Chi Hoa detention camp

Chi Hoa detention camp

Chi Hoa Prison, also known as Chi Hoa Prison, located in District 10, Ho Chi Minh City, is a prison built by the French in 1943 to replace the Saigon Prison at the corner of Ly Tu Trong - Nam Ky Khoi Nghia streets. The project is said to have been initiated by the Japanese after the French coup to detain prisoners, but when construction was not completed, they withdrew from Vietnam. After that, the French continued the unfinished work. Almost all materials such as cement, iron, and steel were shipped from France. On March 8, 1953, when the Chi Hoa Prison was completely built, the Saigon Grand Prison was demolished. In addition to some released prisoners, the remaining about 1,600 people and the guillotine were transferred to Chi Hoa Prison. With an area of ​​7 hectares, Chi Hoa Clinic has 3 floors and 238 rooms. There are two rows of houses for female prisoners. This place used to hold political prisoners against the French colonialists and the Republic of Vietnam regime. Today, this place is reserved by Ho Chi Minh City Police for defendants in cases in the area. Chi Hoa Temple was designed and built by a Japanese architect according to the five elements and eight trigrams theory and is considered a special architectural work. It harmonizes the basic characteristics of French architecture: solid, discreet, cool, while also carrying the mysterious yin and yang of the five elements of the East. The examination has an octagonal shape with 8 equal sides and 8 corners representing the 8 hexagrams: Can, Khon, Chan, Ton, Can, Kham, Doai, Ly in the I Ching. The prison has 8 prison cells, built in a square octagon. Some research documents say that Ho Chi Hoa was built based on the eight trigrams of Confucius Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdoms period. The 8 hexagrams correspond to the 8 battle gates: Retirement - Birth - Thuong - Do - Canh - Death - Kinh - Khai. Each side of the trigram formation is a zone, the back is sealed on the outside while the inside is full of iron bars and each zone has 4 prison cells. Chi Hoa has only one entrance, so people call it "death's door". Through this door is a tunnel system designed according to the palace. If not guided, the person entering will be disoriented, like falling into a maze, unable to find their way out. In the middle of Kham Chi Hoa is a large octagonal yard divided into 8 small triangles, with many trees and a clean and airy lawn. In the middle is a guard tower more than 20 meters high, on top is a water tank bulging like a sword stuck straight down. Standing here, the guards can easily observe all the cells. With the architecture of Chi Hoa's eight trigram formation, once prisoners enter here, it will be difficult for them to escape. History so far has only had 3 successful prison escapes. The first case is the revolutionary soldiers at the time of the Japanese coup against France in 1945, the second is the bandit general Dien Khac Kim in 1972 and the third is the notorious death row prisoner Phuoc "Eight Fingers" in 1995. For a long time, Chi Hoa Examination has been associated with mysterious anecdotes. It is rumored that the guard post in the middle of the cemetery is the sword guard. No matter how cunning the criminals are, all their tricks here will be neutralized by this "spiritual" sword. This sword is the "heart" of the building. If it is pulled up, the entire "arrangement" will break. Another thrilling story that is still passed down by word of mouth is that because many people died in Chi Hoa Prison, the negative atmosphere here was very heavy. Therefore, heaven often sends thunder and lightning to break a corner to open a door of birth, allowing resentment to escape and the dead to escape. There was information that the government of the Republic of Vietnam had brought back a very skilled geography teacher to partially solve this "battle". In fact, one of the eight roofs of the octagon has been leveled, breaking the perfection of the "eight trigrams", according to heaven's will, opening a door of Birth for souls to fly away. Meanwhile, some scientists believe that underneath the building there may be an ore mine that causes lightning to often hit Kham Chi Hoa. On the grounds of Chi Hoa Prison, there is also a church (today used as the Camp Hall) built by the French as a place to "baptize" prisoners before being executed. In addition, to free the "negative energy", in 1954, the prison warden of Chi Hoa Prison built a temple outside the "eight trigrams" (but still within the prison grounds) to place a Buddha statue. Later, the temple no longer existed, the Buddha statue now lies on a small lake. Source: Vietnamese newspaper

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