CHAPTER I

MYTHS AND HISTORY

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Introduction

EMERGING FROM A SUBWAY in New York’s Times Square, author

Joseph Campbell was caught up in the crowd waiting at a stop light and thought he saw more than one ancient myth coming to life right before his eyes. According to this eminent mythologist, in our presumably “demythified” world, myths are essential to understanding history as well as a society’s modern aspirations:

It [mythology] is where all the inventions of the common people’s imagination meet up with archeology and history.Hà Nội, whose history is intertwined with that of Việt Nam, is a perfect

example of this phenomenon. The Dragon King as forefather of the Việt people, the Mountain Genie as conqueror of annual Red River floods, the child with Herculean strength beating back the hordes of the North, the Soaring Dragon in all his glory presiding over the birth of the capital, the Dark Guardian of the North—all such myths of great national significance continue to live on in our city and village streets and to resurface in our country’s landscapes, beings, and objects, as well as in the everyday activities of Hà Nội.

Tens of millions of years ago, the Red River Delta, which became the base of the Việt country dating from the Bronze Age, was nothing more than a deep gulf gradually filling with river deposits coming from neighboring hills and mountains. This immense lagoon turned into a marsh with many streams, lakes, and ponds and with vast forests inhabited by elephants, crocodiles, and turtles. Man, through toil and patience, cultivated the land, converting it into the Red River Delta, a major component of the Northern Delta.

The area that is now Hà Nội has vestiges dating from the Neolithic Period to the Bronze Age, during which the first two Việt states together with the Việt cultural identity were born (c. 1000 B.C.). After over a thousand years of Chinese domination (c. 200 B.C. to 938 A.D.), the Việts defeated the Chinese to regain their independence. In the beginning of the eleventh century, the Việts established their capital at Thăng Long (City of the Soaring Dragon), which has since become Hà Nội.

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A Difficult Choice: “Hà Nội” or “Thăng Long”Ha Noi celebrates its thousandth anniversary in the tenth year of the twenty-

first century. In 1010, Lý Thái Tổ, founder of the Lý Dynasty (1009–1225) decided to

move the capital from the midland region of Hoa Lư to Thăng Long (now Hà Nội) in the heartland of the Sông Hồng (Red River) Delta.

The king named the new capital “Thăng Long” (Soaring Dragon) because, it is said, he saw a dragon rising into the air above his royal boat when he approached the site.

In the name “Hà Nội,” “Hà” means “river,” and “Nội” means “beyond,” “bend,” or “between.” Thus, “Hà Nội” means a province (Hà Nội was a province before it became a city) inside a bend of the Red River or between the Red River and one of its tributaries.

Such are the facts.At the end of 1997, Người Cao Tuổi (The Elderly) rekindled a discussion

that had caused some noise following the reunification of Việt Nam in 1975.At that time, some historians held that the name “Hà Nội” should be dropped

in favor of the ancient name, “Thăng Long.” A request was even submitted to the National Assembly, which responded that this was not the appropriate time to raise such an issue.

In reality, Hà Nội has had many names:1. “Tống Bình” while under occupation by the Chinese Sui Dynasty (580–

618).2. “La Thành” (Lowland City) while under occupation by the Chinese Tang

Dynasty (eighth century A.D.).3. “Đại La” (Great Lowland) while under occupation by the Chinese Tang

Dynasty, during which the Citadel was erected (from 863–866).4. “Thăng Long” (Soaring Dragon), named in 1010 by King Lý Thái Tổ

(reign: 1009–1028).5. “Đông Đô” (Eastern Capitol), named by King Hồ Quý Ly (reign: 1400–

1401) in contrast to “Tây Đô” (Western Capital) in Thanh Hoá Province.6. “Đông Quan” (1407–1427) while under occupation by the Chinese Minh

Dynasty (1368–1644).

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7. “Đông Kinh” (Eastern Capital) a term used during the time of Lê Thái Tổ (Lê Lợi, reign: 1428–1433), as opposed to “Lam King” (Indigo Capital) and “Tây Kinh” (Western Capital) in Thanh Hoá Province.

8. “Hà Nội,” first used in 1831. Among these, the favorite names are “Thăng Long,” “Đông Đô,” and “Hà

Nội,” while “Thăng Long” and “Hà Nội” are most frequently mentioned in poetry and music.

Those advocating the return to “Thăng Long” for the capitol’s thousandth anniversary cite the name’s antiquity and glory. Prof. Trần Văn Giàu, age ninety-seven, a historian and revolutionary notes, “The word ‘Hà Nội’ says nothing. It appeared only at the beginning of the Nguyễn Dynasty, while ‘Thăng Long’ came into being 800 years before ‘Hà Nội’ and witnessed many more historic national exploits. … Thăng Long City broke the invading armies of the Chinese feudalists—the Tống (Song), Nguyên (Yuan), Minh (Ming), and Thanh (Qing). The Vietnamese Lê kings [1428–1788] named the city ‘Đông Kinh (Đô)’, but ordinary people kept the name ‘Thăng Long.’” (Người Cao Tuổi [The Elderly], Tết issue, 1998).

Đan Tâm, a reader, had expressed his views a month before: “‘Thăng Long’– “Soaring Dragon” fits perfectly for the capital of a people who originated from the Dragon and the Fairy. It conforms with history and our sentiments.” (Người Cao Tuổi [The Elderly], December, 1997).

However, those defending “Hà Nội” are not glib. Hà Nội was the head and heart of the liberation revolution of 1945 and of the

two victorious wars of resistance, the first against France and the second against the United States. As Nguyễn Dũng Viện, another reader, noted, “‘Hà Nội’ bears all the glorious past of ‘Thăng Long,’ but ‘Thăng Long’ tells us nothing about ‘Hà Nội.’ … In my view, at the end of this century, Hà Nội is an impressive capital, a symbol for quite a number of nations and states. … The word ‘Hà Nội’ has been imprinted in the minds and hearts of millions of people in this country and abroad. We cannot erase it in the name of some sentimental retro-centrism.” (Người Cao Tuổi [The Elderly], December, 1997).

Prof. Phan Huy Lê, president of the Việt Nam Association of Historians, notes that in celebration of the capital city’s millennium, the word “Hà Nội” should be kept, with the word “Thăng Long” in brackets.

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The debate continues.

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The Royal Edict on the Transfer of the Capital to Thăng Long in 1010

In the tenth year of the twenty-first century, Hà Nội will celebrate its millennium. In 1010 A.D., King Lý Thái Tổ, the founder of the first lasting national dynasty (the Lý) decided to transfer his old capital at Hoa Lư to Thăng Long, the present capital. Before the transfer, he sought the advice of his courtiers with this edict:

“In the old days, the Thương Dynasty up to the reign of Bàn Cảnh changed its capital five times, and the Chu Dynasty up to the reign of Thành Vương, three times.

