Village well, a piece of the countryside soul

(Baonghean) - Trung Hau village well in Dien Hoa commune, Dien Chau district was built by Doctor Thai Doan Nguyen in the mid-18th century, when he came here to open a hamlet and establish a village. After nearly 300 years, the well has never dried up and has always been a source of cool, fresh water for the village. Previously, the village well was used for drinking, and was used by the villagers to make wine and delicious vermicelli noodles, famous in the region. With the concept that the water source was given by the village's tutelary god, every Tet holiday, the villagers used well water to wash the worshiping objects with the hope that their ancestors would protect them and help them prosper. Over time and the devastation of war, the well wall collapsed and the well bed was filled up. However, the image of the village well, associated with the previous generations and its cultural space, is forever imprinted in the minds and memories of the elderly in Dien Hoa commune.

With the desire to preserve the relics of the village's patron saint, Mr. Nguyen Trong Bang, a retired cadre, mobilized his children, neighbors, and children living far away from home to support the restoration and embellishment of the village well. In just a short time, he raised 50 million VND, and the villagers spent nearly 100 days leveling the ground, rebuilding the yard, dredging the well, and replanting the old banyan tree. Since its completion, people not only come here to get water, but the village well is also a place where the elderly often sit, enjoy the scenery, enjoy the cool breeze, and chat with each other about crops, festivals, and even human affairs near and far. As for children, in the cool afternoons, they invite each other to play, run, jump, play tops, play marbles, fly kites around the village well... Mr. Nguyen Trong Bang confided: This water source has nourished many generations of ancestors without ever drying up, not only for the people of Trung Hau village but also for all neighboring villages and communes. My work is also a gesture to preserve the village tradition for future generations.

Trung Hau village well, Dien Hoa commune (Dien Chau).

In Dien Bich commune, while most of the drilled and dug wells of the villagers in the hamlet are contaminated with salt and yellow, the water in the Den village well is still cool and clear. No one can explain this special thing, but the villagers always believe that it is the protection and blessing of the village god. Not only does it serve water for the villagers, but most fishermen also come here to get water for both their own use and for luck for the whole trip. Ms. Vu Thi Yen, a resident, said: The well here is very clean, the water is as clear as spring water, never cloudy. People come here to get food, boats come here to get water to go to sea to eat. We live near the well, so we always protect and maintain hygiene so that people have a clean water source to use.

Or in Dien Quang commune, there is still a village well dug in 1266 by Mrs. Hong Thi Chau Nuong, wife of Chieu Minh Vuong Tran Quang Khai, when she followed her husband to Nghe An to prepare for the resistance war against the Yuan-Mongol army. Here, she recruited people to establish a hamlet, opened a large farm called Giang Lam (including the old Hanh Lam and Dao Vien communes), which is the land of Dien Quang, Dien Hanh and Dien Hoa communes today. Her first job when she came to establish a hamlet and village was to mobilize people to dig a large well, full of water to serve daily life and production. In Giang Lam, she taught people how to grow mulberry, raise silkworms, weave silk, grow cotton, weave cloth... After Princess Hong Thi Chau Nuong passed away, the villagers built a temple to commemorate her great contributions. Thanks to the water from this well, the people of Dien Quang developed the most famous vermicelli making profession in the region. The well still exists today.

According to the ancients, the village well is the source of life for the whole village, so each commune in Dien Chau has 5-7 wells, hundreds of years old. In the past, the people digging wells had to calculate very carefully, consider the geography and feng shui of the well location, pay attention to the underground water source, so most wells have an abundant source of water all year round, cool, sweet, not cloudy, not salty.

Through the ups and downs of time, along with the development of society, tap water has come to everywhere, including the countryside. But in the minds of Dien Chau people, village wells have a very profound cultural value. Therefore, in many villages, village wells are still kept clean by the people, at the same time mobilizing socialization, contributing money and labor to restore and carefully preserve them. Many village wells are often located next to banyan trees, communal houses, and pagodas, contributing to creating a cultural space with special appeal to all generations of the village. Artisan Cao Xuan Thuong in Dien Hoa commune said: Banyan trees, wells, and communal house yards are part of the village culture, and descendants, no matter how far away or how long they stay, will always remember them. So in the past, every village had a well, like Dien Hoa commune has Thung well, Chua well, Con well, Quan well, and Phu well. The village well is not only for getting water but also witnesses many memories and ups and downs of each villager, creating community cohesion from generation to generation of the people here...

Currently, the whole Dien Chau district has 85 ancient village wells. With the goal of preserving "village culture" in the integration period, preserving the traditional cultural beauty of the village, and fostering love for the homeland in the young generation, generations of Dien Chau people, especially the elderly, have mobilized hundreds of millions of dong and hundreds of working days to restore the wells, carefully monitor them so that they are always clean, and become cultural activities spots of the villages. That is why, today, in Dien Chau, the image of the ancient village well next to the banyan tree, the village communal house, and the village pagoda is still preserved intact.

Article and photos:Mai Giang

(Dien Chau Radio)