Discovering Muong Quang: Part 1: The hunter god founded the Muong

(Baonghean) -In the area of ​​Quang Phong and Cam Muon communes (Que Phong district), there used to be an ancient Muong of the Thai people called Muong Quang. Today, traces of this ancient Muong only remain in stories and mountains, caves, and rivers, but they are full of interesting things about a unique cultural region. Nghe An Newspaper would like to introduce these interesting things through the topic "Discovering Muong Quang".

It is believed that the hunter god Mo Phan and the lady Vi Xom were the first people to establish Muong Quang. Their residence was a cave called Tham Me Mon in Chieng village (Quang Phong - Que Phong) today.

Where the sky is wide and the river is long

Including Quang Phong and Cam Muon communes, Muong Quang has 25 Thai villages and 1 Khmu village, with a population of nearly ten thousand people. However, when it was first formed, Muong Quang only had 8 villages. That is the information from village elder Lang Van Ngo, residing in Mong 3 village, Cam Muon commune (Que Phong), a former cadre of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union and then Que Phong District Party Committee, who retired in 1978. This year, he is 65 years old in the party, 85 years old, but Mr. Ngo is still very clear-headed, loves to research and write. He is truly a treasure trove of documents about the Muong Quang region, which is still full of mysteries.

Ban Chieng seen from Tham Me Mon mountain cave.

On a cool morning in early autumn, sitting in the living room of a wooden house in Mong 3 village, Mr. Lang Van Ngo told us about the old Muong Quang. He started with the geographical location of the land: Muong Quang area is in the Southwest of Que Phong district, located between the valley of Pu Huong range of Tuong Duong district and Pu Kep of Chau Kim and Muong Noc communes of Que Phong district, one side borders Tri Le and Nam Nhoong communes. Surrounding Muong Quang are 27 steep limestone mountains with many beautiful caves deep in the mountains. From afar, the limestone veins look like a giant marble carpet.

Under the French colonial period, Muong Quang was called Quang Khan commune, later changed to Quang Phong commune, including 3 communes: Bang Nghe, Quang Phong and Phu Thanh. After the August Revolution, Quang Phong commune was changed to Cam Muon commune. The name Cam Muon is to remember the ancient origin of the founders of the Muong (Kham Muon - Laos). This name is also understood as a pleasant saying. The Thai people have an idiom roughly translated as beautiful smile, pleasant saying to refer to girls with beautiful appearance and good character.

Muong Quang stretches over the basin of the Quang River, which originates from the Pha Ca Tun mountain range bordering Vietnam and Laos. Along the river are quite prosperous Thai villages. Instead of growing upland rice like many other localities, the Thai people in Muong Quang have long known how to cultivate wet rice. The green rice fields evoke a peaceful atmosphere. The name Muong Quang evokes a wide sky and long rivers.

Mo Phan established Muong Quang

The story of the founding of Muong by the Thai people in Western Nghe An is mostly only in half-true, half-fictional stories. The same goes for the heroic characters who founded Muong Quang. In the stories that Mr. Lang Van Ngo has painstakingly collected over many years, there is a story about Mo Phan, a hunter god from the Khammouane region (Laos) who founded Muong Quang.

Regarding the origin, the hunter god Mo Phan is also quite special. In the past, the land of Do Chi in the western part of Nghe An today had many tigers. Tigers came to capture people without anyone being able to resist. The king of Au Lac sent Xu Thao, who had magical powers, to help eliminate the tiger problem. During the fight to eliminate the fierce tigers, Xu Thao saved a fairy and took her as his wife. King Do Chi assigned Xu Thao to be an official to manage the lands where he had defeated the fierce tigers. Later, Xu Thao's youngest daughter, Quang, was married to Tao Khun in Kham Muon (Laos) and gave birth to Mo Phan.

Mo Phan and his team of hunters came to a land rich in wildlife and products. Here, Mo Phan became rich with many deer antlers, deer antlers, rhino horns, and elephant tusks. Mr. Pho Vi Thong, the father of Vi Xom in Muong Ca Da, wanted to take over the family property, so he found a way for his daughter to marry Mo Phan. At that time, Muong Quang was not inhabited yet. Mo Phan and his wife moved to live in a cave called Tham Pha Chieng. The couple loved each other deeply. When Vi Xom became pregnant, Mo Phan was always there to take care of her. The couple lived together until they were a hundred years old and died in this mountain cave. Later, all the boys and girls in Muong Quang admired the close love between Mo Pha and Vi Xom. During Tet, boys and girls gathered here to date, hoping to find a lifelong relationship. Spring comes here always resounds with the singing of boys and girls, so it is called Tham Me Mon, meaning the place of singing, not the silkworm cave as people usually understand. Currently, this mountain cave is in Chieng village, Quang Phong commune. This was also the central village of Muong Quang in the past.

Mo Phan had three sons: Hun Quang Hoc, Hun Quang Phong and Hun Quang Thanh. Each of them formed a separate village in the mountainous area of ​​Muong Quang. However, at that time, it was not yet organized and the village did not have a leader. Later, other hunters came and conflicts arose. Some people shot each other by mistake but no one came forward to resolve it. Vi Xom discussed with her husband to gather the children and the hunters at Pha Chieng cave. Here, everyone elected Mo Phan, the most talented person, to be the leader of all the villages. Mo Phan took the name of his mother, Quang, to name the new village. The river flowing through the village was also called Quang River.

Expand the villageand the struggles

After Mo Phan passed away, it is not known whether the eldest son Hun Quang Hoc was appointed as the village chief or not, but he was involved in the events of the land. According to Mr. Lang Van Ngoi's documents, Hun Quang Hoc had two extremely beautiful daughters, one of which was On Quang Pieng, who married Tao Lo Nghe. Because of her superior physical strength, Lo Nghe was able to expand a lot of land. Lo Nghe lived in Hun Quang Hoc's house and later had an affair with his mother-in-law and was discovered. Hun Quang Hoc returned to Chieng village to live with his younger brother, Hung Quang Thanh. From then on, he established a rule that did not allow his daughter-in-law to sit at the same table with her father-in-law, and that his son-in-law would not eat with his mother-in-law. This custom is still seen in many ethnic communities in Western Nghe An.

Tao Lo Nghe returned to his hometown to welcome his younger brother, Tao Lo Pang, to live with him. Later, Mr. Lo Pang got married and reclaimed the rice fields. The people of Muong Quang believe that it was Mr. Lo Pang who taught the people to grow rice. Today, in Muong Quang, there are rice fields named Lo Pang. Later, when the Han people came to mine gold, Lo Pang also learned how to do the same and moved to Cam village, where there is a lot of alluvial gold.

Later, no one remembers which dynasty, the Han people from the North came to mine gold and silver in Muong Quang. Having their land encroached upon, the Muong Quang people under the leadership of Muong founder Lo Ngan rose up to fight. Muong Quang existed until the August Revolution succeeded, the feudal and colonial government was overthrown and the Muong organization also disintegrated.

The stories about Muong Quang by Mr. Lang Van Ngo, although half-fiction, half-truth, truly reflect a period now in the past of a land rich in cultural traditions as well as a history of fighting to build and protect the community.

(to be continued)

Huu Vi - Dao Tho