“Could it be that, when moving their capital in this way, those kings of the period of the Three Dynasties obeyed an unjustifiable whim?

“No, they simply wanted to choose a center favorable to the edification of an immense undertaking for ten thousand generations to come.

“Bowing to the will of Heaven and meeting the aspirations of the people, they moved their capital whenever they deemed it necessary, thus ensuring the country’s destiny, its wealth and prosperity.

“On the contrary, because such is their will and pleasure, the two dynasties of the Đinh and Lê chose to ignore the will of Heaven and did not follow the example set by the Chu. They stayed obstinately in the same place. Their dynasties were short-lived and their fates, precarious. The common people were ruined, while untold resources remained unused. I suffer greatly from that and am compelled to move the capital to another place. The more so since Đại La, the former capital of His Highness Cao, is located in the heartland of our country. Its location evokes the image of a coiled dragon, a squatting tiger. It is situated at equal distance from the four points of the compass and corresponds to a favorable orientation of the mountains and rivers.

“There, the site is sufficiently vast and level, the grounds sufficiently raised and well exposed. The population is protected against floods, and its economy is well developed and prosperous. It is the most beautiful site, where men and a royal dynasty can assemble for a thousand generations. I, therefore, wish to benefit from this favorable location and to move the capital to this site.

“What do you think of that decision, you members of my court?”

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Commentary

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This text, which dates back to the beginning of the eleventh century and is among the oldest written documents of Việt Nam, was recorded in Chinese ideograms (Hán), the script then used in the Far East for official, educational, and literary writings in the way Latin was used in Europe during the Middle Ages. This script was the only one used in Việt Nam for more than twenty centuries, not only during Chinese rule but also during the period of independent national dynasties (tenth to nineteenth centuries). French replaced Chinese as the official language during French colonialism (1883–1945), while the Vietnamese Romanized script became official with the 1945 Revolution.

2The Việt national and cultural identity formed during the first millennium

B.C. with the bronze culture. The first Vietnamese state established its capital at Bạch Hạc, the apex of the delta triangle of the Red River on the demarcation line between the hilly uplands and the swampy, barely cultivated lowlands. The second state moved its capital to Cổ Loa (eighteen kilometers from present-day Hà Nội) in the plains, where rice was already being grown.

During the thousand years of Chinese rule, imperial proconsuls first established their administrative seat north of present-day Hà Nội in Luy Lâu and Long Biên before building the citadel of Đại La on the site of present-day Hà Nội in the ninth century. Meanwhile, the heads of victorious insurrections against the Chinese stayed in power for brief periods. They preferred to install their headquarters in their native regions. The exception was Lý Nam Đế (sixth century), who used Hà Nội (then called Long Biên) as the capital of his short-lived kingdom.

In the tenth century, the Ngô Dynasty broke the Chinese yoke and established its capital at Cổ Loa, but anarchy soon followed. King Đinh Tiên Hoàng restored order and, for security reasons, installed his capital in the hilly region of Hoa Lư. The capital remained there for the ensuing dynasty.

Lý Thái Tổ asserted the location of present-day Hà Nội for the country’s capital. Geography surely dictated his choice. Việt Nam soon asserted its independence. Central power was consolidated, and economic and cultural

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conditions allowed the kings to build a prosperous, powerful kingdom that enjoyed prestige in Southeast Asia for four centuries. Lý Thái Tổ needed to move his capital to a site favorable for such prospects.

Hà Nội seemed to fit that need. A glance at the map shows that mountain ranges and waterways converge at Hà Nội, and the waterways continue to the sea like the fingers of one hand. Both river and land routes are favorable. Mountain ranges on its northern flank protect the site from possible invasions, while rivers allowed the city’s residents to reach the sea and overseas cultures.

3Of course, Lý Thái Tổ probably felt rather than analyzed the geopolitical

reasons vindicating the choice of Hà Nội as capital, for he was obeying two cultural commands: The Confucian concept of “heavenly mandate” (Thiên Mệnh) and principles of geomancy.

Lý Thái Tổ reproached his predecessors, the Đinh and Lê Dynasties, for disobeying the will of Heaven by staying on in Hoa Lư, which was inaccessible. This is an unjust reproach, for security compelled those dynasties to act as they did. King Lý Thái Tổ would move his capital to “follow the will of Heaven” and the “aspirations of the people.”

Once the decision was taken, King Lý Thái Tổ had to conform to the rules of geomancy. He would locate his capital “in the heartland of our country. Its position evokes that of a coiled dragon, a squatting tiger. It is situated at equal distance from the four points of the compass and corresponds to a favorable orientation of the mountains and rivers, … where men and a royal dynasty can assemble for a thousand generations.”

4This edict illustrates the dialectical play of repulsion and attraction that

governed the ambiguous character of relations between Việt Nam and China. On one hand, the Vietnamese repulsed all that emanated from the invader; on the other, they were attracted to this richer culture, which often served as a model. Thus, Lý Thái Tổ cited examples set by Chinese dynasties (Thương, Chu, and the Three Dynasties) and honored the memory Proconsul Cao Biển.

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The king called his capital Thăng Long (“Soaring Dragon”), showing that he remained deeply Vietnamese, for the Việt believed they had descended from the union of Rồng and Tiên (the Dragon and the Fairy). The mythical animal was thought to bring rain to the rice fields and represented both royalty and nobility.

6Thăng Long or Long Thành (Dragon City) has been called “Hà Nội” since

1831. The Nguyễn Dynasty had already moved its capital to Huế. Hà Nội resumed its status as capital with the Revolution of 1945.

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The White Horse, Hà Nội’s Protector God

Đền Bạch Mã or Temple of the White Horse on Hàng Buồm Street is the oldest religious building in Hà Nội’s Old Quarter. Since September 1986, the Government has recognized Đền Bạch Mã as a historical site of national importance. Hà Nội residents still use the temple as a place of worship.

From 170 B.C. until 938 A.D., Việt Nam had a turbulent history marked by long periods of Chinese domination. In 866 A.D., Chinese Governor Cao Biền established his citadel, called Đại La, in the area now occupied by Hà Nội. The Tô Lịch, Kim Ngưu, and Red Rivers bordered the citadel area, which had a small mountain called Nùng Sơn (Mount Nùng) in its center. Legend held that ancient Việt Nam was shaped like a dragon with Nùng Sơn forming the dragon’s navel. Thus, people thought that Nùng Sơn was connected to the dragon’s blood and could draw on the dragon’s power and energy. Cao Biền wanted to block ancient Việt Nam’s development. Using the laws of geomancy, he chose Nùng Sơn for his citadel and temple.

