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Hien V. Ho, MD, FAAP
Vietnamese Stories: Tales and legends that reflect Vietnamese tradition, mythology and culture.
The Story of a Giant: Phu Dong Thien Vuong
The story of Phu Dong Thien Vuong is particularly interesting in that it is one of the most ancient Vietnamese legends and contains several popular elements frequently encountered in ancient mythology (the savior, the virgin birth (or “immaculate conception”), the horse, and the prophecy).
Hung Vuong was a mythical Vietnamese dynasty. According to Vietnam Su Luoc (Vietnamese History Synopsis) by Tran Trong Kim (Bo Giao duc, Trung Tam Hoc lieu Xuat ban,1971), Lac Long Quan (The King of the Tribe Lac) was the son of Kinh Duong Vuong (circa 2879 BC) and the Dragon Lady (Long Nu). Lac Long Quan married Princess Au Co and they had one hundred children. Fifty of the children went to live with their father in the mountain and the other fifty with their mother to live by the sea where she came from. Lac Long Quan made his first son King of Van Lang (former name of Vietnam), the first of 18 Hung Vuong Kings.
The story probably took place circa the third millennium B.C.
Tran Trong Kim noted that there is no mention of this tale in Chinese archives and doubted that An aggressors were actually from China, which at that historical period was located up North, in the basin of Huang Ho River, too far away to wage war with such a small tribe–nation as Van Lang. However, through the many years of fighting for independence from Chinese domination (from 1st to 10th century), Phu Dong Thien Vuong has always been a strong symbol of the struggle for independence against the Chinese.
From the mythological point of view, a few related quotes from Barbara G. Walker’s The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets may give us some additional insight:
· “Appearing in every mythology as the primal Elder Race, Giants were obvious projections of every child’s early perceptions of the adult world. Like adults seen though the eyes of the toddler, giants tend to be fearsome, sometimes bloodthirsty, but sometimes benevolent, possessors of an arcane ancient wisdom ; and adepts of magic
· According to the Bible, giants were like allSavior-figures”…; “offsprings of divine fathers and human mothers (Genesis 6:4)”.
· “The notion that mortal women were impregnated by gods or spirits was a matter of every day acceptance throughout the ancient world. Even the Old Testament says the “archaic giants” (ancestral heroes) were born of mortal women impregnated by spirits that came from God (Genesis 6:4).
· “Horsehead sticks were ridden by central Asian shamans. “The horse enables the shaman to fly though the air, to reach the heavens. The dominant aspect of the mythology of the horse is not infernal but funerary; the horse is a mythical image of death and hence is incorporated into the ideologies and technique of ecstasy” (Eliade,S.)
The Legend of The Heaven-Sent King From Phu Dong Village:
Phu Dong Thien Vuong.
(Translated and adapted from Trinh Van Thanh,Thanh Ngu Dien Tich Danh Nhan Tu Dien, Xuan Thu)
During the sixth Hung Vuong Dynasty, our country, then called Van Lang was under the menace of the An’s, situated in the North of Vietnam’s borders.
Hung Vuong King was very worried and assembled his court to prepare a plan of defense for the country. A mandarin of the civil service reminded the King that the original founding King of the country, Lac Long Quan (the Dragon King of the Lac Tribes), had instructed that if the country were ever to face danger, it should pray for his help.
The King then invoked the spirit of the founding King. Three days later, a very old man appeared in the midst of a storm and said that he was Lac Long Quan himself. He prophesized that in three years the An from the North would try to invade the country; he advised that the King should send messengers all over the country to seek help from talented people, thereafter a general sent from heaven would come to save the country.
Three years later indeed came the tempestuous foreign armies trying to take over the Southern Kingdom. At the capital city of Phong Chau, King Hung Vuong still remembered the instruction from Lac Long Quan.
