 After the establishment of the colony of Cochinchina , Duyệt was continuously venerated despite French policies of dismantling the Vietnamese imperial system and its ritual customs . Duyệt 's yearly celebrations were attended by politicians of Cochinchina . This was allowed to continue despite a legend in southern Vietnam that Duyệt had appeared in the dreams of Nguyen Trung Truc , a fisherman who famously led a peasant army against French colonization , and advised him on how to fight foreigners . In 1937 , thanks to donations from a number of colonial government officials and members of the business elite , Duyệt 's tomb was renovated and extended . Under South Vietnamese rule , Duyệt was considered a great national hero and his image appeared on banknotes , while prominent streets were named after him . In contrast , Duyệt was held in low regard by the current Vietnamese Communist Party government because of his role in the expansion of French influence in Vietnam , in line with the communist designation of the Nguyễn Dynasty as " feudal " and " reactionary " . After the fall of Saigon in 1975 , Duyệt 's tomb became dilapidated because of the lack of state maintenance and streets named in his honour were renamed . This attitude remained unchanged until 2008 , when the current government had Duyệt 's tomb renovated and allowed a play portraying his life to be performed publicly . 
