Mạc Cửu (, vi-hantu, 鄚玖, vi, Mạc Cửu; km, ម៉ាក គីវ ''or'' ; 1655–1736), also spelled Mok Kui, was a Chinese exile who founded the

Principality of Hà Tiên The Principality of Hà Tiên ( vi, Hà Tiên trấn; vi-hantu, 河僊鎮 or 河仙鎮, th, เมืองพุทไธมาศ ''Mueang Phutthai Mat''), or the Hà Tiên Protectorate, was a principality ruled by Chinese refugees of the Mạ ...

and ruled as its first monarch. He played a role in the relations between Cambodia and the Vietnamese Nguyễn court. He was born in

Leizhou Leizhou () is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Zhanjiang. The city was formerly known as Haikang County ( postal: Hoihong); it was upgraded into a city in 1994. ...

, Guangdong, then under the rule of the Southern Ming dynasty. His birth name was Mạc Kính Cửu (莫敬玖, ), which could be easily confused with several rulers of the

Mạc dynasty The Mạc dynasty ( vi, Nhà Mạc / ''Mạc triều''; Hán Nôm: 茹莫 / 莫朝) (1527-1627), as known as House of Mạc ruled the whole of Đại Việt between 1527 and 1540 and the northern part of the country from 1540 until 1593, and ...

, including Mạc Kính Chỉ, Mạc Kính Cung,

Mạc Kính Khoan Mạc Kính Khoan (莫敬寬, ?–1638) was the ninth emperor of the Mạc dynasty. He reigned in 1623–1638. He was a grandson of Mạc Kính Điển. In 1623, he rebelled against Trịnh lord in Thái Nguyên and enthroned. He was defe ...

and

Mạc Kính Vũ Mạc Kính Vũ (莫敬宇, ?–?) was the tenth emperor of the Mạc dynasty. He reigned from 1638 – 1677. He ascended the throne in 1638. He was a supporter of Wu Sangui. After the Revolt of the Three Feudatories was pacificated, he was a ...

. Therefore, he changed his name to Mạc Cửu (). Mạc Cửu later decided to immigrate to Vietnam to expand his business.'' Đại Nam liệt truyện tiền biên'', vol. 6 Sometime between 1687 and 1695, the Cambodian king granted him the Khmer title '' Okna'' (), and sponsored him to migrate to Banteay Meas, where he at first served as chief of a small Chinese community. He built a casino there and suddenly became rich. He then attracted his other fellow Chinese to resettle here, and built seven villages in

Phú Quốc Phú Quốc () is the largest island in Vietnam. Phú Quốc and nearby islands, along with the distant Thổ Chu Islands, are part of Kiên Giang Province as Phú Quốc City, the island has a total area of and a permanent population of appr ...

, Lũng Kỳ ( Kep), Cần Bột (

Kampot Kampot may refer to: *Kampot (city), a city in southern Cambodia *Kampot, an alternative spelling of the Slavic drink Kompot *Kampot Province, province of Cambodia * Kampot Municipality, a municipality in Cambodia * Kampot Airport, an airport in Ca ...

), Hương Úc (modern Sihanoukville), Giá Khê (

Rạch Giá Rạch Giá () is a provincial city and the capital city of Kiên Giang province, Vietnam. It is located on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Thailand, southwest of Ho Chi Minh City. East of city, it borders Tân Hiệp and Châu Thành town, ...

) and

Cà Mau Cà Mau () is a city in southern Vietnam. It is the capital of Cà Mau Province, a province in the Mekong Delta region, in the southernmost part of Vietnam's inland territory. The city is characterised by its system of transport canals, and m ...

. Chinese had established their own town at

Hà Tiên Hà Tiên is a Provincial city in Kiên Giang Province, Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Its area is and the population as of 2019 is 81,576. The city borders Cambodia to the west. Hà Tiên is a tourist site of the region thanks to its beaches and la ...

. Hà Tiên was originally known under the Khmer name of ''Piem'' or ''Peam'' (also Pie, Pam, Bam), the Khmer for "port", "harbour" or "river mouth". It was known variously as ''Kang Kou'' in Chinese, and ''Pontomeas'' by Europeans. Hà Tiên was a part of Cambodia until the year 1714. However, this area had a dual political structure; Mạc Cửu ruled Chinese and Vietnamese; while local Khmers continued to be ruled by a Khmer governor, called ''Okna'' Reachea Setthi (), until Siamese expedition of 1771 overthrew the local system of government. Cambodia was invaded by

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

ese army, Mạc Cửu was captured and taken to

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

. He had no chance to come back to Hà Tiên until a civil strife broke out in Siam. Mạc Cửu later switched allegiance to the

Nguyễn lords Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this ...

of Vietnam. He sent a tribute mission to the Nguyễn court in 1708, and in return received the title of ''Tong Binh'' of Hà Tiên and the noble title ''Marquess Cửu Ngọc'' ( vi, Cửu Ngọc hầu). In 1715, the Cambodian king, Thommo Reachea III (Vietnamese: ''Nặc Ông Thâm''), invaded Hà Tiên with the support of Siam in order to resumed the lost territory. Mạc Cửu was defeated and fled to Lũng Kỳ (mordern Kep). Cambodian sacked Hà Tiên and withdrew. Mạc Cửu came back to Hà Tiên, built several castles to defend his marquisate against attack. He died in 1735. Mạc's son, Mạc Thiên Tứ, was born in 1700 to a lady from

Biên Hòa Biên Hòa (Northern accent: , Southern accent: ) is the capital city of Đồng Nai Province, Vietnam and part of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area and located about east of Ho Chi Minh City, to which Biên Hòa is linked by Vietnam Hi ...

. He also had a daughter, Mac Kim Dinh, who was married to the son of the exiled Chinese general Trần Thượng Xuyên. Mạc Cửu's descendants succeeded as the governor of Hà Tiên until the title was abolished by Vietnamese

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...

in 1832. A genealogy of his clan is '' Hà Tiên trấn Hiệp trấn Mạc thị gia phả''.

Notes

Sources

* * * * Nicholas Sellers, ''The Princes of Hà-Tiên (1682-1867): the Last of the Philosopher-Princes and the Prelude to the French Conquest of Indochina: a Study of the Independent Rule of the Mac Dynasty in the Principality of Hà-Tiên, and the Establishment of the Empire of Vietnam,'' Brussels, Thanh-long, 1983. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mac, Cuu 1655 births 1735 deaths Hoa people Rulers of Hà Tiên Generals of the Nguyễn lords Qing dynasty emigrants Minh Hương Chinese emigrants to Cambodia Chinese emigrants to Vietnam Politicians from Zhanjiang Ming dynasty people Generals from Guangdong Founding monarchs