Vietnamese Women, vol. 1 chapter 1, part 1: 1 to 10

from: Bao Tang Phu Nu Nam Bo: The Vietnamese Women. Vestiges & Landscapes. The Cultural-Historic (Di Tich Thang Canh Lich Su Van Hoa. Phu nu Viet Nam); Nha Xuat Ban Phu Nu 1999; chapter 1: remains of goddesses, founders of professions and of famous persons' mothers (Di tich ve mau, nu than, ba to ba chua cac nganh nghe va me cac danh nhan)

1.1. Den Au Co [legend of the Mother of the Viet people]

HIEN LUONG VILLAGE - SONG THAO DISTRICT - HU THO PROVINCE

According to legend, Lady Au Co was originally the Mother of the Viet people. The story told that, after having separated from Lac Long Quan, Mother Au Co with 50 of their children remained in the forest and mountain region. She enthroned the eldest son who proclaimed himself Hung Vuong King and built the state of Van Lang.

When the state affairs were stable, having seen Hien Luong region to be a good land with beautiful scenes, she ordered to settle here, cut trees and build houses. She made the water flowed tortuously and abundantly through the chains of mountains to this region. She taught the people to make fish farm. She looked for rice breeds and taught them to cultivate rice, make kinds of cakes and weave cloth. From now on, Hien Luong region became rich and the people were happy.

After her descendants - the first Vietnamese people - had stabilized their livingg, done skillfully farming and developed other professions, she farewelled to them and went to Fairy mountain. Since then, nobody saw her again.

When she went back to Heavens, the villagers set up the temple at Hien Luong village to worship her; it was called the temple of the Country Mother. Every year, the festival at the temple was celebrated in spring, on the 7th day of the first lunar month. Her descendants come to participate crowdedly to commemorate the merit of the Mother of the Viet people (p.2).

1.2. King HUNG Temple [for the worship of the Hung kings]

HÙNG Temple

HY CUONG VILLAGE - LAM THAO DISTRICT - PHU THO PROVINCE

Here is for the worship of the Hung Kings. Holy Mother Au Co and two princesses of King Hung.

Holy Mother Au Co, the woman who gave birth to the Vietnamese people, according to legend, was a fairy. She met Lac Long Quan at Lang Suong cave (Phu Tho province). They got married and gave birth to a womb of 100 eggs in the Co Tich mountainous area (today Hung temple area). The womb was hatched into one hundred children, 50 of them followed Lac Long Quan to the sea. 50 remaining ones went to the high mountain with their mother and the eldest son was assigned to found the Van Lang Kingdom, he was King Hung (p.5).

1.3. MAU Temple

Mother temple

PHU DONG VILLAGE - GIA LAM DISTRICT - HA NOI

Place where the mother of genie Giong has been worshipped.

Legend has it that under the reign of King Hung the Sixth, our country was invaded by the An aggressors (China), the King appealed to the people to select talented commanders to defeat the enemy. When the king's envoy came to Phu Dong village, there was a three year old child who asked to see the envoy and volunteered to fight the enemy provided the royal court forge for him an iron horse, armor and whip. That child was Genie Giong. HIs mother was over 60 years old, after trying her foot on strange footmarks, she was pregnant when she went home.

Three years later, she gave birth to a baby known by the name of Giong. When he was three, he could neither sit up nor talk. He only talked when the King's messenger came to seek out the talented person to help the country fighting against the enemy. When having hat the iron horse and whip, the child had stretched the muscles of his shoulders to become a giant, mounting on the horse, handling his whip going to battle.

Wherever Genie Giong came to, the enemy was disintegrated. His whip was broken. He pulled up bamboo groves grown up by the roadside to replace his whip, and kept on fighting against the enemy troops.

The invading troops were smashed, the country had returned to peace, Genie Giong went up to the Soc Mount, took off his armor and flew back to Heaven on his iron horse. To show gratefulness towards the Genie Gion's services of fighting against the invaders, the distinguished services of his mother for giving birth to Genie Giong (p.9).

1.4 DÔNG XUNG THIÊN THÂN VUONG MÂU temple

Diêu Son temple

THI CAU WARD - DAP CAU TOWN DISTRICT - BAC NINH TOWN - HA BAC PROVINCE

Place worshipping the MOther of Benie Gióng (p.10).

1.5. PHAP VAN Pagoda [the "mother of the four Buddhas"]

DÂU Pagoda

DAU VILLAGE - TRI QUA COMMUNE (THANH KHUONG) - THUAN THANH DISTRICT - BAC NINH PROVINCE

The pagoda is related to Man Nuong Mother Buddha and the Indian Buddhist priest Kaudra. the pagoda has come into existence at the end of the second century and the beginning of the third century.

This is the pagoda where the statue of Phap Van Lady Buddha was worshipped, one of the four Magic Buddhas, telling the story of Man Nuong Mother Buddha and the Indian priest Kaudra. The origins of Buddhism in Viet Nam were connected with a magical story full of worldly as well as miraculous realities.

