Legend of Lang Son mountains

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

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PHAM DUY TUNG

LEGEND OF LANG MOUNTAINS

MASTER OF SCIENCE THESIS

Major: VIETNAMESE LITERATURE CODE: 60 22 01 21

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTOR: DR. NGO THI THANH QUY

Thai Nguyen, 2014

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my sincere and deep gratitude to Dr. Ngo Thi Thanh Quy - the teacher who has wholeheartedly guided me during the research and completion of my thesis.

I would like to thank the Board of Directors, the Graduate School, the Faculty of Literature, the University of Education - Thai Nguyen University... the teachers who participated in teaching and guiding scientific research, imparting knowledge and creating all favorable conditions for the graduate class of Vietnamese Literature - K20 during the learning process.

I would like to sincerely thank organizations and individuals in Lang Son province, especially the Provincial Library; thank my family and friends who enthusiastically helped me in the fieldwork and document survey. That was a great source of encouragement for me in the process of choosing and writing the topic.

Finally, I would like to thank the teachers who read and pointed out the successes and limitations of this graduation thesis.

Thank you very much!

Thai Nguyen, April 2014

Thesis author

Pham Duy Tung

INDEX

INTRODUCTION 1

1. Reasons for choosing topic 1

2. History of issue 4

3. Research object and scope 10

4. Research purpose and tasks 11

5. Research methods 12

6. Contributions of the thesis. 12

7. Structure of the thesis 13

Chapter 1: THE LAND AND PEOPLE OF LANG COUNTRY WITH THE FORMATION, EXISTENCE AND PASSION OF FOLK LEGENDS 14

1.1. Land and people of Lang Son 14

1.1.1. Concept of Lang Son 14

1.1.2. Geographical features, natural conditions 17

1.1.3. Historical and cultural characteristics of ethnic groups residing in Lang Son 20

1.2. Culture and folk literature of Lang Son 24

1.2.1. Overview of Lang Son folk culture 24

1.2.2. Overview of Lang Son folk literature 26

Chapter 2: LEGENDARY CHARACTERISTICS OF LANG MOUNTAINS 30

2.1. Theoretical basis of the legend genre 30

2.1.1. Concept of legend 30

2.1.2. Classification of legends 32

2.2. Legend of Lang Son mountains 34

2.2.1. Legend of Lang Son mountains associated with natural gods 36

2.2.2. Legend of Lang Son mountains with the theme of fighting foreign invaders 41

2.2.3. Characters in the legend of Lang Son mountains 55

2.2.4. Some motifs in the legends of Lang Son mountains 57

2.2.5. Similarities in the legends of Lang Son mountains 61

2.2.6. The differences in the legends about the mountains of Lang Son 66

Chapter 3: LEGENDS OF MOUNTAINS IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL AND CULTURAL LIFE IN LANG SON 74

3.1. The existence and transmission of legends about mountains in Lang Son 74

3.1.1. Place names associated with legends about mountains in Lang Son 74

3.1.2. Beliefs and festivals related to mountain legends in Lang Son 78 3.2. Some proposals and recommendations 90

CONCLUSION 94

REFERENCES 97

INTRODUCTION

1. Reason for choosing the topic

1.1. Scientific reasons

Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country, consisting of 54 ethnic groups living together, of which the Kinh (Viet) people make up the majority (85.73%). Besides, there are other ethnic groups such as: Tay, Thai, Khmer, Muong, Nung... Therefore, our country has many different linguistic systems and ethnic cultural identities. Throughout history, the ethnic groups of Vietnam have lived together, steadfastly fought to build and defend the country, build and protect the fatherland. In that process, our country has become a cultural community that is both diverse and unified. Each ethnic group has the obligation and responsibility to preserve and promote its own identity, customs, and cultural traditions.

According to natural geography, the North is divided into 3 small territories: Northwest, Northeast and Red River Delta. The Northeast region includes the entire mountainous area from the East of the Red River to the sea, now including the provinces: Cao Bang, Bac Can, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang, Quang Ninh. The Northeast cultural region of the North includes the sub-regions: Northeast (Quang Ninh), Viet Bac, Lang region, the high border area of Vietnam - China. In which, Lang region is the place where many ethnic groups live together, the majority are Tay - Nung and some other ethnic minorities. Many scientific studies have confirmed that this is a land with many potential cultural and traditional literary values.