Việt Nam regained its independence from China in 938. In 1010, King Lý Thái Tổ, founder of the Lý Dynasty, had a vision of a dragon ascending to the sky from a bend in the Red River. He decided to move his capital from its previous site at Hoa Lư in a mountainous area about ninety kilometers south of Hà Nội to the site of Cao Biển’s former Đại La Citadel. King Lý Thái Tổ believed that building a citadel on that site would enable him to use the dragon’s power and energy that Cao Biển had tried to block.

King Lý Thái Tổ tried many times to build the citadel’s ramparts, but the structures collapsed and crumbled. He prayed to Genie Long Đỗ for guidance. Later, the king dreamed about a white horse that circled the city from east to west, leaving its hoof prints on the earth. The horse paused at three places before disappearing. The ramparts King Lý Thái Tổ built along these tracks withstood invaders and floods alike. He completed his new citadel and called his capital “Thăng Long,” meaning “ascending dragon.” To honor the White Horse Deity, Lý Thái Tổ changed the name of Long Đỗ Temple to Bạch Mã (“White Horse”) Temple.

Since the white horse symbolizes the sun and the sun rises in the east, the white horse became guardian of the city’s eastern borders, and Bạch Mã became

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the temple of the Protector of the East. To protect the city’s other borders, King Lý Thái Tổ also built temples at the three other points where the white horse had paused. The southern temple is Kim Liên (Cao Sơn Temple) not far from Lenin Park; in the west is Voi Phục Temple in the Zoological Gardens, and the northern site is Quán Thánh Temple (Trấn Vũ) near West Lake.

Hà Nội’s protector god took many different forms describing a single patron spirit worshipped in all its various guises at Bạch Mã Temple. The genie has received several names, but is best known by these three:

“Tô Lịch,” the name of the River God protector of Thăng Long and also the name of the river running through Hà Nội’s Old Quarter.

“Long Đỗ” (“long” = “dragon”, “đỗ” = “navel”) is the point of contact between heavenly and earthly realms located at Mount Nùng in the ancient capital of Thăng Long–Hà Nội.

“Bạch Mã” (“bạch” = “white”, “mã” = “horse”) is the name King Lý Thái Tổ gave in the eleventh century to the genie who appeared in his dream as a snow-white steed galloping around the boundaries of the Thăng Long Citadel.

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The Tô Lịch: Close to Hanoians

The Red River flows across several provinces of the northern delta and shapes their landscapes. It touches Hanoians’ hearts less than the Tô Lịch River, which has been reduced to a stream of which only a few stretches remain.

The Tô Lịch joins the Red River at Phố Chợ Gạo (Rice Market) in the Old Quarter. During the Lý-Trần Dynasties (the eleventh through the fourteenth centuries), the Tô Lịch and West Lake were part of a beautiful landscape spanned by graceful bridges and frequented by the pleasure boats of the court and aristocracy. Over time, the stream, which was more than thirty kilometers long, has almost completely filled up. At present, only three small sections remain.

“Tô Lịch” is the name of the River God, a tutelary spirit for Thăng Long (Soaring Dragon), the old name of Hà Nội. Việt Điện U Linh Tập (Collection of Tales about Gods of the Việt Kingdom), written in Chinese ideograms, is regarded as an accurate source of Vietnamese history. It says Tô Lịch was born in Long Đỗ Village on the bank of the river. The descendent of a virtuous family, he passed his examinations and was appointed mandarin chief of Long Đỗ District when the country was under Chinese colonial administration.

After his death, people gave his name to the stream flowing past his village. Deified, he appeared in a dream to Chinese Governor Lý Nguyên Hỷ (Li Yuan-his, ninth century) as an old man with a white beard who rode a white kite. The Chinese proconsul entrusted to him the guard of the Đại La Citadel on the site of present-day Hà Nội, which he had built on a bank of the Tô Lịch River.

More than fifty years later, in 864, Cao Biền (Kao Pien), another Chinese proconsul with the reputation of a great wizard, rebuilt and enlarged the citadel. He continued the wily colonial policy of his predecessor and, adopting the cult of certain indigenous deities, made a solemn sacrifice to Tô Lịch and gave him the title of Tutelary Spirit for the administrative seat.

Việt Nam regained its independence in the tenth century. In 1010, King Lý Thái Tổ, who transferred the capital from the highlands to the lowlands, honored Tô Lịch with the title “Quốc Đô Thăng Long Thành Hoàng Đại Vương” (Great Lord Tutelary Spirit of Thăng Long, the National Capital). Some believe that the sanctuary dedicated to Tô Lịch is the present-day Bạch Mã (White Horse) Temple at 76 Hàng Buồm Street in Hà Nội’s Old Quarter.

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According to a more authoritative legend, that temple is dedicated to the god, Long Đỗ (Navel of the Dragon). Cao Biền (Kao Pian), the proconsul under Chinese rule in the ninth century, is said to have seen this god in a dream, where the god appeared borne by a golden dragon in the middle of a rainbow-colored cloud. Cao Biền built a temple to worship the god but also buried copper and iron to exorcize him. However, a typhoon accompanied by lightning destroyed the buried metals that were evidence of Long Đỗ’s vitality and power. The god took the form of the white horse that helped eleventh-century Vietnamese King Lý Thái Tổ define where to build the citadel.

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The Vietnamese Dragon: Myth, History, and Geography

Since the end of World War II and the emergence of East Asia on the international scene, the media have frequent used of the dragon image in reference to China and countries under past influence of Chinese culture. Yet, although all those countries share the myth of the dragon, none has gone so far as to claim—as Việt Nam does-that the dragon is its ancestor or to give its capital the name of this mythical animal.

Several Vietnamese myths from as early as the Bronze Age in the Red River Basin describe the formation of the Việt culture and national identity before the impact of Chinese culture. Those persisting myths inspired Vietnamese resistance history during the past three millennia.

The Việt have always called themselves “con Rồng cháu Tiên” (children of the Dragon and the Fairy). The earliest extant records of this oral tradition are fifteenth-century documents: Lĩnh Nam Chich Quái (Collection of Strange Stories of Lĩnh Nam) and Đại Việt Sử Ký Toàn Thư (General Treatise on the History of the Đại Việt). The authors surely refashioned the plot to conform to the patriarchal and authoritarian concepts of Confucianism, whereas matriarchy and egalitarianism characterized the original pre-Chinese context. The myth of the Dragon and the Fairy was an effective reference during the struggle against both Chinese, French, and American foreign aggressors.

Here, briefly, is the popular version of the Việt people:Long, long ago there lived in Lĩnh Nam (the country south of the mountain

range on the border, that is, Ancient Việt Nam) a magician king, Dương Vương, who could walk on both earth and water. One day, in the course of a pleasure trip on a lake, he met a Dragon Maiden (Long Nữ), the daughter of the Dragon King (Long Vương), and married her. Their union bore a Herculean son who later mounted the throne as Lạc Long Quân (Dragon King of the Lạc, that is, of the Việt Country).