A few years earlier, at the village of Phu Dong, County of Vo Ninh, Province of Bac Ninh, a woman in her sixties reported she had seen footprints of a giant in the field. Amazed, she tried to fit her feet in the footprints and suddenly felt that she was overcome by an unusual feeling. Thereafter she became pregnant and delivered a boy whom she named Giong. Even at the age of three, Giong was not able to crawl, to roll over, or to say a single word.
Surprisingly, at the news of the messenger from the King, Giong suddenly sat up and spoke to his mother, asking her to invite the messenger over to their home. He then instructed the messenger to request the King to build a horse and a sword of iron for him so that he could go and chase the invaders away.
When the horse and sword were eventually brought to his home, Giong stood up on his feet, stretched his shoulders, became a giant of colossal proportions, and asked his mother for food and new clothing. She cooked many pots of rice for him but it was not enough for his appetite. The whole village brought over their whole supply of fabric and it was still not enough for his size.
Giong put his helmet on, carried his sword, jumped on the back of his horse and rode away, as fast as a hurricane. The iron horse suddenly spit fire, and brought Giong to the front line at the speed of lightning. The invaders saw Giong like a punishing angel overwhelming them. Their armies were incinerated by the flame thrown from the horse’s mouth. Their generals were decapitated by Giong’s sword. When it finally broke because of so much use, Giong used the bamboo trees that he pulled up from the sides of the road and wiped away the enemies.
Afterwards, he left his armor on the mountain Soc (Soc Son) and both man and horse flew into the sky.
Legend holds that lakes in the area of mountain Soc were created from the footprints of Giong’s horse. At the site of the forest where he incinerated the enemy armies is now the Chay Village (“Chay” meaning burned).
In recognition of Giong’s achievement, King Hung Vuong proclaimed him Phu Dong Thien Vuong (The Heaven Sent King of Phu Dong Village). For the people of his country, he is better known as Thanh Giong (“Saint” Giong).
“The village of Phu Dong had a person who was born there,
Who didn’t say a word, didn’t laugh, as if he were inanimate.
But it was something predestined from nobody knows where,
Who could guess he was a general from heaven, who was waiting for the right moment to accomplish his great feasts among winds and clouds
Tam and Cam: the Story
Adapted and abridged from Cinderella, in Vietnamese Legends by L.T. Bach Lan, Xuan Thu Publishers, 1958) by Stephen V. Ho.
Tam and Cam: The tale of a Vietnamese Cinderella
Tam is the Vietnamese archetype of the abused child. Tam means ‘’broken rice’, much cheaper than whole grain rice and usually reserved as staple for the poor. Cam means ‘‘bran’’, the partly ground husk of rice and intimately related to rice like the two half-sisters Tam and Cam. Even broken rice is white, in contrast with the darker color of bran. It is said that Tam was of fair complexion (her ivory skin, like ‘’Snow-white”) and Cam (from the bad side) was of darker skin; an indication that it was a color conscious society.
The story of Tam and Cam is the Vietnamese equivalent of Cinderella, though the plot is much more elaborate and more symbols are involved:
The Fish: Here a symbol of the Female Deity, Mother Earth, Goddess of Mercy, Fertility in matriarchal religions of ancient societies. According to the Women Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets,” fish and womb were synonymous in Greek; Delphos meant both’’ and ‘’a world wide symbol of the Great Mother was the pointed oval sign’’…’’known as vesica piscis, vessel of the Fish’’ and ‘’fish were eaten as fertility charms’’. It is interesting to note that the Goddess of Mercy asks Tam to pray to the bones of the fish to get what she wants.
The Tree and the Fruit:: Though absent in modern western versions of Cinderella, according to the same source cited above, “An early German version of the story said Cinderella’s real mother, the Earth, though dead, sent from her grave a fairy tree in answer to her daughter’s prayer. This tree produced golden apples, fine clothes, and other gifts’’ (page 168).
Hien V. Ho, MD.
Tam and Cam: the Story
Adapted and abridged from Cinderella, in Vietnamese Legends by L.T. Bach Lan, Xuan Thu Publishers, 1958) by Stephen V. Ho.
