats from southern China to Đàng Trong. They were Ming loyalists who refused to serve the Qing, led by Trần Thượng Xuyên and Dương Ngạn Địch. The Nguyễn ruler allowed them to settle and clear land. One group went to Mỹ Tho; Trần Thượng Xuyên’s group went to Đông Phố, in what is now Biên Hòa. From a population fleeing a defeated dynasty, they built docks, markets, and a trading network linking the Đồng Nai River to the sea.

The important part is not simply that migrants founded a settlement. It is how they turned waterways into a transport system. Cù Lao Phố stood on a deep stretch of river where large boats could anchor. Goods from Đồng Nai could move toward Cần Giờ, while products from the interior were collected at one point. The Đồng Nai Library and Vietnam National Museum of History record that the settlement quickly became an international port. When Tây Sơn forces destroyed Cù Lao Phố in 1776–1779, many merchants moved down to Cholon. The commercial center did not disappear; it changed location.