Content Reflects Social Issues

different in the same area of residence, so she became a hero of many ethnic groups in many regions. In the spirituality of 16 Thai and Muong regions in the Northwest, Han is worshiped like Ba Trung and Ba Trieu to the Kinh people.

In addition to the Han girl story, the legends about Le Loi and the Lam Son uprising are also quite rich. In the early stages of the uprising (1418 - 1423), Le Loi led the insurgents operating in the mountainous areas of Thanh Hoa. During this period, the insurgents encountered many difficulties. Legend has it that once " Le Loi was chased by the enemy, he ran here, crossed the steep stream. The villagers protected him by rushing out as soon as he was out of sight, pushing tree trunks and boulders down into the middle of the stream, causing the waterfall to flow down. The enemy chased to the place, saw the waterfall was so fierce, and could not get up. The pack of hunting dogs stood barking loudly. The roaring sound of the waterfall, the barking of the dogs mixed with the angry shouts of the enemy created a chaotic sound, so people named it Ma Ngao waterfall ( ma ngao means barking dog )" ( Ma Ngao waterfall story ).

It can be said that in these legends, history and the attitude of the people are clearly reproduced. The story of Con Suoi Lau and Hon Da Khao recounts that: " Once Le Loi and his left and right men sat by the stream to discuss whether to retreat or advance. At that time, the elders in the area came to offer Le Loi a jar of precious wine. In front of the army, Le Loi thanked the people for their kindness and told everyone: - This is the precious wine that the people treat the army with, I ask everyone to enjoy it, please all drain the cup to gain morale to kill the Ming invaders, and reclaim the country. The soldiers respected Le Loi, but were also surprised because there was so little wine that many people could not drink enough. Le Loi leisurely stood up and poured the jar of wine into the stream, scooping a cup himself to drink first. The whole army and the people in the village enthusiastically followed their leader and cheered loudly. From then on, the stream was named Huoi Lau (wine stream), the stone was named Khao stone (treating the army) ". In the Proclamation of Victory over the Wu , Nguyen Trai once said

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wrote: " Generals and soldiers are of one mind, father and son - the river water and the cup of wine are sweet", that sentence must have come from reality, from events recorded by the presence of the places in the above legend.

When the village is prosperous and happy, the attack of the invaders is always the most terrifying thing. Along with the stories about the heroes who contributed to the village, the stories about the war to protect the land also record the terrible crimes of the enemy through historical places full of painful imprints. The legend of Tong Khao and Khoong Ma Nao stream is a series of stories about the origin of the names of places located on the Muong Thanh field. The name Tong Khao (White Field) was given to remember the hatred with the Phe invaders. When they arrived here, " the invaders forced the children into the field and drained the water to kill them. When the water receded, the bones were exposed white in the field, the field was named Tong Khao from then on" . The place name Hong Cum, which has become legendary since the Dien Bien victory, was also born during this period. “ When the Phe bandits came to Hoong Cum (cùm are woven rattan boxes containing belongings; hoong cùm means flu ditch), they robbed and killed people. The villagers were so scared that they threw the cùm into the ditch, took only the things inside and ran back up the river. The place where the cùm were thrown was called Hoong Cum. The bandits continued to chase them to rob them, but the villagers threw away their belongings and ran away, only to escape death. The place where they threw their belongings was called Hoong Khoong (Rạnh Của ) . So a ditch had two names, the beginning of the ditch was called Hoong Khoong, the end of the ditch was called Hoong Cum (the Kinh people after 1954 wrote it as Hong Cum)” . These names have become familiar to the Thai people. By naming them like that, they remind their descendants to remember their hatred for the person who committed the crime, remind each other of the common pain to strengthen the spirit of love and attachment to the village.

The place name legends surrounding the theme of war to defend land on one hand reflect historical reality, on the other hand express deep, unyielding hatred.

On the other hand, it reflects the pride, trust and respect of the people for those who have contributed to the community. By naming the territory or place related to the event, historical figure, the folk author has made his hero immortal, their name is reminded every day along with the name of the village, the name of the mountain, the name of the river.

Besides the legends surrounding the two topics of land acquisition and land protection, there are a few legends that only aim to explain the origin of place names such as Muong Phang, Thanh Sam Mun, the story of Na Noong Chang and Pu Chang Hay... Although these stories are still associated with history, with events that took place in the Thai community and can be completely verified, their main purpose is not to reflect history but to explain place names. This shows the fact that not only in the process of migration or in the war to protect land but also in daily life, the Thai people are always conscious of affirming their mark and existence by naming villages, passes, mountains, rivers, ravines... Objects that have a direct impact on cultural and spiritual life, on production... are all named. That work gradually fills up the legends and names in folk memory.