Long ago, a man was left with his small daughter Tam when his wife passed away. He remarried, however, to a wicked woman who detested Tam. For the wedding banquet, Tam was locked into a room by her and denied supper.
Conditions grew worse for Tam when her new stepmother had a baby named Cam. The stepmother continued to tell lies about Tam to her husband. The wretched woman sent Tam to a dirty corner of the kitchen where she was forced to live and work. Tam had to scrub the floors, chop the wood, feed the animals, and do all the cooking. Her stepmother sent her far out into the forest in hopes that she may not return. Tam suffered hard labor and got blisters on her hands and dirt on her face. However, when she washed off the dirt, her ivory skin showed how beautiful she was. When her stepmother realized how pretty Tam could be, her hate and wish to do harm towards her grew.
One day, she sent Tam and her own daughter Cam to go fishing in the village pond. “If you don’t bring a good number back, you will be beaten”, she told the girls, however, both knew that the warning was directed towards Tam. While Tam worked hard and got a basket full of fish, Cam spent all her time idly, basking in the warm sunshine and picking wild flowers. Cam looked at her empty basket and said to Tam “Sister, sister, you hair is full of mud. Why don’t you step into the fresh water and get a good wash to get rid of it? Otherwise, mother is going to scold you.” Innocently, Tam listened and while she washed her hair, Cam stole her fish and hurried home. When Tam realized what had happened, she wept, surely she would be punished for coming home empty-handed. Suddenly, a gentle wind passed, and in the clear blue sky appeared the smiling blue-robed Goddess of Mercy, carrying a green willow branch in her hand. In a sweet voice, the Goddess asked Tam what had happened. Tam gave her an account of her misfortune and added,
“Most Noble Lady, what am I to do tonight when I go home? I am frightened to death, for my stepmother will not believe me, and will flog me so hard.”
The Goddess of Mercy consoled her.
“Your misfortune will be over soon. Have confidence in me and cheer up. Now, look at your basket to see whether there is anything left there.”
Tam looked and saw a small lovely fish with red fins and golden eyes, which she took home with directions to feed it three times a day.
So Tam went home and followed the words of the Goddess and fed the fish three times a day. However, the fish would only surface when Tam was present. Tam’s stepmother took noticed of her behavior and one day in her absence put on her stepdaughter’s clothing and summoned the fish. She then killed it and cooked it. When Tam discovered that her fish was gone, she wept. The Goddess of Mercy appeared again and comforted her:
“Do not cry, my child. Your stepmother has killed the fish, but you must try to find its bones and bury them in the ground under you mat. Whatever you may wish to possess, pray to them, and your wish will be granted.”
Tam followed the advice and looked but could not find the fish bones until a hen helped her find them in return for some rice. She buried them according to the Goddess’ instructions and received gold and jewelry and dresses that were more beautiful than she could imagine.
When the Autumn Festival came, Tam was ordered to stay home and sort out two big baskets of mixed black and green beans before she was allowed to attend the Festival. She would never be able to finish her task on time. Tam looked up and with tears in her eyes, sought the help of the Goddess of Mercy once more. At once, the kind Goddess appeared, and with her magic green willow branch, turned little flies into sparrows that sorted the beans out for the girl. Tam dried her tears, and put on a glittering blue and silver dress that made her look like a Princess going to the festival.
Cam and her mother could not recognize Tam. When Tam realized that her stepmother and half sister were staring at her, she ran away, but in such a hurry that she dropped one of her fine slippers. The king recovered the slipper and declared he had never seen such a work of art before. He sent word that any woman who could fit the slipper would become his queen. However, no one could fit the slipper.
Finally, Tam tried on the slipper and it fit her perfectly. She was taken to the Court with escorts and became queen. She was overjoyed with her new life. On her father’s birthday, Tam went home to celebrate it with her family. At the time, it was custom that no matter how great or important one might be; one was always expected by one’s parents to behave exactly like a young and obedient child. Taking advantage of this, Tam’s stepmother asked her to climb an areca tree; Tam piously and dutifully agreed. While Tam was in the tree, the stepmother cut it down and sent her to her death.
