Land and people on the Pu Loi mountain range

On rainy days, the road leading to Thai Minh village becomes difficult. However, this ancient village, home to nearly 170 Thai households, with its distinctive cultural features, still has a strange attraction. At this time, people are harvesting raw sugarcane, and all the roads are bustling with all kinds of vehicles transporting materials, along with the bustling sounds of laughter...

The road to Thai Minh ancient village, Tien Ky commune (Tan Ky). Photo: Cong Kien

The entrance gate of Thai Minh village is quite special, not because of its architecture but because of its prime location. In front is a large lake, full of lotus and water lilies in summer. Behind is an ancient banyan tree that casts a lush shade. Next are moss-covered roofs nestled under the canopy of lush green trees.

The banyan tree by the gate has been there for a long time, no one remembers the exact year, only the oldest person in the village said that he had seen it look like that since he was growing up. That means the banyan tree is hundreds of years old and has witnessed many ups and downs, changes of life here.

Mr. La Van Minh is one of the elders of Thai Minh village, almost eighty years old but still very clear-headed, remembering almost all the major events of the village. Currently, Mr. Minh is reconstructing the genealogy for the Thai families residing in Tien Ky, because he knows the last 7 generations, from which he draws the branches, helping future generations to visualize part of their ancestors' origins...

On the way to advance, General Le Loi and his soldiers won a resounding victory at the Battle of Bo Dang (present-day Quy Chau district). The next target was to capture Tra Lan citadel (now Bong Khe commune - Con Cuong), an important water and land traffic hub; both the capital and an important military base of the enemy.

Le Loi chose Tien Ky area (about 15 km from the citadel) as a strategic rear area, recruited more soldiers, practiced martial arts, and received food and provisions from the local people to besiege the enemy in the citadel.

After 2 months of siege, cutting off the enemy's supply route, by the end of 1424, the enemy troops in Tra Lan citadel fell into hunger, thirst, and disease, forcing the Ming general Cam Bang to lead 1,000 troops to surrender. After capturing Tra Lan citadel, the Lam Son insurgents continued to advance downstream, capturing a series of enemy citadels and then marching north, liberating Thang Long citadel, and eliminating the Ming's yoke of domination.

People of Tien Ky commune (Tan Ky) offer sacrifices to King Le Loi and the Lam Son army generals. Photo: Cong Kien

Since then, on the occasion of the 20th day of the 8th lunar month, the Thai people in Thai Minh still maintain the Buon Xao festival (in Thai language, it means “the 20th day”). Families make mooc cakes and bring them to Pu Pan mountain to perform the ceremony, then enjoy the festival with passionate songs and dances, boys and girls participate in the con throwing festival, the elderly sit and chat with each other over a jar of wine. The Buon Xao festival has become a traditional cultural feature imbued with the beautiful identity of the Thai people in Tien Ky.

Mr. La Van Minh turned his eyes to Pu Loi mountain range and continued the story: “On the mountain there is a very large cave, going from one day to the next is never enough. In the cave there is a stream that never runs dry, 55 years ago I went there to find water during the dry season, helping the villagers have water to grow crops”.

The story took place in 1963, right in the year of severe drought, the stream dried up, fish and crabs lay dead all over the banks, the Thai Minh fields were cracked, while the sun was still blazing, the danger of hunger and thirst was becoming more and more evident. The villagers were extremely worried, they held rain-praying ceremonies several times, losing many buffaloes and cows in sacrifice but still not a drop of water. The village elder suddenly remembered hearing the ancients say that on Pu Loi there was a large stream that never dried up, but going there would be extremely dangerous because the road was treacherous, there were many wild animals, not to mention the scary stories that had been woven from ancient times. The villagers wanted to send people to Pu Loi to explore the water source, getting there was difficult, bringing water back to the village was even more difficult than going to... heaven. So who would go?

A group of young men from Thai Minh village met and decided to go to Pu Loi together to find a water source to save the village. They included: Luong Van Hau (born 1927), La Van My (born 1925), Vi Van Phat (born 1934), La Van Minh (born 1939) and Vi Van Hieu (born 1943).

The army of 5 people climbed the steep cliff, weaved through the bushes, walked and walked, and finally reached a cave. Entering the cave, they turned on their flashlights, held their knives, lined up horizontally, and carefully probed each step. The deeper they went, the colder it got. They began to hear the sound of flowing water. When they shone their flashlights, they saw the reflection of the water. As they got closer, they saw a stream full of water. The 5 people hugged each other and cheered. Then they followed the stream again, and after a long distance, they saw the stream suddenly fall into a deep cave and disappear...

The journey lasted for 3 days, the villagers happily welcomed the "heroes" back. After hearing about the journey, the villagers discussed how to bring water from the cave to the village fields. The agreed plan was to bring a large amount of straw, old clothes, and plastic bags to cover the water flowing down into the deep cave. This task was assigned to the 5 young men mentioned above.

The “heroes” of Thai Minh village set out again, carrying the hope of the village community. A few days later, a cool stream flowed from the rocky mountain to the Thai Minh fields, the villagers cheered, the sound of gongs and flutes echoed throughout the mountains and forests. The cave with the stream was named Mo cave by the villagers.

Women of Thai Minh village, Tien Ky commune (Tan Ky) make pillows. Photo courtesy

Nowadays, Thai Minh fields are still lush all year round because they are irrigated by water from Mo cave, helping people have a prosperous life. Along with that, sugarcane, corn, acacia trees and raising livestock and poultry have given people a good source of income to build houses and buy amenities. In particular, the traditional brocade weaving craft is still maintained by Thai Minh women, both solving the problem of employment during the off-season, providing additional income, and contributing to preserving cultural identity. In 2016, the village was recognized as a Brocade Weaving Craft Village.
It is known that Tan Ky district is planning to build Thai Minh village into a community tourism destination with the highlight being the Mo cave landscape, brocade weaving and customs and practices imbued with Thai cultural identity. Hopefully this idea will soon become a reality so that friends near and far can know about Thai Minh - an ancient village next to the majestic Pu Loi range.