Lạc Long traveled all over Lĩnh Nam to restore peace and order amid chaos caused by evil monsters. He killed the gigantic Fish Demon in the South Seas, cutting it into three parts, of which the last—the tail—became present-day Bạch Long Vĩ (Tail of the White Dragon) Island in the southern part of Hạ Long Bay. Next, in a cave, Lạc Long Quân killed the Nine-Tailed Fox, which had often

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appeared in human form, seizing young women, carrying them off to its den, and raping them. Following destruction of the demon, the cave became Hà Nội’s West Lake. In another heroic exploit, Lạc Long Quân overpowered the demoniac Evil Tree, which fled to the southwest.

Then, a northern chieftain with his daughter, Âu Cơ, invaded the country. Lạc Long Quân drove the chieftain and his troops away and took the daughter as his wife. Later, his queen gave birth to a sack containing a hundred eggs, which hatched after seven days into a hundred baby boys.

Eventually, the boys grew into strong, handsome youngsters. Lạc Long Quân then said to his wife: “I am from the race of dragons living in the sea. You are from the race of fairies living in the mountains. We must separate. Go to the highlands with fifty of our sons. I’ll rejoin the sea with the other fifty.”

The divine spouses went their separate ways and created two domains—one along the coastal lowlands, the other in the highlands. The people in the highlands learned from their mother the art of clearing the slopes to grow upland rice and to raise mulberry trees and silkworms. The eldest son, who had accompanied the father to the lowlands, ascended the throne as Hùng Vương and inaugurated a line of eighteen sovereigns called the Hồng Bàng Dynasty. A temple to their memory is in Phú Thọ Province on the left bank of the Red River.

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Crossing the Red RiverThe Red River (Sông Hồng), which is red from its alluvial deposits, is also

called Mother River (Sông Cái). Mother River gave birth to Hà Nội. As the river changed course, it created picturesque scenes by leaving Hà Nội with ponds, ancient streams (Tô Lịch, Kim Ngưu), and lakes (West Lake, the Lake of the Restored Sword, Bảy Mẫu Lake, etc.). The Mother River Basin was the cradle of Vietnamese civilization in the Bronze Age.

The Red River has four bridges: Long Biên, formerly called Doumer Bridge for a French governor general of Indochina, built by the French between 1898 and 1902, and renamed Long Biên after the colonial period; Thăng Long (Soaring Dragon) Bridge, built with Chinese and then Soviet assistance between 1974 and 1985); Chương Dương Bridge, built by Vietnamese between 1979 and 1985); and Thanh Trì (Rampart and Moat) Bridge, built with Japanese loans between 2002 and 2007).

My friend, French novelist Marie France Briselance was on her first trip to Việt Nam and had to leave Hà Nội with regret after a stay of eleven days. Hà Nội had much to tell her, for she was of the “Việt Nam Generation.” Marie had wanted to cross Pont Doumer (Doumer Bridge), but hadn’t had the time. She had reason to regret her missed chance, for the three-kilometer walk (going and coming) between the sky above and the water below on a crisp autumn morning would have better prepared her for the hustle and bustle of Paris.

Long Biên Bridge has been reserved for pedestrians, bicycles, and motorbikes since construction of the three newer bridges. Every time I stroll across Long Biên, I feel contradictory sentiments for the alluvium-laden river below that flows on a turbulent course across more than a thousand kilometers. On one hand, I think of the flight of time and the vanity of this world as described in these melancholic lines by Chinese poet Li Po:

Seest thou not the Yellow River coming from the sky,Downward to the Ocean flowing, never turning back?

(Translated by W.B. Fletcher)On the other, when I look upstream at the swirling waters, my heart fills with gratitude and tenderness for my distant ancestors, who forged the Vietnamese national identity by creating the Red River Civilization in the first millennium before Christ.

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Eminent Vietnamologist Hoàng Xuân Hãn wrote, “An autonomous culture took form in a geographical space distinct from that of China. It can be said that this space first straddled the present Sino-Vietnamese border and extended from Yunnan to the Red River Delta. This became what we call the ‘Bronze Drum Civilization.’”

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The Water Genie Continues Pouring Forth His Wrath

The youngsters between three and fourteen watched the stage, applauding wildly when the Forces of Good (forest beasts led by the Mountain Genie) routed the Forces of Evil (sea monsters led by the Water Genie).

We were at one of the Sunday children’s matinees run by the Youth Theater (Nhà Hát Tuổi Trẻ) on Hà Nội’s Ngô Thì Nhậm Street. Poet Hồng Ngát had written the play, Vua Hùng Kén Tể (King Hùng Chooses a Son-in-Law), based on a legend dating back to the origin of the Việt. Students from the theater’s drama class had produced the play, with financial assistance from the Swedish-Vietnamese Fund for the Promotion of Culture.

According to the legend, both the Mountain Genie and the Water Genie admired the daughter of King Hùng, one of the founders of the country of the Việt. King Hùng told the suitors: “Since I can’t give my daughter to both of you, tomorrow morning, I will choose whoever first brings me one hundred plates of steamed glutinous rice, two hundred rice cakes, an elephant with nine tusks, a rooster with nine spurs, and a horse with nine red manes.”

The Mountain Genie was the first to arrive at the palace with all the gifts and took the princess to his home at the top of a high mountain. The Water Genie arrived too late. Wild with rage, the Water Genie unleashed one typhoon after another. The storms shook Heaven and Earth, carried away houses, uprooted trees, and destroyed all the crops. In response, the Mountain Genie caused hills to rise as fast as the flood waters could swell. A violent battle ensued, which ended with the victory of the Forces of Good.

However, the victory was not decisive. The Water Genie has returned again and again with each year’s monsoon season, when the deadly battle resumes.

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The Red River Dikes: Options for the New Millennium

Ten years from now or even dozens of years from now, Hà Nội will still be a beautiful city. But, given its current geographical position and land area, especially if the Red River dike system is maintained, will the city be able to preserve its beauty forever?

Leaders should seriously consider a project to evacuate the population in the delta and rebuild the capital somewhere in the midlands (for example in Hà Tây Province) in order to demolish the dikes and allow for periodic flooding.

When I was small, I was passionate about books celebrating King Lý Thái Tổ, the eleventh-century monarch who chose to build the capital of the country then known as Đại Việt on land “where dragons pay homage and tigers bend their knees” and where he had seen a “dragon taking off in flight.” He named the new capital “Thăng Long” (Soaring Dragon). Today, at the beginning of a new millennium, I would like to examine from a geographical and historical perspective the development of the northern delta and its heart, Hà Nội, a city transversed by the Red River.

The Geography of Hà Nội and its DikesSeen from the point of view of sustainable development, the geographic

position of Hà Nội is not ideal for a national capital. Hà Nội lies on the banks of the Red River along a long subterranean fault

line dividing northern Việt Nam almost in two. Fault lines, especially deep ones such as those of the Red River, constitute the most unstable places on the earth’s crust and are exposed to vigorous pressure from seismic shocks and earthquakes.