As they had hoped, Cam then became the King’s wife with the unfortunate death of Tam. Tam’s pure and innocent soul could not find peace; it was turned into the shape of a nightingale, which dwelt in the most beautiful grove in the King’s garden and sang beautiful songs. The King realized that this bird was the spirit of his beloved late wife and he kept it in a cage. He spent all his free time next to it, listening to its melodious songs.
Cam became jealous of the bird, and with her mother’s advice, she killed it. The King returned and discovered the absence of the nightingale. He was very sad, convinced by Cam that it had flown away on its own. But again, Tam’s restless soul was transformed into a big, magnificent tree, which only bore a single big, golden, sweet-smelling persimmon (trai thi). An old woman passed by the tree and called upon the golden fruit:
“ Golden fruit, drop into the bag of this old woman, I will only enjoy your smell, never eat you.” (Hu thi thi,rot bi an may, ba khong an dau, ba de ba ngui)
The fruit dropped into the old woman’s bag; she brought it home, put it on the table to enjoy its sweet-scented aroma. But the next day, she was surprised to find that her house was clean and tidy, and on the table was a hot meal waiting for her after she got back from her errands. The next morning, she pretended to leave, but stealthily came back, hid herself behind the door, and observed the house. A fair and slender lady emerged from the fruit and started to clean the house. The old woman rushed in and tore up the fruit. The young lady stayed and became her adoptive daughter.
One day the King and his hunting party lost their way. It soon became dark and he sought shelter at the old woman’s house; she was happy to help. She offered him tea and betel, and when he examined the delicate way in which the betel was prepared he asked:
“Who is the person who made this betel, which looks exactly like the one prepared by my late beloved Queen?”
The old woman answered in a trembling voice:
“Son of Heaven, it is only my unworthy daughter.”
The king then ordered the daughter to be brought to him. When he saw her, he realized that she was his beloved wife. The Queen was then taken back to the Imperial city, where she took her former rank, replacing Cam.
Cam, hoping that being as beautiful as her sister would help her win the King’s heart, asked her sister:
“Dearest Sister, how could I become as white as you?”
“It is very easy,” answered the Queen.
“You only have to jump into a big basin of boiling to water to get beautifully white.”
Cam believed her and followed the advice; she died and when her mother heard about the incident she wept and wept until she became blind. Soon thereafter, she died of a broken heart. The Queen lived a long life, and lived happily ever after.
Marco Polo, Vietnam in the thirteen-century
and the art of tattoo.
Marco Polo (1254-1334), the famous Venetian adventurer, started to travel to the East in1271, went through Asia via Mongolia and came back to Europe via Sumatra after spending thirteen years in the service of Kublai Khan (1216-1294). In Vietnamese Kubai Khan is known as Hot Tat Liet. He was the founder of the Mongol dynasty in China (Dai Nguyen). His grandfather Genghis Khan is known in Vietnamese as Thanh Cat Tu Han.
Marco Polo’s book Description of the World (Il Milione in Italian or also translated as The Travels of Marco Polo) told of his adventures to the East. At the time of Marco Polo’s departure from Europe in 1271, Vietnam was under the reign of King Tran Thanh Tong (1256-1278). Most of what constitutes modern central Vietnam belonged then to the Kingdom of Champa under King Indravarman. Champa’s capital Indrapura would be ransacked by the Vietnamese in the 15th century and Champa annexed to Vietnam.
That same year of 1271, Kublai Khan conquered China from the Sung dynasty, and sent emissaries to request the Vietnamese King to go to China to attend the Chinese imperial court as a sign of submission. Tran Thanh Tong declined the invitation under the pretext of poor health.
War erupted between the two countries in 1284 under King Tran Nhan Ton; Vietnamese forces were under the command of the famous general Hung Dao Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan. The Chinese offensive was under the command of General Thoat Hoan; another front against Champa was under General Sogatu (Toa Do) who was later killed in battle.
