Our troop BSA 179 has Vietnamese name Lien Doan Bach Viet (100 Vietnamese children of Au-co and Lac-Long-Quan) will help to celebrate the anniversary of Hung Vuong this Sunday April 29, 2007 at Andrew Hill High School in San Jose, California. As members of a Boy Scout Troop that bears the name of our ancestor's root, we would like remind ourselves and share with others with a summary of this historical and legendary mark of Vietnam history.
Hùng Vuong was the first emperor of Văn Lang or Lac Viet (as Vietnam was known at the time). Legend tells of the dragon lord, Lac Long Quân and the mountain fairy, Âu Co who had 100 children, of whom Hùng Vuong was the eldest. The parents belonged to different environments, so they had to split up and take half of the sons to each homeland. Hùng Vuong went to live by the coast near the sea, the domain of dragons.
According to legend, he came to power in 2880 BC, ruling an area covering what is now Vietnam and part of China. He founded the Hong Bàng Dynasty, which ruled Vietnam until 258 BC. His dynasty existed in Vietnamese prehistory, but much of the lore from this time is now lost to the ages. His sons were always named after him and many stories include either him or another of his offspring. Stories tell of the heroics of eighteen different Hùng Vuongs (one explains the creation of the watermelon with the help of Hùng Vuong the tenth) but fail to account for the numerous unknown rulers of Vietnam during their two millennia of sovereignty.
The Hong Bàng Dynasty was overthrown by An Duong Vuong from the upland kingdom of Thuc, but his regime fell to the Chinese, thus beginning millennia of Chinese domination.
It is likely that the name Hùng Vuong is a combination of the two Vietnamese words Hùng, which means "brave" and Vuong, which means "king". The name Hùng Vuong might have been a title bestowed on a chieftain. The Hùng Vuong would have been the head chieftain of Văn Lang which at the time was composed of feudal communities of rice farmers (similar to the way the Holy Roman Emperor was elected to rule by fellow German princes.)
The public holiday in Vietnam to celebrate the Hung kings is on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month which this year, 2007, is 26 April.
(Source wikipedia.com)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
That story makes me proud to be Vietnamese.:]
Post a Comment