Is the Red River fault line stable? It’s difficult to say. According to a team of scientists led by Dr. R. Lacassin, the part of the fault line on the Chinese side from Yunnan to the Tibetan Plateau is presently sliding at a rate of around five millimeters per year. However, the scientists did not have Việt Nam in mind when they did their study.

The system of river dikes in northern Việt Nam has restricted the natural development of the Red River Delta. The first dike was built in 1108 during the Lý Dynasty in Cơ Xá solely to defend Thăng Long. This marked the debut of a gigantic dike system constructed by successive dynasties until its present-day length of 3,000 kilometers.

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The low dikes of the Trần Dynasty (1225–1400) prevented water from entering rice paddies and permitted summer rice cultivation. After harvest, water freely entered the paddies. This solution was acceptable. However, other dikes built and reinforced during the Posterior Lê Dynasty (1428–1527)—notably the branches crossing Sơn Tây and Hà Nam Provinces—ran contrary to nature.

Building and Demolishing Dikes over HistoryPierre Gourou remarked at the beginning of the twentieth century, “The Red

River Delta died in its adolescence.” The Red River has not developed naturally since the Lê Dynasty. The dikes essentially broke the delta’s organic relationship with the river that maintains it by hemming in the river’s alluvial deposits so they could not overflow into the rice fields. Unable to wash into the sea, most sediment settled in the river bed or along its banks. As a result, the river floor has been constantly rising.

Sandbanks and alluvial plains have formed, particularly from Sơn Tây to Nam Định. In many places, the river bed and the alluvial plains became higher than the rice fields. Sandbanks under Long Biên Bridge have gradually risen closer to the bridge itself. Dikes must be constantly heightened, adding to the risk of breakage

The dikes did break several times during the Nguyễn Dynasty. The question of dike maintenance or demolition first arose in 1833 during the reign of Minh Mạng. Mandarins Đoàn Văn Trường, Đặng Văn Thiêm, and Trịnh Quang Khanh wanted to demolish the dikes in Hưng Yên, Hải Dương, and Nam Định and dig a canal instead. Minh Mạng was intelligent, dynamic, and resolute. He agreed to demolish those dikes, reversing ten years of consolidation and construction, and dredge the Cửu An River to divert flood waters. Later, this positive measure was wrongly considered as proof of the weakness and irresponsibility of the Nguyễn.

Nguyễn Đăng Giai, the interim governor of Hà Nam Province, raised twelve disadvantages of dikes in 1847 at the end of Thiệu Trị’s reign. He proposed replacing dikes with canals (such as Nguyệt Đức and Nghĩa Trụ) to divert Red River floodwaters to the east and lessen the water that poured into the rice fields. However, King Thiệu Trị turned down his proposal and, instead, continued to build dikes and even a dam at the mouth of the Cửu An River.

In 1857, during the reign of Tự Đức, Nguyễn Đăng Khải proposed maintaining the dike on the left bank of the Red River and demolishing the dike on

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the right bank, allowing rice fields there to flood. In 1861, Vũ Văn Bình suggested that all dikes in Sơn Tây, Bắc Ninh, Hà Nội, Hưng Yên, and Nam Định be destroyed. Around 1873, Trần Bình and Hoàng Tá Viêm thought it was more worthwhile to demolish dikes than to build more. Indeed, we should remember that during Tự Đức’s reign, the Văn Giang Dike in Hưng Yên Province burst eighteen years in a row, with enormous human and material losses.

In 1915, Viceroy Hoàn Cao Khải suggested demolishing dikes in upland regions and preserving only those in the lowlands and then looking for a way to raise the ground level in the lowlands to eliminate future dikes. He also suggested widening the river’s course in order to clear flood waters.

Dikes: Build or Demolish? The question of dikes remains timely, even after the Hoà Bình Hydroelectric Dam regularized the Red River’s flow. Is it time now to let the Red River Delta develop naturally so that rice paddies can receive yearly fertile deposits and so the lowest areas of the delta can fill up to make a more even surface? If this were achieved, the river bed would not continue to rise as quickly as today. However, if we continue to build dikes, then we must constantly raise the ones already along the river. The grandchildren of today’s generation might see a giant dike resembling a wall running through Hà Nội.

The rising floor of the Red River in turn raises the level of annual floods. Hà Nội is on low ground with poor drainage. The floors of many houses are lower than the streets, and the streets in turn are lower than the level of the Red River in flood. Compared with the 1490 plan for Thăng Long, the surface area of Hà Nội’s natural lakes is now minimal. Temporary reservoirs for rainwater have practically disappeared, adding to the problem of floods.

Further, the Hoà Bình Reservoir, which is a hundred meters deep and located above Hà Nội, is another risk. A natural disaster such as a serious earthquake could cause immense losses. In 1995, the Kobe tremor ravaged in a few minutes a key Japanese city where people had lived peacefully for four hundred years, despite billions of dollars spent on earthquake forecasting.

For these reasons, demolition of the Red River dikes is an issue deserving serious consideration.

–Tạ Hoà Phương21

(Vietnamese Studies)

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A Propos of an Age-Old Myth

The survival of old folklore practices and the creation of popular new manifestations illustrate the perennial nature of myths and legends. Typical in this respect is the “Legend of Gióng” from Phù Đổng, a village on the outskirts of Hà Nội on the far bank of the Red River.

For several decades, Thánh Gióng (God Gióng), who is popularly honored with the title “Phù Đổng Thiên Vương” (Celestial Prince of Phù Đổng), has been the patron saint of a broad movement of gymnastics and sports. This movement mobilizes millions of primary and secondary school students and culminates every four years in the National Junior Olympiads (Hội Khỏi Phù Đổng).

The success of the first four Junior Olympiads (Hà Nội, 1983; Hồ Chí Minh City, 1987; Đà Nắng, 1992; Hải Phòng, 1996) has not slowed traditional festivities in Gióng Village. Far from it. The religious and spiritual renascence after the long trials of war have brought a strong revival during the past decade. Each year, four festivals occur in four suburban villages, each re-enacting the life and struggle of Warrior Gióng against the invaders.

The major event begins in Phù Đổng Village on the ninth day of the fourth lunar month. Hundreds of people join a re-enactment of the Battle Against Ân invaders. Participants, especially women, wear costumes of Ân commanders (hiệu) and troops. They are carefully selected and must follow many rituals. On the sixth day of the eighth moon, a procession brings water drawn from a well in front of the Saintly Mother Temple (Đền Mẫu) to the Thánh Gióng Temple. On the ninth day, at the Ceremony of Sacrifice, participants execute sacred songs and dances at the Ai Lao Quarter. Then they perform the flag dance, which symbolizes the unfolding battle. The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth days are for various ceremonies: The waving of flags, the celebration of victory, and the sacrifices to Heaven and Earth.