Marco was a member of a Chinese delegation that went to Champa and possibly Vietnam after the unsuccessful war campaign of 1287-1288. Alain Cheneviere referred to Marco Polo’s Kaucigu as the Kingdom of Tonking and Amu as Anam in the following excerpt but according to the Encyclopedia Britannica Kaucigu corresponds to an area situated in the southern part of modern China. So it is clear that Marco Polo went to Champa (which now is a part of Vietnam) but it is debatable whether his travel involved Tonkin or thirteenth century Vietnamese territory.
Regarding the art of tattooing that Marco Polo described in his book, it is known as a Vietnamese custom dating back to prehistoric times. The dragon is a totem in Vietnamese mythology and the Vietnamese think of themselves as descendants of the dragon (Con Rong Chau Tien, children of the Dragon and grand children of the Fairy). The religious and spiritual meaning of tattooing is probably related to the wish to assume its form and therefore the strength and power of the totem animal. Another goal, more practical, was to scare away the underwater predators (thuong luong in Vietnamese, and possibly alligators (ca sau)) by tattooing oneself into a monster look-alike. It is interesting to note that tattoos were made on every part of the body in Kaugigu (Giao Chi?). In contrast, in Amu (Annam?), Marco Polo did not see the tattoos on the natives. We can assume that either they did not practice at all that custom or the practice was restricted to certain hidden parts of the body and was not seen in public. It may also be conjectured that people in Amu were more Sinicized and as tattoos were not a tradition among the Chinese; their practice had been more or less abandoned among this population.
As a tradition, all the Vietnamese princes and kings had to be tattooed on their thighs (dui), but not all over the body. According to Tran Trong Kim in Vietnam Su Luoc, it was abolished since the reign of another King from the Tran dynasty, Tran Anh Tong (1298-1314). As an adolescent prince, he eluded that practice that had been obligatory among the royal family. He grew up to be one of the most enlightened rulers in Vietnamese history and his reign was a period of economic prosperity and cultural achievement.
The following excerpt is from Travels in The Orient In Marco Polo’Footsteps by Alain Cheneviere, pp 208-209.
“When Marco entered the kingdom of Tonking and Anam he was struck by the rugged mountain of northern Vietnam, as well by the dense forests that cover them even today. Over the course of history this inhospitable region has often served as a refuge for Indochinese guerillas…Marco was less impressed by the political power of the King than the appearance of the many ethnic groups which composed his kingdom. (King Indravarman of Champa). The inhabitants of the two provinces he visited, Kaugigu and Amu, surprised him by their appearance; the bodies of both the men and women of the Kingdom of Tonking were decorated with tattoos. Marco Polo marveled at the art of the master tattooers who’’using a needle, covered all the flesh with pictures of lions and dragons and eagles and cranes (…) they are made so skillfully with needles that they are indelible, whether in water or otherwise. They make these on their face, their necks, their bellies, their hands, their legs and every part of their bodies.’ This practice was first forbidden by the French colonial administration, then by the Communists, but reappeared in the 1960’s. Today the ethnic groups of the high plateaus such as the Bana, the Jarai and the M’nongs proudly display their traditional tattoo. In the province of Amu, the people Marco met were not tattooed, instead they wore heavy gold and silver bracelets enhanced with precious stones and pearl on their arms and legs.’’
Hien V. Ho, MD
Marco Polo, Vietnam in the thirteen-century
and the art of tattoo.
Dinh Bo Linh,
The Buffalo Boy Who Became King.
Dinh Bo Linh, founder of the Dinh dynasty, is one of the greatest kings of Vietnamese history. He is the namesake of a major street in almost every Vietnamese city. We all are familiar with a popular song celebrating this national hero, particularly popular among Vietnamese children because of his precocity in matters of warfare and leadership (“Dinh Bo Linh nho hoi minh con nien thieu,lay lau lay lau lam co quen minh giup nuoc..”.) Legend has it that in his childhood, while tending the water buffaloes, he used blossoming reeds (“lau”) as pennants in mock combats organized among the village children. He later defeated the twelve feudal lords within a year and was proclaimed as the King of Ten Thousand Victories (“Van Thang Vuong”).
