The shared tomb of two patriots in Hue.

Located on Tu Hieu pine hill (Thuy Xuan commune), about 3 km from the center of Hue city, is the shared tomb of two patriots, Thai Phien and Tran Cao Van.

These two men were leaders of the Duy Tan Uprising. When the uprising failed, they were captured and executed by beheading at An Hoa Execution Gate (Hue) on May 17, 1916.

The shared tomb of the two patriots Thai Phien and Tran Cao Van in Hue. Photo: Vo Thanh

The story of the two patriots being buried together in the same grave is related to Ms. Truong Thi Duong, their female comrade in the Vietnam Restoration Movement.

In the early morning of a summer day in 1916, Thai Phien and Tran Cao Van were captured on their way to the base. After being executed, the French colonialists buried them together in the same place.

Seeing her two comrades lying dead in the desolate field, Mrs. Truong Thi Duong secretly brought their remains from An Hoa to be buried near the pagoda of Venerable Kiet Mao (Thuy Xuan commune, Hue city).

Ms. Truong Thi Duong buried her comrade's remains in a tomb to keep it a secret. Photo: Vo Thanh.

Mrs. Duong recounted to her descendants that at 3 a.m. on the 5th day of the 5th month of the year of the Ox (June 25, 1925), she, along with a relative named Dang Khanh Di and Mr. Nguyen Huu Canh (the administrator of Dai Trung Pagoda), went directly to the remains of the two venerable figures, Thai Phien and Tran Cao Van.

According to Mrs. Duong's account, the caretaker of the two ancestors' graves was Thu Ty, whose child was ill, so he built a hut there to both guard the graves and look after his child. Upon arriving, she said that this was her uncle's grave, then paid Thu Ty 6 dong, gave the sick child 3 dong, and hired 5 more people for a total of 24 dong to exhume the remains.

After receiving the remains, she paid the full amount and hired two carts: one to carry her and the two urns, and the other to carry Dang Khanh Di and Nguyen Huu Canh. Then she hired someone to bring water and personally washed the remains of the two men. "When he was beheaded, Mr. Tran Cao Van was wearing a canvas jacket, the fabric still clinging to his bones. I hired someone to dig the grave and build the tomb, it cost 4 dong."

Eleven days later, when the reburial was in danger of being discovered, Mrs. Duong, taking advantage of the late night, hired four people to dig up the remains and rebury them in what is now Thuy Xuan commune. To avoid scrutiny, she buried the two sets of remains in a single grave. At the old grave site, she had a proper mound built up and carefully fenced off, "making it seem as if no one had ever touched it."

In 1956, Mrs. Duong erected a tombstone for the two men with the inscription "Tomb of Tran Cao Quy Cong and Thai Duy Quy Cong".

In 1992, after being recognized as a national historical site by the Ministry of Culture, the joint tomb of Thai Phien and Tran Cao Van was restored and renovated with state funding, including a 4.3-meter-high memorial monument.

The ancient tomb, still perfectly preserved, is a circular mound of gravel, with a tombstone erected in 1956 in front of it. The entire tomb and memorial are situated within a rectangular area measuring 7.2 m x 7.6 m, surrounded by a railing.

According to VNE