This legend is the first account exalting victory over foreign invaders, a constant feature of Vietnamese history. The God of Gióng (Phù Đổng) tops the list of the country’s heroic defenders, including historical heroes (e.g., the Trưng Sisters, Dame Triệu, Lê Lợi, Lý Thường Kiệt, Trần Hưng Đạo, etc.), whose names designate streets in Hà Nội and other cities.

Here is a brief version of the “Legend of Gióng”: During the reign of the sixth Hùng king, a mature woman from Gióng (Phù Đổng) Village happened to

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step on the imprint left by a huge divine foot. She became pregnant and later gave birth to a baby boy. For three subsequent years, the child lay in his cot, unable to sit up, walk, or speak. The Ân invaders from the north arrived, creating havoc. The king sent a herald to all provinces, calling on the people to help defend the kingdom.

One day, the herald came to Gióng Village. With his arrival, the child rose from his cot and announced that he would fight the enemy. He consumed an enormous amount of food and grew to great stature; he asked for armor, a spear, and an iron horse. Riding the horse, he plowed through the enemy ranks and exterminated invading troops. When his spear broke, he uprooted a cluster of bamboo and used it as his staff. Victorious, he rode his horse up to Heaven. A cult in Gióng Village and other localities is devoted to Thánh Gióng.

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A Cultural Tradition of a Rice-Growing People

Paris was shivering in February 1996, more so than usual in the winter. People wrapped in their overcoats walked quickly, whipped by gusts of wind and snow under a grey sky.

How pleasant it was to linger in a bright, chic, well-heated Sino-Vietnamese shop in the Thirteenth Arrondissement, where they sold the first ornamental Tết plants—dwarf tangerine trees with clusters of golden fruit, narcissuses with gold-hearted white flowers, and peach branches with pink blossoms. These luxury items imported from Việt Nam and China were expensive: 480 francs for a dwarf tangerine tree, 150 francs for a narcissus, and 180 francs for a peach branch.

Tết was still three weeks away, but expatriates from eastern Asia were feverishly preparing for the traditional Lunar New Year festival. My friend, Mrs. Hoàng Anh, who had settled in France thirty years before, offered me a homemade bánh chưng to soothe my nostalgia, for she knew all Vietnamese in middle and old age want to spend Tết at home. Think of it! Making bánh chưng 10,000 kilometers away from Việt Nam!

Bánh chưng is a non-sweet cake made from glutinous rice, green beans, and fat pork and cooked for long hours, most often at night. In rural Việt Nam, the entire household gathers around a big pot simmering over a wood fire. The atmosphere exudes a special charm about which poets and novelists often write. Children listen with bated breath as their parents and grandparents tell ancient tales.

Bánh chưng is as essential an item for Vietnamese Tết as roast turkey is for Christmas in some European countries. Its origin dates back to the dawn or our history, the Bronze Age in the Red River Delta. Lĩnh Nam Chích Quái (Strange Tales of Lĩnh Nam), a collection of stories written in the fifteenth century, recounts the tale:

Here is the story in a few lines:The sixteenth king of the Hùng Dynasty was growing old and wanted to

choose the heir to his throne. Addressing an assembly of his many sons, he said, “Go out into the world and bring back the recipes for the best food you can find. You must be back in a year’s time. The one with the recipe I like best will be my heir.”

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The princes set out on their journeys with retinues of various sizes. Lang Liêu, the sixteenth prince, had been orphaned by his mother when he was very young. He had few resources and stayed at home, sinking into depression. One night, a deity appeared to him in a dream and said, “Don’t despair. I will help you. You know that rice is the staple. Take some glutinous rice and steam it. Shape the rice into a round cake to form the vault of Heaven. Then, make another cake with the square shape of the Earth and add green beans and meat, the symbols of flora and fauna.1 Take the cakes as offerings to your father and in this way also pay tribute to Heaven and Earth.”

As soon as he awoke, the prince did as he had been told. When the long awaited date arrived, the princes presented their father with all kinds of rare and precious foods—fruits never seen before, fish from far-away seas, and spices with captivating aromas. However, the offerings did not please their father, who found them worthy only of curiosity with ingredients that would be difficult to procure.

The father made his choice as soon as he learned of the supernatural symbols in the recipes used to make the round and square cakes. He made Lang Liêu his heir. From that day on, Vietnamese have made bánh dấy (round cakes) and bánh chưng (square cakes) in early spring to honor the Earth (which fosters crops) and Heaven (which protects the crops).

Let us return now to Mrs. Hoàng Anh’s bánh chưng. It looked just like a bánh chưng made in Hà Nội, with only one slight difference: This cake was not bound with find bamboo strips but, rather, with bands of red plastic. However, this was already enormous progress compared with the square cake offered me in Paris by a Việt Kiều (expatriate Vietnamese) woman eight years before. She had wrapped her cake in a piece of plastic. In contrast, this time, Mrs. Hoàng Anh’s had used several layers of the traditional dong leaves2 sent from Việt Nam by air.

But it doesn’t matter whether someone uses plastic or tropical leaves. Either way, the tradition of bánh chưng shows the attachment of people in the Vietnamese Diaspora to the ancient cultural values of a Southeast Asian rice-growing people.

1 The first cake is called “bánh dầy,” while the second is called “bánh chưng.”2 A wild plant: Phrynium capitatum.

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Was the Princess to Blame?

The Cổ Loa Citadel, which dates from two centuries before Christ, is in Hà Nội’s Đông Anh District eighteen kilometers from the city’s center. Tourists often visit because the site was Việt Nam’s second capital.

The Hùng Vương kings established the Việt Kingdom’s first capital in the first millennium before Christ at Bạch Hạc in Việt Trì Province at the Red River Delta’s apex, where the Middle Region meets the Low Region. During the middle of the second century A.D., King An Dương Vương, ruler of the Việt country already established in the Mountainous Region, annexed the Hùng Vương Kingdom to found the Second Việt state, which was called Âu Lạc.

King An Dương Vương moved his capital farther south in the Red River Delta, to Cổ Loa in an area that had already developed at the beginning of the Iron Age. No cultural gap between these first two Việt states is visible.

We stepped out of a small moss-grown shrine that is part of the Cổ Loa ruins. We’d been standing pensively before the stone representation of beheaded Princess Mỵ Châu in the sanctuary’s dim light.

“What do you think?” I asked my friend Bob Krauss, a columnist for the Honolulu Advertiser. My granddaughter, Vân Chi, then a high-school student, had joined us. “Was the princess to blame?”

“She was,” Vân Chi said. “According to the concept of the individual at that time, Mỵ Châu was at fault, even though she was not responsible for what happened in light of the patriarchal principles of right and wrong.” The animated discussion that followed between a veteran American journalist and a Vietnamese girl illustrates the universal character of this story about politics and war, love and death.