In 968, he ascended to the throne as Tien Hoang De and built his capital city in Hoa Lu.
During his reign (968-979), important administrative, military and legal measures were taken to put order to a recently divided and poorly organized country. In 979, he was assassinated by Do Thich .
The following excerpt is from Keith Weller Taylor, in The Birth of Vietnam, University of California Press, 1983, pp 275-276.
Dinh Bo Linh
“Dinh Bo Linh’s father, Dinh Cong Tru, had served both Duong Dinh Nghe and Ngo Quyen as governor on the Cham border in the south. According to Chinese records, Bo Linh succeeded his father as governor of Hoan and from this base eventually united all the Vietnamese lands.”
“Vietnamese historians recorded several stories about Dinh Bo Linh . These stories are to some extent hagiographical, so, while the general circumstances described in them may be authentic, many details are later elaborations.”
“Bo Linh was born in Hoa Lu, in a narrow valley running into the Hong River plain from the south, some thirty miles from the sea. He lived with his mother, a concubine of Dinh Cong Tru, beside the temple of a mountain spirit. His father was absent and so, apparently were all other able-bodied men.”
“It was recorded that the village children were responsible for tending the water buffaloes and that Bo Linh was recognized as their leader. The youngsters liked to play at imperial ritual and paraded about with Bo Linh in the role of emperor. On holidays, Bo Linh often led his followers against the youth of neighboring villages and always won the fray. His followers competed in gathering firewood and providing personal services for him.” Seeing this, and feeling proud of it, Bo Linh’s mother cooked a pig and laid a feast.
“All of this impressed the old men of the village, who took counsel together:” This boy’s behavior is extraordinary; he will be able to benefit his generation and bring peace to his people. If we do not support him now, we will certainly regret it later. “Consequently the village acknowledged him as a leader and built him a palisade. Only a younger brother of his father refused to follow him and established a separate palisade.”
“Bo Linh led a band against his uncle but was repulsed. As Bo Linh fled, a bridge collapsed, and he fell in the mud. His uncle rushed up, intending to stab him, but was astonished to see yellow dragons appear and hover over the boy in protection. Realizing that Bo Linh possessed supernatural qualities, the uncle submitted.”
‘This story describes a village society in the absence of authority. As Chinese hegemony faded and the men were absorbed in urgent struggle against its resurgence, village life was left open to the ambitions of a buffalo boy.”
(Edited by Hien V. Ho, 7-15-01)
The Story of Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh:
The battle between the Mountain Spirit and the Water Spirit.
The legend of Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh incorporates many elements of Vietnamese folklore. Although Mount Tan Vien (in Son Tay Province, northern Vietnam, currently, Ba Vi Mountain, altitude 1250m) is not the highest mountain of Vietnam, because of its central location and its preeminence overlooking the adjacent lowlands, it occupies a special place in Vietnamese history and literature. It is also referred to as ‘’Mount Olympus ‘of Vietnamese mythology. The Water Spirit has been interpreted as symbolizing the monsoon season. It brings not only beneficent tidal influence necessary for the practice of tidal irrigation but also devastating floods that ravage the hamlets situated in the lowlands.
The Story of Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh:
The battle between the Mountain Spirit and the Water Spirit.
The legend of Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh incorporates many elements of Vietnamese folklore. Although Mount Tan Vien (in Son Tay Province, northern Vietnam, currently, Ba Vi Mountain, altitude 1250m) is not the highest mountain of Vietnam, because of its central location and its preeminence overlooking the adjacent lowlands, it occupies a special place in Vietnamese history and literature. It is also referred to as ‘’Mount Olympus ‘of Vietnamese mythology. The Water Spirit has been interpreted as symbolizing the monsoon season. It brings not only beneficent tidal influence necessary for the practice of tidal irrigation but also devastating floods that ravage the hamlets situated in the lowlands.