This is the legend of Man Nuong (a girl native of Men village), a villager of Man Xa (also known as Men village), came to Linh Quang pagoda to receive Buddhist teachings from Bonze Kaudra (at the end of the second century). One day, after performing the Buddhist rituals, the bonze inadvertently stepped over the sleeping Man Nuong, thus made her pregnant. Fourteen months later, she gave birth to a baby girl, on the same day as the Buddha's birthday (the eights day of the fourth lunar month), she then gave the baby back to the monk. The bonze brought the baby to the old banyan tree and put it at the tree's crack that he had made striking the tree's trunk with his holy wooden stick. The bonze later gave his wooden stick to Man Nuong and gave careful instructions to her in case of drought, she should stake the stick on the ground then say the prayers and the rain would come down. Man Nuong applied it and this came true.

One day, when it was raining heavily, the banyan tree fell down, and drifted to Dau village, nobody could pull it off the water. Man Nuong came and pulled it towards the river bank. The villagers were amazed, took this tree and carved it into four statues for worshipping at four different places:

-- Phap Van Buddha (Cloud Buddha), called as Lady Dau, adored at Phap Van pagoda;

-- Phap -vu Buddha (Rain Buddha), called as Lady Dau, adored at Thanh Dao pagoda;

-- Phap Loi Buddha (Thunder Buddha) was worshipped at Phi Tuong Pagoda; and

-- Phap Dien Buddha (Lightning Buddha) was worshipped at Tri Qua pagoda (Dan village).

As for the daughter of Man Nuong that the bonze had ut at the crack of the banyan tree, she cae a stone, so called as Thach Quan Buddha due to the fact that when she was taken out from the tree's crack, she became fossil and send out its splendid halo. After her death, Man Nuong was revered [adored] by the villages as Mother Buddha, the Mother of the four above Buddhas (p.12).

1.6 PHAP VU Pagoda

DÂU Pagoda - THÀNH DAO Pagoda

GIA PHUC HAMLET - NGUYEN TRAI VILLAGE - THUONG TIN DISTRICT - HA TAY PROVINCE

The pagoda is for the worship of Phap Vu Buddha (it is also called Phap Vu pagoda) after the story of Man Nuong Mother Buddha. The pagoda was rebuilt for many times, once under the reign of Le Than Tong. Lady Le Thi Ngoc Quyen (or Nguyen), a royal concubine, was responsible for its restoration (in 1636). (p.14)

1.7 BAC LE Temple [for the Forest Goddess]

TAN THANH VILLAGE - HUU LUNG DISTRICT - LANG SON PROVINCE

Bac Le temple is for the worship of Thuong Ngan lady Deity (Forest Goddess), one of the four deities that are: Heaven, Earth, Water, Forest. This was the custom of worship of the Vietnamese people (p.17).

[The four mother deities in Vietnam]

-- The Heaven Mother represents the prayer for favorable crop conditions.
-- The Earth Mother represents the wish for soil fertility.
-- The Water Mother represents the prayer for having enough water.
-- The Forest Mother contains unlimited wealth resources to distribute to mankind; this Goddess also governs and bestows blessings on died human beings (p.17).

1.8 MEN Shrine [the mausoleum and shrine for Lady Man Thien]

DA Tomb

BA VI DISTRICT - HA TAY PROVINCE

Place where exists the mausoleum and shrine to worship Lady Man Thien, the mother who gave birth to Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, the first two Queens of our country. During the spring of year 40, together with her two daughters, Lady Man Thien had brought her troops to the mouth of the Hat river (Hat Mon, Phuc Tho, Ha Tay), erected a platform to swear for the rising up in arms to chase the Eastern Han dynasty from the country.

The country gained independence for three years (40-43 AD) then the troops of the Eastern Han emperor came to invade our country again. Lady Man Thien had fought them valiantly. But they were strong and in great numbers, our troops were defeated, she had committed suicide by drowning herself in the river. Her corpse drifted down to the Nam Nguyen bank, Cam Thuong village, Ba Vi district and stayed there.

Villagers had buried her on the high mound called Ma Da (Da Tomb) in showing their gratitude towards her achievements and set up a temple to worship her in a luxuriant region called the Men shrine (Mother shrine). (p.19)

1.9 Den VAN MAU [temple for the mother of two generals]

The temple is for the worship of the mother of two generals Truong Hong, Truong Hat who were the outstanding ones under King Trieu Viet Vuong in a resistance war against the Luong dynasty's invading troops. (p.20)

1.10 TAM DAO DEITY Temple (TAY THIEN Temple or THONG Temple)

VAN MAU Temple

VAN MAU VILLAGE - QUE VO DISTRICT - BAC NINH PROVINCE

The temple is for the worship of Tam Dao Mount Goddess, the mother of Tan Vien Mount deity.

The legend has it that under the period of the Ming ruling, Luu Nhan Chu and Pham Cuong went in for cooking oil trade. On their sale trip from Thai Nguyen, they stayed overnight at the temple. They received an omen in a dream of the rising up in arms by Le Loi at Lam Son. When having woken up the next morning, both of them joined Le Loi and fought against the Ming invaders. When the struggle came to a victorious end, they asked the King to confer on the goddess the title of Lady Tru Quoc Thai. Under the Posterior-Lê dynasty, once again she turned out to be awe-inspiringly powerful in helping the Lê dynasty armed forces and was nominated as Quôc Mâu Son Thuong Dang Than (High ranking National Mother Deity). (p.22)

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