Definition

1. Verb:
   • To reclaim virgin land; to bring wasteland/uncultivated land under cultivation: "khẩn hoang" refers to the historical and agricultural process of clearing and cultivating previously wild, unused, or abandoned land to make it suitable for farming and habitation.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Ông cha ta đã khẩn hoang vùng đồng bằng sông Cửu Long. (Our ancestors reclaimed the virgin land of the Mekong Delta.)
  • Chính sách khẩn hoang đã mở rộng diện tích canh tác. (The land reclamation policy expanded the cultivated area.)
  • Họ đi khẩn hoang để lập nghiệp. (They went to clear and cultivate new land to establish their livelihoods.)

Advanced Usage

• This term is deeply connected to Vietnamese history, especially the Nam tiến (Southward Expansion) process, where people moved south to reclaim the Mekong Delta.
• It often implies pioneering effort, hardship, and the transformation of wilderness into productive agricultural land and settlements.

Variants and Related Words

• Khẩn đất (verb): A more general term for reclaiming or clearing land for use.
• Khai hoang (verb): A synonym with the same core meaning as "khẩn hoang."
• Đất khẩn hoang (noun phrase): Newly reclaimed land.
• Người đi khẩn hoang (noun phrase): Pioneer; settler who reclaims land.

Synonyms

• Khai hoang: To reclaim wasteland.
• Khai khẩn: To open up and cultivate (land).
• Phá rừng làm rẫy: To clear forest for swidden/field cultivation (a specific, often less systematic method).

Related Phrases

• Công cuộc khẩn hoang: The land reclamation endeavor/campaign.
• Vùng đất khẩn hoang: A reclaimed land area.

Related Idioms

• While not a direct idiom, the concept is central to phrases like "mở mang bờ cõi" (to expand the territory/nation's borders), which was historically achieved through "khẩn hoang."

1. Break fresh ground
   • Đi khẩn hoang ở vùng núi thưa dân
     To go and break fresh ground in thinly populated mountain areas