The story of a famous family in Western Nghe An

One time glory

During a business trip to Don Phuc commune, Con Cuong mountainous district, we were introduced by the local officials to a famous “noble family” in Tuong Duong district - the Lang Vi family. This family has had 3 generations of “Tho tri phu” officials who govern a large area of ​​mountainous forests in the West of Nghe An (including Con Cuong, Tuong Duong and Ky Son districts).

Currently, the witness of the golden age of this family is Mrs. Lu Thi Quyet (104 years old, wife of the last District Chief of Tuong Duong Lang Vi Nang) who still lives with her eldest son Lang Vi Tinh (86 years old) in a stilt house next to the headquarters of the People's Committee of Don Phuc commune.

Under the pale sunlight of an autumn afternoon, Mr. Lang Vi Tinh spoke in a low voice about the glorious past of his family: The Lang Vi family in Don Phuc originally came from the Vi family in the mountainous region of Quy Hop district. Later, the family fled the war and migrated to Don Phuc to live, and has now been there for 7 generations.

In the third generation, the third branch of the family had Mr. Lang Vi Bang (Mr. Tinh's grandfather) who had the merit of leading the army to defeat the enemy, so he was specially appointed by the Nguyen Dynasty as Tri Phu in 1895. Mr. Lang Vi Bang was the one who opened the period of three generations of Tho Tri Phu officials of the family.

During his tenure as the District Chief of Xiangyang Prefecture, Lang Wei Bang was an honest official; he organized many campaigns to reclaim wasteland, expand land for agricultural production, and establish new villages. He also taught the people here how to grow wet rice and built roads. Thanks to that, the lives of the people of Xiangyang Prefecture were better than before. He was loved and admired by the people.

The reigns of King Thanh Thai, Duy Tan, and Khai Dinh repeatedly issued royal decrees to promote ranks and positions and praise the virtues of mandarins. (The royal decrees and regulations were still carefully preserved and preserved by their descendants, so nearly a century has passed but these documents are still intact).

In the 6th year of Khai Dinh (1921), Mr. Lang Vi Bang asked to retire and was accepted by the Hue court. After Mr. Bang retired, the position of Tho Tri Phu was inherited by his cousin in the 2nd branch, Mr. Lang Vi Tai. In the 10th year of Bao Dai (1934), the position of Tho Tri Phu was taken over by Mr. Lang Vi Bang's son, Lang Vi Nang (Mr. Tinh's biological father).

During this period, Mr. Lang Vi Nang succeeded his father's career in governing the mountainous region of Western Nghe An and had many achievements. Notably, in 1941, Mr. Lang Vi Nang was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the King of the Kingdom of Million Elephants (Laos), Si Sa Vang Vong, for his contributions in demarcating the border between the two countries. Mr. Lang Vi Nang held the position of District Chief of Tuong Duong until the August Revolution of 1945.

Before and during the successful August Revolution, the Lang Vi family also made many contributions to the country when Mr. Lang Vi Tao was a pre-uprising cadre. Later, Mr. Tao held the position of Provisional Chairman of the Resistance Committee of Tuong Duong district and then transferred to hold the position of Chairman of the Resistance - Administrative Committee of Con Cuong district until 1953.

Mr. Lang Vi Tinh continued: "That's the history of the family. Before becoming a district official, my father - Mr. Lang Vi Nang studied in Hue and passed the imperial examinations. He had two wives. The first wife gave birth to two sisters and then died. My mother - Mrs. Lu Thi Quyet was the second wife, she was originally from Yen Na commune, Tuong Duong district. My parents gave birth to seven children.

After the August Revolution in 1945, my father returned to his hometown (Don Phuc commune). He worked as an advisor to the new government for a while, and went to the villages and hamlets in the highlands to do propaganda work. He passed away in 1975 at the age of 78. Some of my siblings and I worked as farmers, some joined the army, and some worked in the commune government. Although we have not been able to uphold the tradition like our ancestors, our children and grandchildren have always tried to contribute to the construction of a new life in our villages and hometowns."

At the age of over 100 years old, Mrs. Lu Thi Quyet can no longer walk, her eyes are blurred and she can no longer see clearly, but she still eats and drinks normally. She often sits and lies quietly on the bed by the window, listening to the breath of life, the singing of the stream, somewhere drifting in the wind and counting the passing of time...

Embrace the power circuit

According to the Don Phuc commune officials, the Lang Vi clan has left a strong mark in the history of the mountainous districts of Nghe An province, and in Don Phuc commune, Con Cuong district as well. In peacetime, the Lang Vi clan has also made many contributions to the socio-economic development and preservation of local cultural identity. The clan members live in solidarity, love each other and especially have a tradition of encouraging learning.

Mr. Lang Vi Duc - Chairman of the Veterans Association of Don Phuc Commune (former Chairman of the Commune People's Committee for the 2010-2015 term, the head of the clan) proudly talked about the development of the clan: The history of the Commune Party Committee recorded that during the period of resistance war and national construction, the people in the commune enthusiastically participated and donated a lot of wealth and materials to serve the resistance war such as money, gold... contributing positively to the construction of the National Treasury, a typical example was Mr. Lang Vi Nang. During the period of resistance war against the US, the descendants of the Lang Vi clan were always enthusiastic about working and building the locality; many people joined the army to protect the Fatherland.

After the country was unified, life improved day by day, the descendants of the Lang Vi family focused on their studies. From 1978 onwards, the Lang Vi family was one of the famous studious families in the commune and district. Many children finished high school, went on to college and university and achieved high academic results. Some went to work abroad. Some became engineers, doctors, teachers, military officers, police officers, etc. Many people participated in work in Party and government agencies at all levels.

Mr. Lang Vi Duc added: "The Lang Vi family now has 5 branches with more than 60 households. The households mainly reside in Don Phuc commune, Con Cuong district town. The younger generation of the family has spread throughout the country and abroad. And no matter where they go, the descendants are always proud of the family's traditional history.

Therefore, the descendants of the family always look back to their roots and then try their best to study and work well to build the country and their homeland. And in return, the elders of the family always educate the family tradition to the younger generation; promote the work of encouraging learning and talent, encourage children to compete to study well, follow the example of the previous generation who devoted themselves to the country and the people... Currently, we are planning to rebuild the family temple so that the work of educating traditions can be carried out better and better."

The Lang Vi clan is a large clan in the commune. This clan has established clan conventions early. In which, the spirit of solidarity, love and encouragement of learning are emphasized. In the construction and development process today, the Lang Vi clan has continuously contributed human and material resources, taking the lead in local movements. Hopefully, other clans will also have similar development."

Ms. Tran Thi Giang - Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Don Phuc commune (Con Cuong)