Ba Thieu "Co Ba Sai Gon" - The first "Miss Saigon" life of the first "Miss Saigon"

Also named Miss Ba, but the beauty named Miss Ba Thieu (or Miss Ba "soap") has a life and fate that seems to be the exact opposite of Ms. Ba Tra.

For a long time, there have been many documents documenting the illustrious reputation of the woman dubbed "Co Ba Saigon", with her beauty being likened to a "love potion" that captivated the hearts of everyone. man. Thousands of anecdotes woven around the turbulent life of the pink shadow make Ba's identity still a mystery, and today's generation only hears it through stories with magical colors that lack authenticity.

According to historical documents, there were two famous and beautiful women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the same name, Ba Thieu and Ba Tra. Both of these people are collectively known as "Co Ba Saigon". Two women, two different beauties, different lives.

Also named Miss Ba, but the beauty named Miss Ba Thieu (or Miss Ba "soap") has a life and fate that seems to be the exact opposite of Ms. Ba Tra.

Miss Ba "soap" - the first "miss Saigon"

Miss is one of the beauty contests of our country. In 1988, Tien Phong newspaper held the first Miss contest, so many people mistakenly thought that the first Miss Vietnam contest was born there. But in fact, our country's first beauty contest was held more than a hundred years ago when the country was still under French domination.

In 1865, the first beauty contest in Saigon was born called Miss Saigon. This is a contest with an unlimited format within the "Pearl of the Far East", even allowing beauties from the surrounding areas to participate. After many days of competition, surpassing nearly 100 girls. The Miss crown belonged to Miss Ba Thieu, also known as "Miss Ba Soap", the daughter of Master Thong Chanh, native of Tra Vinh.

When she was a child, Ms. Ba Thieu was famous for being a beautiful, dignified and meek lady. Not only beautiful, she is also smart, intelligent and disciplined, different from the beauties of the same time like Ba Tra, Tu Nhi, Sau Huong. Therefore, after being crowned the queen, her reputation was as famous as alcohol in the country, her career as well as the wind met the wind. At that time, many mandarins, scholars, and writers from all over the province aspired to marry Ms. Ba Thieu as his wife.

Before Miss Ba's beauty, many French people asked her to take pictures to publish in newspapers in the country. They wanted to photograph her in a swimsuit, but she refused. Her portrait was then painted and printed into stamps with an unprecedented circulation in Indochina. She is the first woman in Vietnam to appear on the stamp.

In some records left by the ancients, there is a passage that says: "Telling about the beautiful people in the South, the oldest of all, there was Miss Ba, the son of Master Thong Chanh" or "Co Ba Thieu was beautiful like no other; naturally beautiful, no false teeth, breastless artificial gum, long hair dotted on heels, three rounds of a top, smooth and fragrant with newly won coconut oil, beautiful without fake makeup, so beautiful that the state printed the image on the house stamp Poems Steel Wire (Post Office), and a soap merchant asked permission to draw a model for an advertisement: Co Ba soap".

Ms. Ba became the first "model" associated with a Vietnamese brand. This domestic soap overturned the monopoly of the French Marseille Soap Company at that time. There are also some other documents that say that the woman on the soap is not Ms. Ba Thieu but Ms. Ba named Tra, the wife of Mr. Truong Van Ben. But for many old Saigonese, when they mention "Co Ba soap", they immediately think of Ms. Thong Chanh's children - the first woman in Saigon to be crowned Miss.

After Ba Thieu, Saigon also emerged many famous beauties such as Ba Tra, Tu Nhi, Sau Huong, etc., who fell in love with the princes and giants not only in Saigon but also in the old South. These girls are said to be liberal, dating from one person to another. They dress elegantly, roam around in the day, dance at night, gamble with the money provided by rich lovers. Many people say that their families are bankrupt because according to them, the most famous ones are Hac, Bach Duc of the West.

Remind a little bit about Co Ba Tra with her famous beauty and ability to "fall down" a series of pompous players. She is one of the most famous women in Cochinchina, considered the "First beauties of old Saigon" that the two famous young masters of the Luc province, Hac Cong Tu and Bach Cong Tu, burned money to see who could boil the pot. green bean tea first.

It is known that Ms. Ba Tra's real name is Tran Ngoc Tra, born in 1906. She set foot in Saigon when she was only 16 years old, from the poor village of Can Duoc (Long An).

The miserable and rejected childhood contributed to the formation of the character of the beauty of Cochinchina later: Seeing life as cold as ice.

Ba Tra soon revealed a beautiful appearance when she was only 16 years old and quickly became the "star" of the magnificent Saigon. People often liken the beautiful Co Ba Tra to a restaurant, so it fascinates and overwhelms many famous men of the same time, from provincial young masters to urban-educated gentlemen, amorous writers. ..

Described by senior writers and journalists as the Star of Saigon, Hue Khoi Cochinchina, the beauty of Co Ba Tra (Tran Ngoc Tra) has become the dream of all people in Saigon and Luc provinces.

With her rare beauty, she in turn "cut down" a series of the most pompous and richest players, including the once notorious Prince Bac Lieu of the Luc province.

Despite being surrounded by many young masters, she did not spare money to give Ms. Ba money for entertainment, but her heart was still "cold" and did not fall in love with anyone. Perhaps because she was pampered, she fell on the red-black road when she didn't know.

Also because trot has the fate of "multi-dangerous red face", the life of Saigon's beauty once was seven floating three sinking, up and down the bay. The gambles gradually burned the beauty's estate. Ba suddenly "one step down the road" fell into debt, poverty and had to work as a hired hand in a small shop.

Later, when her youth had passed, Miss Ba Tra's beauty increasingly faded as a result of a period of playfulness and drunkenness in opium, and men who were infatuated with her beauty also gradually evaded her. avoid.

In her old age, Ba Tra had to live in extreme poverty and died alone, ending the windy life of the flower that bloomed quickly in the night.

Miss Ba Thieu's silver life

But for Ba Thieu, this lifestyle is not suitable. Because she comes from a religious family, she was brought up from a young age, knowing how to keep her mind, traditions and local culture.

After her fame spread far and wide, there were thousands of scholars, rich sons and daughters lined up waiting for her to agree, but in the end she married an ordinary man and lived a happy life. However, things are not as smooth as many would like. Not long after getting married, this multi-faceted beauty got entangled in a scandal, causing the turn of her life to turn in another direction.

It was thought that when she ignored the urban aura and chose an idyllic rural lifestyle, Ms. Ba Thieu would enjoy happiness. But the cruel fate crushed her flower life, her family suddenly suffered a terrible tragedy, leading to the whole family's life in danger. Her mother, despite her age, had a salty beauty, so she was harassed by the French prosecutor Jaboin, often pursuing and giving flirting and teasing. Master Thong Chanh, her father Ba, could not stand that scene, he was angry, so he once pulled out a gun and shot Jaboin dead.

According to a story that spread widely throughout the West, her father shot the prosecutor's arrow on the day of the French National Day. Master Thong Chanh was later executed by the French authorities. Ms. Ba Thieu was also implicated, arrested, and then committed suicide. But the book Q&A about Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City published in 2006 by many authors said that Ba was the one holding the gun and shooting the prosecutor Jaboin. She was convicted by the My Tho High Court on June 19, 1893, and then executed on January 18, 1894 in Tra Vinh.

Since then, although there has been no official conclusion, but according to any documents, the most beautiful people in Saigon at that time also had a sad ending. It is true that "hong face silver fate", "talent letters go with one syllable ear".

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