Researching folklore through conducting surveys and learning about legends about mountains and places that are passed down and exist in the lives of ethnic groups in Lang Son has the effect of enhancing understanding of the unique spiritual values here, while promoting trust, solidarity and cohesion among ethnic groups, thereby contributing to building an increasingly civilized and prosperous country. Lang Son is not only a land with unique and distinctive cultural values, but also a gateway for international trade, playing an important role in the development of

economic development of the country. Nowadays, the negative side of globalization also affects traditional values. Cultural values here are gradually being affected by the life of making a living. In the integration process, decadent and reactionary cultural products from abroad entering our country have negatively affected the fine customs of the Vietnamese people in general as well as the ethnic communities of Lang Son in particular. Therefore, exploiting and promoting the source of national culture and folk literature of Lang Son is a practical and timely work that contributes to preserving and promoting the identity of the Vietnamese people.

Vietnamese folklore in general and the legends of ethnic minorities in particular are the research subjects of many social scientists and humanities, including folklore science. Researching the legends of Lang region on the topic of mountains is a promising research direction. Lang region has a very important position in the Northeast region of the North, where the enemy army was defeated many times when they invaded our country. The natural terrain of the region with many mountains (steep direction, very diverse and complex terrain direction) has contributed to the formation of the strategic position of the Northeast region of Vietnam. Lang region is also one of the cradles of Tay - Nung folk culture. Over the centuries, in the process of production labor and social struggle, the Tay - Nung ethnic group in general and the Tay - Nung people in Lang Son in particular have built for themselves a treasure of traditional folk literature imbued with ethnic cultural identity, but without breaking the overall unity of Vietnamese culture. This is where a variety of folk literature genres converge, including the genre of legends.

Focusing on exploiting the cultural heritage and folk literature of ethnic minorities in mountainous areas, along with the task of researching and learning about the precious literary heritage of the Kinh (Vietnamese) people, is a practical contribution to the construction of a socialist culture in a multi-ethnic country with a unified culture in diversity .

1.2. Practical reasons

As a child of the ethnic minorities here, I am proud to be born and raised in my homeland of Lang, the borderland of the motherland. This land has entered the culture and folk literature of the nation with folk songs and folk songs passed down from ancient times.

Living and growing up in the mountainous region of the North, my familiar impression is the mountain ranges, although not high, but numerous and consecutive, hidden in the misty fog. Each village and hamlet here has mountains with very unique names such as: Thanh Lang mountain, Phja Ve mountain, Chop Chai, Cong Mau (Mau Son), Yen Ngua mountain, Phuong Hoang mountain, Ky Lan, Kai Kinh range... Each mountain and mountain name contains stories and folk legends that have been preserved and passed down by the ethnic people here for many generations. Studying, surveying, researching and analyzing folk legends, especially legends associated with mountains in the Lang region, will help us make new discoveries about the natural and social values that have been created, preserved and passed down in the ethnic communities here.

Nowadays, the research and teaching of local folklore is increasingly focused on in the process of developing programs at all levels of education. As a student of Literature Pedagogy, a future teacher, I think that researching folklore in general and the legends of Lang Son mountains in particular is a practical task.

Therefore, on the basis of continuing to inherit the achievements of researchers, we chose the topic of Legend of the mountains of Lang Son with the desire to contribute our opinions to the research work of folk literature of ethnic minorities today in the genre of legend. At the same time, as a person who has lived and been attached to the ethnic people here, I would like to contribute

part of my gratitude to my hometown Lang Son. Exploiting local folk literature resources, enriching lectures during the teaching process.

2. Problem history

2.1. Brief history of research on the legend genre

Vietnamese legends were recorded in writing by some Northern authors quite early - right from the period of Chinese domination in the books: Giao Chau Ngoai Vuc (4th century) and Nam Viet Chi (5th century). In the 14th - 15th centuries, some Vietnamese authors also began to pay attention to collecting and recording this genre such as: Do Thien, Ly Te Xuyen, Tran The Phap... with the books: Ngoai Su Ky, Viet Dien U Linh, Linh Nam Chich Quai ... Although at that time the authors did not care about the genre, they also saw that compared to other folk tales, these were historical stories with strong elements of fantasy and fantasy. Later, legends were not only recognized as a solid, complete genre of folk literature but also unified in terms of terminology. The authors: Do Binh Tri, Le Chi Que, Kieu Thu Hoach, Hoang Tien Tuu... all unanimously affirmed the existence of legends - Legend is a genre of folk literature .

Up to now, we have seen many valuable research works on legends as a genre of folk literature such as :

- Many authors (1971), National heroic tradition in Vietnamese folk narrative genre, Social Sciences Publishing House, Hanoi.

- Cao Huy Dinh (1974), Studying the process of folk literature , Social Sciences Publishing House, Hanoi.

- Do Binh Tri (1991), Vietnamese Folk Literature Volume 1, Education Publishing House, Hanoi.

- Nguyen Thi An (2000), Characteristics of research on legend genre - Doctoral thesis.

- Bui Manh Nhi (2000), Folklore research works, Education Publishing House, Hanoi.