Here is the legend from twenty-two centuries ago:With the help of Genie Kim Quy (the Golden Tortoise), King An Dương

Vương built his citadel at Cổ Loa. The name suggests he shaped it like a spiral with its center protected by solid ramparts. Before departing, the genie gave the king one of his toenails, saying, “Use this as a trigger for a crossbow, and your army will be invincible.”

In those days, Triệu Đà, a powerful tribal chief in southern China, often raided Âu Lạc. The crossbow’s magical power foiled Triệu Đà’s attempt to seize

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the citadel. Before long, Triệu Đà sent his son to An Dương Vương’s court with lavish presents and vows of friendship. However, Trọng Thủy’s real mission was to penetrate the secret of the Việt’s extraordinary military power. Trọng Thủy made approaches to Princess Mỵ Châu and eventually won her love. King An Dương Vương consented to give the Chinese prince her daughter’s hand.

Trọng Thủy learned from his wife the secret of the crossbow’s magic trigger and fashioned a replica. He secretly substituted the fake trigger for the real one and then concocted a pretext to visit his father in China.

As the couple said farewell, Mỵ Châu showed her departing husband a mantle padded with goose down. “One never knows what can happen in these troubled times,” she said. “If something does happen and I must leave Cổ Loa, I will sow these soft feathers along the way. Then, you can follow my trail.”

Soon thereafter, Triệu Đà attacked Cổ Loa, this time successfully. King An Dương Vương fled, with his daughter riding pillion. When the king reached the seashore, he entreated Genie Kim Quy for help and protection.

The genie appeared. “Oh, King,” the genie said, “the one causing your ruin sits behind you.”

King An Dương Vương understood everything in a flash. Enraged, he drew his sword, beheaded Mỵ Châu, and drowned himself in the sea.

Trọng Thủy had been following Mỵ Châu’s trail of goose down. He came upon the beheaded body of his wife. Weeping, he carried her remains back to the citadel and buried her there. Then, he threw himself into a deep well.

Trọng Thủy’s Well stands in front of the temple to King An Dương Vương in Cổ Loa Village. Legend has it that Mỵ Châu’s blood trickled into the sea and was absorbed by oysters. Vietnamese say pearls take on extraordinary brilliance if washed with water from Trọng Thủy’s Well. This, they say, is evidence of Princess Mỵ Châu’s innocence.

Visitors to Cổ Loa can see King An Dương Vương’s throne hall, the temple dedicated to him, the shrine dedicated to Princess Mỵ Châu, “Trọng Thủy’s Well of Pearls,” and vestiges of the ramparts. Visitors going on the sixth day of the first lunar month can join the Cổ Loa Village Festival.

The magic crossbow trigger is the fruit of popular imagination, but King An Dương Vương’s armed resistance is historical. The annals tell us that his citadel had the spiral shape of a snail, hence perhaps its name Cổ Loa. Archaeologists

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excavating at Cổ Loa have discovered thousands of bronze arrowheads, the remnants of our ancestors’ early and stubborn resistance to defend the Vietnamese state.

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The Guardian God of the North

Old tourist guides from former French Indochina called this god “Big Buddha” and his temple at the southern edge of West Lake the “Temple of the Big Buddha.” In fact, this “Buddha” is the Taoist deity Huyền Thiên Trấn Vũ (Warrior in Charge of the Guard of Dark Heaven), where “Dark Heaven” refers to Heaven’s northern sky. When King Lý Thái Tổ moved his capital to Hà Nội in 1010, he entrusted this god with protecting the northern side of the royal citadel from demons and evil spirits.

The statue of the Dark Warrior of Quan Thánh (Holy Mandarin) is bronze with a shiny black patina and deserves its nickname, “Big Buddha,” for it is nearly four meters high and weighs four metric tons. A Trịnh seigneur ordered it cast in 1681. The statue’s only rival among Hà Nội’s religious objects is the bronze Amitabha (A-di-Đà) cast in 1953 for Thần Quang Pagoda on Ngũ Xá Street.

The Dark Warrior wears a Taoist priest’s gown, his hair floating behind the nape of his neck. He is barefoot, his left hand raised in a gesture of prohibition while his right hand is placed on the handle of a sword around which a snake coils. The sword’s tip rests on a tortoise’s back. Master Trọng of the Founders’ Guild made the statue and also had his own statue honored in the temple.

Many pilgrims, particularly candidates for the scholarly examinations, frequented the shrine in its heyday in the hope of receiving divine guidance by way of oracular verses.

Quan Thánh Temple is in a picturesque site close to West and Trúc Bạch Lakes. The temple entrance has four rectangular pillars. Visitors walk through a porch with three entrances into a courtyard planted with shady mango trees. The shrine stands at the back of the courtyard. Its front has finely sculpted woodwork lacquered in red and gold. Inside, a bronze gong (khánh) hangs in the nave. Four altars precede the sanctuary at the far end of a narrow corridor. There, pilgrims may contemplate the Guardian God of the North standing in mysterious semi-darkness.

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The Giant Genie of Chèm

A temple dedicated to Lý Ông Trọng from 200 B.C. is thirteen kilometers from Hà Nội center. This giant genie served the Chinese emperor. After returning to Việt Nam, the Chinese emperor had the statue erected in bronze at the entrance to Han Yang Citadel to keep order among the Hsiung Nu barbarians.

Twenty to thirty people could hide inside the statue’s stomach. Whenever barbarian scouts arrived, the people hiding inside received a secret signal to move parts of the statue. The frightened Hsiung Nu believed the Military Governor was still alive. They didn’t dare come near the border.

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The Trưng Sisters

Throughout the centuries, Vietnamese patriotic traditions have crystallized in great figures, the most moving and most popular of whom are the Trưng Sisters.

An early Chinese conquest lasted from 111 B.C. until 40 A.D. Trưng Trắc, the daughter of a family of indigenous seigneurs (lạc hầu), raised a revolt assisted by her husband, Thi Sách, and her younger sister, Trưng Nhị. Another version from old annals says the Chinese assassination of Thi Sách sparked Trưng Trắc’s rebellion. In either case, other Lạc seigneurs joined the sisters. The Việt drove out the cruel Chinese proconsul, Tô Định, who fled. Trưng Trắc’s troops stormed sixty-five citadels. Victorious, Trưng Trắc proclaimed herself queen.

In 41, the Chinese court sent a veteran general, battle-hardened Mã Viện (Ma Yuan), against Trưng Trắc. The Trưng sisters won some battles but were defeated. Legend has it that they drowned themselves in the Hát River. In another version, they drowned themselves in Lãng Bạc Lake, which is often confused with West Lake.

The story of the Trưng sisters is engraved in Vietnamese minds and hearts and became a symbol of patriotism during Chinese domination and French rule. In modern times, all political parties and political figures of all persuasions, including collaborators, have claimed they were inspired by this tale.