The Story of Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh:
The battle between the Mountain Spirit and the Water Spirit.
The legend of Son Tinh and Thuy Tinh incorporates many elements of Vietnamese folklore. Although Mount Tan Vien (in Son Tay Province, northern Vietnam, currently, Ba Vi Mountain, altitude 1250m) is not the highest mountain of Vietnam, because of its central location and its preeminence overlooking the adjacent lowlands, it occupies a special place in Vietnamese history and literature. It is also referred to as ‘’Mount Olympus ‘of Vietnamese mythology. The Water Spirit has been interpreted as symbolizing the monsoon season. It brings not only beneficent tidal influence necessary for the practice of tidal irrigation but also devastating floods that ravage the hamlets situated in the lowlands.
The 18th King of the Hung Dynasty had a very beautiful daughter and he was searching for a handsome and talented consort for the royal bride. Among the applicants from the capital city of Me Linh, were Son Tinh, the Mountain Spirit, and Thuy Tinh, the Water Spirit. Because they were comparable in prestige, power, wealth and talent, it was difficult for the King to choose between them. He then declared that, on a certain propitious day, the one who would arrive the earliest at the palace would win the honor of his daughter’s hand. The Mountain Spirit won the contest and brought his new bride to Mount Tan Vien. The Water Spirit was very angry and refused to accept defeat. He mobilized sea waves and high tides to assault the mountain but it was in vain. The higher the waters raised, the taller the mountain became by the power of the Mountain Spirit.
The Water Spirit never gave up his battle against the Mountain Spirit. Therefore, every year, around June or July, the lowlands adjacent to Ba Vi Mountain still suffer devastating floods as a consequence of his eternal bitterness and vengefulness.
Hien V. Ho, MD
The mercury balance.
The story of the mercury balance reflects many fundamental aspects of the Vietnamese mind:
· Honesty and honor are always valued over material wealth and even preservation of one’s own life.
· There is someone up there who knows what we are doing, even our most secret actions.
· Our children inherit not only the estate that we leave them; they also inherit the consequence of our good and bad actions. Therefore, very often, repentance and enlightenment start at the occasion of the birth of one or several children. At that moment, we feel the miracle of life, the continuum of our existence through the generations, and therefore our urge to leave them something worthwhile. We also become more aware of our mortality and may consider putting ours priorities in a different perspective.
· Contrary to the biblical story of Job, the punishment by heaven is in this case justified and man is not at the mercy of a whimsical god who tries to test his faith.
· After all, the essence of the story is also found in many illustrious families of America where huge fortunes are made every day. At the end, the cursed miser and capitalist often becomes the philanthropist and society only benefits from what we may call the Mercury Balance Syndrome.
Once upon a time there were a couple of goldsmiths who ran their jewelry shop in one of the large Vietnamese cities. The prices of their goods were based on weight and they used a scale that was made of a beam hung from a cord off its center, with a counterweight sliding on the beam on one side and the pan holding the merchandise on the other side. The couple became rich very quickly because they had a trade secret, the beam of their scale was hollow, and it was loaded with mercury. When they sold something, they would tilt the rod toward the plate and the weight of the mercury would add to the weight of gold. When they bought a jewel from a client, they would tilt their scale to the side of the weight, and thus got a lesser reading to their advantage.
After a few years, they were able to save a large amount of money and buy a very large house, loaded with all the luxuries of the time. It seemed as if the gods were answering to their every prayer. They also had two handsome, healthy, and intelligent sons who were the envy of every family in the city.
Fifteen years later, one evening after a very busy and profitable day at their large store, the husband had a few moments for himself and started thinking about his life. Now that every dream in his life had come true, he thought of repentance about his trade secret .He talked to his wife and both of them agreed that it was time for them to destroy the scale, spend some of their money in charity and attend religious services at the pagoda to This decision changed their life in a very profound way: they were more respected and liked by their community. They slept more peacefully and learned to enjoy the simple things in life, and though their fortune had dwindled significantly because of their charitable works, their life had become much richer. Most of all, they were proud of their two sons who were so handsome and so successful in their studies.