With 18 stories focusing on three main themes, place name legends have outlined many features in the history of the Thai people. Legends about the arduous wars of land reclamation reflect the reality of migration and explain the distribution of ethnic groups in many territories. When the large migrations almost stopped to make way for the construction and protection of the Muong villages, legends about land reclamation wars were born. Legends bear the mark of history, but history in place name legends is not the main content. Whether it is a story purely explaining place names, a story about land reclamation or land reclamation wars, the affirmation of ethnic character is still what the folk author aims for.

to. The historical events that occur in the story are always the "excuse" to name the land, rivers and mountains. Through the naming system, the Thai people both affirm the pride of the ethnic community in the traditions of their ancestors and affirm the territorial sovereignty of their people. Over time, each name has become a milestone marking sovereignty and affirming the ethnic character in the constant movement of society and nature.

2.2.3. Content reflects social issues

Along with the development of society, Thai folk tales in general and Thai place-name stories in particular have moved and developed from myths, legends to fairy tales. In the collection of Thai place-name stories, fairy tales have the most abundant quantity (31 stories). The content of the stories highlights several major themes, namely the theme of the struggle to transform nature, protect and build the Muong village; the theme of love and marriage ; the theme reflecting social conflicts . The above contents are interwoven in the stories, through which we can also see part of the face of Thai society, the thoughts, feelings, viewpoints and even the customs, customary laws... of the Thai people in the fairy tale era.

The theme of fighting to transform nature, protect and build Muong villages is a major content expressed in many stories. First of all, there are stories reflecting the process of transforming and exploiting nature to serve production such as the Legend of Bu Hom, Pu Luong, Muong Quai, Nui Quay Song Cay, Ban Na Ca...

The Thai people are agricultural people, so for them drought and flood are two of the most frequent and terrifying threats. With a strong mythological atmosphere, the story of Pu Luong reflects the flood in the Dien Bien basin: " One year it rained heavily, water fell day and night without stopping, the water in the Nam Rom, Nam Nua, Nam U rivers rose and flooded the land, fields and gardens, the whole Pak Nam region was a vast sea of water ". The story of Nui Quay Song Cay reflects

drought: “ In the past, in the border area between Dong Son and Nong Cong districts (Thanh Hoa) (...) there were two towering mountains blocking both the East and West, causing drought, short days and long nights, and miserable villagers ”. Although nature is harsh, the Thai people have never surrendered. Before the flood, they knew how to dredge and straighten the river to prevent flooding, turning places with previous flows into fish ponds. “ The water flows along the cracks, foaming and turbid, and drains quickly. People still say that it is the dragon god struggling to open up the land and drain the water to save the people. Today, this area is a series of ponds and lakes, where people often raise fish. The Nam U River is also wider, and each flood season the water no longer rises as high as before”. Before the drought, they split the mountain, dug a river, and led water to the fields. The Thai people in Thanh Hoa used to “ wish to move these two mountains far away to make it easier to do business ”. They joined forces, the strength of the community in fairy tales was sanctified by the people with the strength of Phi Luong (Dragon God - Pu Luong story ) or a young man with extraordinary strength who was later honored as a mountain god (the story of Quay Mountain and Cay River ).

Besides the dangers from nature, wild animals are also a threat to people. The story of Bu Hom Mountain, The Legend of Xam Bia Field, Muong Quai... all reflect that reality. The name Muong Quai means Muong Trau, originating from the story of a fierce buffalo that appeared and destroyed crops. " Every time the rice was in season, the buffalo appeared and ate all the young rice fields. The Muong people tried every way to kill the buffalo but could not kill it because strangely, after eating all the young rice in the field, it disappeared ." Until two brave young men appeared. Their fight with the fierce buffalo helped the people protect their crops with great difficulty. " The two men tried their best to destroy the evil, ferocious buffalo with swords and crossbows. The two sides fought from morning to night, taking advantage of the darkness, the crossbowman shot an arrow that hit the buffalo's eye, the buffalo spun around a few times.

then ran away. After running a long distance, the buffalo was tired and thirsty so it stopped at a puddle to drink. At that moment, the arrow made the buffalo's eye bulge and fall down. People saw that the buffalo's eye was as big as a pound so they called it "ta can" - the Ta Can village also existed from that day. And from then on, the puddle where the buffalo drank water was called Ta Quai (Buffalo Eye Wharf - at the foot of Pha Din Pass today). But the buffalo still did not die, it continued to run. At the intersection of the road from Thuan Chau to Lai Chau and Dien Bien today, the buffalo collapsed and died. Therefore, the people called this place Muong Quai (ie Muong Trau - Tuan Giao district today). To remember the two young men who chased away the fierce buffalo, the place where the two men fought with the buffalo was called Muong Hua ( in Thai, Hua means chasing). The fight of two young men against the fierce buffalo is on one hand a reenactment of the domestication of wild animals for production, on the other hand it shows the gratitude of the community towards those who have contributed to the village. This theme is also shown in many other stories such as The Legend of Xam Bia Field, The Legend of Bu Hom … To have a prosperous life, in addition to conquering nature, in history

