Duong Lam
is the birth place of many celebrated figures, including Ambassador Giang
Van Minh who lived in the 17th century and former Deputy Prime Minister
Phan Ke Toai. Further back in the history, the area is home to two kings,
namely Phung Hung and Ngo Quyen.
The Mong Phu village hall was built in the
heart of the village about 400 years ago.nbsp; From this, five lanes
stretch to the five hamlets. At the end of each lane, there is a watching
post. Outside each village, there is a shelter where the remains of those
villagers who do not die inside the village would be placed before being
buried. Right at the foot of a banyan tree at the gate of the village,
there is another shelter, called the Do shelter, where those fatally ill
villagers spend their final days.
There is also a well in each hamlet. Mong
Phu village now boasts a unique well called the Sui. Water from Sui well
is very clear, and this has won the well a board bearing the line "As
clear as ice". This figuratively means the soul of Mong Phu villagers are
also as clear as ice. In the East and the West of the village hall, there
are two other wells described by village elderly as the two eyes of a
dragon.
With nearly 400 households, Mong Phu is the
largest village in the commune. The main job in the village is agriculture
and the side job, sericulture. The village counts over 100 houses
described as old, roofed with tiles that resemble fish scales. The age of
the oldest house is over 400 years, and a record on the house written with
Chinese ink on a wooden board helps lead scientists to such a conclusion.
We visited a house aged over 200 years owned by Pham Van Thu and his wife
who have lived together in the house for nearly 70 years now. As we came,
the old man was reciting the Kieu poem to the enjoyment of his wife who
was preparing vegetables for their meal. Only a stone throw from Thu's
house is the oldest one owned by Nguyen Van Hung and La Thi Thao. Hung
said the house had been left to him by his ancestor who lived in the early
years of the 16th century. The house is in disrepair but the couple does
not have enough money for the repair as their source of income comes only
from a 1,500-sq.m rice field while they have to support their two
children. Hung said the basis for the determination of the age of the
house is a record made in 1649 which states that the house was built one
generation earlier.
Unfortunately, the group of old villages in
the town has fallen into disorder as a result of the poor planning work.
In one of the villages, in only a couple of years, as many as 40 new-style
multi-storey houses rose to the sky, overshadowing 30 houses aged 200-400
years old.
Learning of the situation, the Cultural
Legacy Preservation Department of Japan recently cooperated with the
Ministry of Culture and Information of Vietnam to finalize a project on
the planning for those villages. Village lanes and gates have been
refurbished and a new car park built at the village gate.
Mong Phu, Cam Thinh, Dong Sang and Doai Giap
villages, with their typical sketches and as ancient and romantic as they
are, need to be preserved for our descendants.
Story: Tran
Dinh