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Then suddenly, one morning, the two sons were stricken with a tragic illness and died on the same day. Their parents were devastated and complained about what they perceived as injustice from Heaven. Had they not spent most of their unjustly acquired wealth on charitable works and faithfully attended ceremonies at the temple? Why didn’t punishment fall on them instead of their beloved children? Didn’t Heaven have any pity for them?
One night, in a dream, they saw Buddha come to them. He explained to them that their two son were actually two demons that Heaven had sent to Earth, to their household to punish them for their sin. He said: “If your sons were allowed to grow up, they would waste all your fortune, bring you the most unimaginable misery in your old age and would be the worst calamity your family and community ever had. Because you have repented, Heaven is touched by your faithfulness and therefore has recalled the instruments of their wrath. Don’t mourn them any further. Keep doing your good works and you will find enlightenment.”
The couple obeyed by converting their large mansion into a pagoda serving the community. They spent the rest of their lives helping people in need and finding peace in prayers and contemplation.
Women in Vietnamese society.
Ladies Trung and the role of Women in Vietnamese Society.
According to Confucian values, the life of a woman is governed by the rule of three subordinations (Tam tong). At home, she is subordinated to her father, after her marriage she is subordinated to her husband, and after her husband’s death she is subordinated to her son (Tai gia tong phu, xuat gia tong phu, phu tu tong tu). The Four Virtues (Tu duc) house keeping skills, beauty, appropriate speech and moral conduct (cong, dung, ngon, hanh).
Nguyen Trai, a fifteen-century Vietnamese general and scholar, described the Four Virtues in these terms:
“Cong “is the ability to make every flavor of cakes and glutinous rice
And skill in sewing and embroidering.
“Dung” is solemn beauty
Without being lithe or flirtatious.
“Ngon” is polite, deferential language,
“Hanh” is honesty, respect and trustworthiness.
However, despite this traditional Confucian ideal, in reality women have played a prominent role in almost every aspect of the history of the country as well as the daily life of the Vietnamese economy. Historic figures like the Trung sisters are now well known to American and European historians and Ba Trieu (Lady Trieu, also kwon as Trieu Au) is often mentioned a role model for modern women rights activists and American feminists.
The following paragraphs about the Trung sisters and Ba Trieu are quoted from Vietnam, A History by Stanley Karnow“
A titled lady, Trung Trac, avenging the murder of her dissident husband by a Chinese commander, led the first major Vietnamese insurrection against China. She and her sister, Trung Nhi, mustered other restive nobles and their vassals, including another woman, Phung Thi Chinh who supposedly gave birth to a baby in the middle of the battle yet continued to fight with the infant strapped to her back. They vanquished the Chinese in A,D, 40 and, with the Trung sisters as queens, set up an independent state that stretched from Hue into southern China. But the Chinese crushed it only two years later, and the Trung sisters committed suicide-in aristocratic style- by throwing themselves into a river. The Vietnamese still venerate them at temples in Hanoi, Sontay and elsewhere..
Another woman, Trieu Au, the Vietnamese version of Joan of Arc, launched a revolt against China in A.D. 248, a generation after the collapse of the Han dynasty, wearing golden armor and riding an elephant as she led a thousand men into battle. Gloriously defeated at the age of twenty-three, she committed suicide rather than suffer the shame of surrender. Like the Trung sisters, she is remembered by a temple, and by her words of defiance:” I want to rail against the wind and the tide, kill the whales of the sea, sweep the whole country to save the people from slavery, and I refuse to be abused.”
These feminine exploits, doubtless inflated in popular legend, illustrate the status of women in Vietnamese society. In contrast to their counterparts elsewhere in Asia and even in Europe, emancipated only recently, they could traditionally inherit land, serve as trustees of ancestral cults and share their husbands’ property.”
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