Mong Ga Mountain - the origin of many strange stories

Yen Thanhis one of the fertile plain districts of Nghe An province. Scattered over the land surface, there are also some mountains. The highest of which is Vang Tam peak, about 544 meters high. And the lowest is Tu Va peak with only 249 meters. However, in his book "Nghe An Ky", about the mountains in Yen Thanh district, Hoang Giap Bui Duong Lich only mentioned Mong Ga peak.

Rice fields in Yen Thanh district. Photo courtesy: Nguyen Book

Also in “Nghe An Ky”, the author Bui wrote: “Mong Ga Mountain, whose Chinese name is “Ke Quan” in Quy Lang Commune, Dong Thanh District, is a famous mountain in the district. In ancient times, it was called Phi Liem Mountain. To the West rises Dong Dinh Mountain, to the South rises Yen Ngua Mountain, this mountain stands in the middle, tall and lush, the ancestor of all mountains”.

To the Northwest, Mong Ga Mountain is the first source of the Giat River flowing into Thoi estuary (Quynh Luu). To the Southeast, larger and more majestic, Mong Ga Mountain gathers water to Cho So area (Dien Chau land) and then flows down to Bung River, into Lach Van and out to sea.

Regarding the strange scene of Mong Ga mountain, on its peak there is a sky pond, about a few meters wide. Next to the pond there is a cave. Bui Duong Lich also wrote in “Nghe An Ky” that: “According to legend, Pham Vien from An Bai village, Dong Thanh district (now Dien Hoang commune, Dien Chau district) came up, met a teacher, practiced and became an Immortal in that cave. Therefore, that place is called Tien Su cave”.

Duc Hoang Temple Festival (Yen Thanh). Photo: Ho Cac

Pham Vien was the son of the third-ranked Pham Chat. Mr. Chat passed the Doctorate exam in 1652, at the age of 30, became an official to the position of Left Minister of Infantry, and went on a diplomatic mission to China. He died while in office, was posthumously promoted to Minister of War and his grave is located in Hue.

There are many strange stories about the character Pham Vien. The book “Thoai thuc ky van” (Strange but humble essays) records: “Sometimes in a very short time, Pham Vien finished one hundred poems”, so his family became famous with the saying: “One zither, one crane, one pen, one inkstone, one great meritorious official, one great immortal”. Meaning that in that house there was: One zither, one crane, one pen, one inkstone, one generation of great meritorious official and one generation of immortal”.

According to genealogy and folklore, after Pham Vien became a “man of many miracles”, he made his way to the South. And the book “Brief story of the story of the immortal character” tells that Pham Vien moved his father’s grave from Hue to Yen Bai (Dien Chau) and buried him neatly in just one night. That story is told in the book “Nghe An Ky”.

Gam Temple - Pagoda, Xuan Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District. Photo: Huy Thu

From the profound and mysterious stories of a mountain region, through the ages, the Mong Ga range has influenced the wind, rain and strength.cropof Quy Lang residents as well as the entire Northwest region of Yen Thanh district, which was formerly called Dong Thanh.

Because of its high terrain and the Lao wind blowing more gently in the summer, this place is less prone to drought and flooding. Before the “water diversion” project, this area had a more regular harvest compared to other places in the country. Therefore, the reputation of this land has long been prominent in the folk songs of residents in places that suffered from severe drought and flooding such as Nam Dan and Hung Nguyen (when those places did not have nong giang):

“Dong Thanh is mother, is father,
"If you are hungry and have ragged clothes, go to Dong Thanh."

In ancient times, the royal court also thought that it should choose Dong Thanh as a place where residents rarely faced famine and set up a governing agency, so in ancient and medieval times, Quy Lang - Yen Ma land was the seat of Dien Chau prefecture. In the 18th year of Minh Mang (1837), the Nguyen dynasty took a part of land from Dong Thanh prefecture and named it Yen Thanh district. However, since then, the name of this new district still carries the soul of the place name "Dong Thanh"./.

A corner of Yen Thanh town today. Photo: Nguyen Book