After nearly 1000 years of living, the Thai people still had to fight many enemies to protect their land and villages. Their enemies sometimes came from the sea to rob the wealth, silver and gold of the Thai region (the story of Hon Da Voi ), sometimes they were abstracted into the image of evil demons, cannibals and destructive to the village (the story of Tao Xang) , and sometimes they were northern enemies that the Thai people called Han invaders, Ho invaders or Phe invaders (the story of the Muong Muoi Lake , Xu Dang ...). Leading the battles were outstanding young men who were loved and worshiped by the people such as Xu Dang, Tao Xang (Xin Xay), Chuong Noi ... or symbolic images of the community such as the Mountain God, Dragon God ... Especially, in the stories reflecting the struggle to protect the village, the spirit of solidarity and community strength is always highly valued by Thai folk authors. Tao Xang and Xu Dang are both young men.

talented boys, the elite children of the village. However, to defeat the demon Nha Hang, Tao Xang had to rely on the strength of Keo Tre and Keo Thuyen. And to defeat the Han invaders, Xu Dang also had to find like-minded friends. Collective strength and solidarity were expressed very simply but deeply by the folk author in the passage about Xu Dang looking for friends. " Hearing the news that the Han invaders had come to plunder the village, Xu Dang came to tell Tao Muong Chien to ask to go and defeat the invaders. Tao saw that he was strong and agile, so he immediately accepted. Tao asked:

- How many soldiers does Dang need to follow?

- I don't need soldiers, I just need two friends who are of the same mind! - Xu Dang replied.

- Choosing friends depends on the Country - Tao replied.

Xu Dang found two friends and then went to Tao. Tao gave the three boys a swallow-tailed boat. The three boys left the dock and went up the Da River to Muong Lay. After about a dozen stone throws, Xu Dang suddenly told them to stop the boat on the shore to rest and eat. He took a bundle of steamed greens and opened it in front of his two friends. He used chopsticks to pick and remove each green before eating, but his two friends just sat and watched. He picked up the biggest greens and was about to eat them, but his two friends still sat there, dumbfounded, not stopping him. After finishing the meal, Xu Dang let the boat go downstream and told his two friends:

- Your thinking is still shallow, you can't fight the enemy yet. You two should go back and learn how to be human.

Three days later, Xu Dang met two new friends. These two seemed healthier and more agile than the previous two. When they arrived at the place the other day, Xu Dang told his two friends to stop by the boat to eat. He again took out the whole bundle of greens and sticky rice, and his two friends also ate.

took the chopsticks and followed. When Xu Dang picked up a large handful of vegetables and was about to put it in his mouth, his two friends immediately stopped him:

- Eating like that will make you choke, and it won't look good either! Xu Dang nodded and laughed heartily:

- These are the people who really know how to worry deeply and think far ahead.

Having said that, Xu Dang took out his chopsticks and held them out in front of him. Immediately, his two friends also picked up their chopsticks and followed suit. The three chopsticks touched each other and joined together to form a sturdy tripod. Xu Dang hugged his two friends and said:

Our strength will be a hundred thousand times stronger than the Chinese invaders and the Han invaders.

Armed with collective strength, Xu Dang and his two friends defeated the invaders, bringing peace to the village.

The Thai people's life is closely linked to nature, the harmony between the power of nature and the power of the community is what they care about and value. The story of the Legend of Muong Muoi Lake and the Elephant Stone tells the story of the struggle with the enemy of the sea (the army of the sea god) and the enemy of the North. They are all greedy people, wanting to rob the gold, silver, and wealth of the Thai people or wanting to prevent the power of the Thai people to keep their throne. Participating in the struggle against these enemies are not only humans but also the power of the elephant army (the story of the Elephant Stone ) and even the power of the army of "near and far mountains" (the story of the Legend of Muong Muoi Lake ). Elephants help the villagers sink the enemy's boats, the mountains help the Dragon (the mascot of Muong) hide and protect it when the Dragon is plotted to harm by sinister enemies. The power of nature and the power of man are combined in the struggle against the enemy, which is an important factor in helping to create victory.

In the stories reflecting the process of conquering nature, protecting and building the village, there is also an indispensable content, which is the

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