What is the source of such fervent veneration and affection for the Trưng Sisters? Why do the Sisters retain such an outstanding place in the pantheon of national Vietnamese heroes?

First, time: Two thousand years of worship. The Trưng Sisters are the first historical figures to have asserted Việt cultural and national identity through arms. During the first millennium before Christ (the Bronze Age), they defended Việt values and customs that were pre-Chinese and pre-Confucian. Trưng Trắc established a historical Việt state in the Red River Delta in the heart of Southeast Asia.

Second, women: Women taking arms to avenge their husbands, women warriors—not only the two sisters but their mother and other heroic women soldiers and their female commanders. The images still provoke the imagination. Matriarchy had not yet disappeared in pre-Chinese Việt Nam. Later, leaders influenced by patriarchal Confucianism would change historical facts, but they

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could not lessen the Sisters’ influence. Hà Nội and three neighboring provinces alone have 200 temples to the Sisters and their lieutenants.

According to legend, Trưng Trắc’s troops had assembled on the banks of the Hát River before the insurrection. After the Sisters threw themselves into the river, their bodies floated downstream as far as Đồng Nhân, now on the outskirts of Hà Nội. The population erected a temple there in the Sisters’ honor, but floods ruined it. In 1819, the people moved the temple to Đồng Nhân Village, which is now Hà Nội’s Đồng Nhân Street. Each year, on the third day of the fifth lunar month, the local people organize a ceremony with great pomp to honor the Sisters.

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The West Lake Holy Palace – Phủ Tây Hồ

Phủ Tây Hồ (West Lake Palace) at the end of Đặng Thái Mai Street down the point of Tây Hồ Peninsula entertains a stream of worshippers, particularly on the first and fifteenth day of each lunar month. The name “Phủ Tây Hồ” first appeared in 1573 (some say this happened in 1598).

The story goes that, at the time, Phùng Khắc Khoan (1523–1616), a doctoral scholar and poet, was strolling with two companions along West Lake, lured there by the beauty of the scenery. They met the female owner of a roadside inn, who delighted them by reading poems she had composed. When Phùng Khắc Khoan (alias Trạnh Bùng) returned some time later, he found no trace of the woman; even her shop had disappeared.

However, the young woman had left behind a poem introducing herself. The poet understood she was no mortal woman as he had thought but, rather, a celestial being (Liễu Hạnh) whose heavenly father had allowed her to stay awhile on earth. Phùng Khắc Khoan built a temple on that spot to honor her. Princess Liễu Hạnh became part of the pantheon of the Cult of Mother Goddesses and, since the sixteenth century, has enjoyed such veneration that she has become the essence of the cult.

Other interpretations link the appearance of Phủ Tây Hồ in those superb surroundings either to a Lê Dynasty decision to venerate Princess Liễu Hạnh and elevate her to the rank of Mother of the Earth or to the efforts of some of her descendants. Either way, the area thrived for hundreds of years. However, in 1947, French occupation troops razed the entire Tây Hồ Village. Nevertheless, the local population soon rebuilt the religious complex.

The Cult of Mother Goddesses

One version of the myth of the Dragon Lord (Lạc Long Quân) who married the Fairy (Âu Cơ) says Lạc Long Quân took his fifty sons into the sea, while Âu Cơ’s fifty sons remained in the midlands of the Red River Delta and became the ancestors of the Việt. According to that version, Việt Nam began with a matriarchy that ended when women lost status, power, and authority under Confucian-inspired beliefs about male dominance.

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Vietnamese myths and legends arising from this initial world view often refer to goddesses when describing creation of the universe, including female sun and moon goddesses. Natural forces (clouds, rain, thunder, lightning) were deified and feminized because the wet-rice agricultural population held dear a notion of fertility envisioning images of human procreation by women.

Mother goddesses included Mother Âu Cơ of the Lạc Việt Nation and Mother Poh Nagar of the Champa because they symbolized the country and the nation. Other Mother goddesses were patron saints of traditional crafts, including weaving, sericulture, and carpentry. Vietnamese have also traditionally worshiped historical female figures (the Trưng Sisters from the first century, Triệu Ẩu from the third century, and Ỷ Lan from the eleventh century) in token gratitude for services they rendered to the country.

The Cult of Mother Goddesses has neither a structural doctrine nor organized clergy but is, rather, an indigenous belief bearing the primitive traits of a population engaged in agriculture. People pray for a good harvest, for success in business, for success in an exam, for marital happiness, for recovery of good health, or for a safe trip. The cult does not profess to discover eternal truths and immortality but remains grounded within the requirements of daily life; as a result, the cult’s appeal is undeniable, especially to the young, who are more concerned with the here and now.

The Philosophy of Mother Goddesses

The Cult of Mother Goddesses shares certain aspects of beliefs with other religions but views them as symptoms of Chinese domination and Vietnamese cultural loss. The cult’s spirit mediums believe theirs is the oldest and truest religion of Việt Nam and that their religion spiritualizes natural phenomena as well as those beyond and places trust in whichever beings—whether they be human, animal, or supernatural—have unusual powers or abilities.

In addition, the Cult of Mother Goddesses personalizes Heaven and Earth as omnipresent forces. For rites, practitioners use round cakes symbolizing the vault of Heaven and square cakes symbolizing Earth. Worshippers believe the universe is comprised of four palaces—Heaven, Earth, Water, and Forests—each with goddesses who are spiritual incarnations of the Mother Goddesses.

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Some speak of three original palaces, explaining that the cult began in the plains of the Red River Delta. When the cult reached the higher regions, the Fourth Palace of Mountains and Forests came into being. Others argue that the addition came with the entry of Princess Liễu Hạnh into the pantheon. For Vietnamese, the celestial status of the Mother Goddesses is so high that differentiation into which goddess might have been the fourth is irrelevant.

Four colors are associated with four goddesses and the four palaces: Red with Heaven; white with Water; yellow with Earth; and green with Mountains and Forests. These determine the color of the costumes and votive objects of each palace as well as the costumes worn by the medium whenever he or she communicates with a specific deity.

The Rituals

The Cult of Mother Goddesses is rich in ancient myths, legends, and ritual songs. Both the profane and the sacred mingle in festivals and rites through theatrical presentations that meet the spiritual needs of believers.

The cult has ông đồng and bà đồng (male and female mediums) instead of priests, missionaries, or monks. Practitioners believe these mediums are predestined to serve the cult and act as intermediaries between humans and deities. Spirit possession ceremonies are the principle rite. Specific spirits are incarnated into the mediums in a spectacular synthesis of dramatic elements (music, liturgical songs, dance, gestures, and speech). Once re-incarnated, these spirits pass judgments, cure illnesses, and grant favors to believers.

–Friends of Việt Nam Heritage

(Vietnamese Studies)

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