Scientific seminar 'The life and career of Quan Thong and Quan Thu'

The conference was held to widely publicize new research, discoveries, and issues related to the background and career of Quan Thong and Quan Thu. Through this conference, delegates agreed that the Lang Van family mainly resided in Tien Phong, Cam Muon and Quang Phong (old Cam Muon), Muong Noc, Thong Thu and Dong Van in Que Phong.

Overview of the workshop. Photo: Ke Kien

In Thong Thu, the Lang family is a large family, having lived here for a long time. The Lang family and the Lo and Lo families have the same origin, in which the Lang family is the older brother and the Lo family is the younger brother. The Lang family has made many contributions to the country. Typical examples are two men, Lang Van Thong (Quan Thong) born in 1840 and Lang Van Thu (Quan Thu) born in 1845, from Kiem Diem commune, Quang Luyen canton, Que Phong district, Quy Chau prefecture, now Thong Thu commune, Que Phong district, Nghe An province; especially with their contributions to the battles to suppress the Xa bandits to protect their homeland as well as participating in the Can Vuong movement to fight the French to protect the fatherland.

In the second half of the 19th century, Western capitalist countries had almost pacified all the countries in East Asia and imposed their domination and slavery on the whole country. Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, were not exempt from that common fate. Only Siam (Thailand) was lucky to escape the colonial fate because it was located in the buffer zone between England and France. Therefore, the Thai people took advantage of that opportunity to often send troops to invade and put pressure on Laos. As a result, the Xa people flooded to the East to live and disrupted the western border of our country, causing many instabilities in economic and social life, seriously affecting political security in the area.

Comrade Tran Quoc Thanh - Director of the Department of Science and Technology spoke at the workshop. Photo: Ke Kien

According to the official history of the Nguyen Dynasty, Dai Nam Thuc Luc, the Xa bandits continuously caused trouble and looted along the western border of Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces all the way to the Northwest. This event was under the direct command of the king and the court as well as the provincial governors, showing us the seriousness of the problem. The conference first published original documents, which were the Diplomas, which clearly stated that Lang Van Thu had worked at Mo Dung base in the province, held the positions of Captain, Military Commander, and had the merit of suppressing the rebels that arose in the area. Those documents were all written documents with the red seal, so they had a very high credibility because they were confirmed by the central or local feudal authorities. These documents all clearly stated "An Tinh Governor Dao", letting us know that the person who issued the diploma was the Governor of An Tinh at that time, Dao Tan.

Also according to local documents, in 1884, the Xa bandits from Laos invaded and pillaged the villages. The Phu mandarin fled. They, along with the district chief of Thuy Que (Thuy Van and Que Phong districts), Sam Van Hao, recruited soldiers to fight the Xa bandits. The district chief, Sam Van Hao, appointed the two men as Hiep Quan and Quan Co to command the soldiers to fight the bandits. Therefore, the people called them Quan Thong and Quan Thu.

After defeating the Xa bandits, Quan Thong and Quan Thu, along with a number of other generals in the palace, organized a resistance against the French colonialists. To strengthen the struggle, the two men contacted the insurgents in the region such as Nguyen Xuan On, Cam Ba Thuoc, etc. In addition to Quan Thong and Quan Thu, the insurgents in the Thanh Nghe region also had many leaders such as Doi Dung (Truong Van Dung) in Thuong Xuan; Doi Hon (Lang Van Hon) in Dong Lac, Quy Chau; Doi Duong in Dinh village, Chau Hanh commune, Quy Chau; Doi Nhieu (aka Truong Van Nhieu) in Nghia Dan; Doi Thiem (aka Lang Van Thiem) in Quy Hop; Tuong Chan (Luong Van Chan) in Tien Nham (now Chau Phong commune, Quy Chau district). Under the command of Quan Thong and Quan Thu, the struggle against the French colonialists in the region took place strongly, causing many losses to the French colonialists.

Researcher Vi Van An speaks at the conference. Photo: Ke Kien

The French colonialists tried every way to suppress the resistance movement. With great advantages in firepower and weapons, the French army bloodily suppressed the movement. In 1900, the two men were captured by the French colonialists in Que Phong district. With his ingenuity, Mr. Lang Van Thu escaped on the way from Que Phong to the Palace. The French colonialists were very angry. That same month, they took Mr. Lang Van Thong to be executed at Nghia Binh commune (today).

In 1905, the French colonialists captured Lang Van Thu. In November of that year, they took him to the place where he had beheaded his brother, Lang Van Thong, to execute him. After Thu died, the people buried him next to his brother's grave and built a small temple there. Every year, on the first day of the 11th lunar month, they held incense burning ceremonies to worship the two men.

Lang Van Thong (Quan Thong) and Lang Van Thu (Quan Thu) were the outstanding sons of Phu Quy land in general and Que Phong in particular. They were excellent leaders, talented generals on the battlefield against the Xa invaders and the French invaders. Under their command, the Xa invaders were defeated, the villages were peaceful, and everyone lived in peace. In the anti-French movement, the two men, together with the insurgents, inflicted many heavy defeats on the French colonialists. However, due to the balance of power, the struggle led by the two men was suppressed, and the two men fell into the hands of the enemy and were executed.

Comments at the workshop. Photo: Ke Kien

With the great contributions of the two men, the revolutionary government named the new commune after them, Thong Thu. This is a great recognition of the people for the contributions and sacrifices of the two men. This is also a special thing, because in our whole country, there are few administrative units that have the honor and specialness like Thong Thu commune.

Speaking at the workshop, comrade Lo Thi Nguyet - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee said that the research on the background, life and career of the two historical figures Quan Thong and Quan Thu, in addition to clarifying their contributions to the patriotic movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, will also add scientific data for each important historical period of the country. These will be extremely valuable historical data, and important documents for localities, especially the localities where the two men were born, the localities where the two men had built, to gather forces to stand up and fight against foreign invaders, to propagate and educate generations, especially the young generation, about the contributions of their ancestors to their homeland and country.

Tran Manh Cuong