Pu Chieng Yen - legend and reality

(Baonghean) - The land of Tao Khun Tinh (Quy Hop district) has existed since ancient times, and has recorded its name in the cause of building and defending the country through the glorious historical periods of the nation's resistance against foreign invaders. In the 15th century, according to legend, this land contributed a feat to the common feat of repelling the invading Ming army, regaining freedom and independence for the country in the Lam Son uprising (1418 - 1428) led by Le Loi, that was the battle to defeat the enemy on Pu Che mountain!

The victory over the enemy at Pu Che Mountain opened a favorable path for the Lam Son insurgents to continue advancing to the South, creating the victory of Tra Lan (in today's Con Cuong District)! The victory over the enemy at Pu Che Mountain (in Chau Quang Commune, Quy Hop District) is directly related to Pu Chieng Yen - the main character in the legend "Pu Chieng Yen", which has been passed down by the Thai ethnic people in the old Khun Tinh region to this day!

Pu Chieng Yen Church. Photo: Sam Van Binh

According to the handwritten "Genealogy" of the Lo Kam family (Sam family of Yen Luom village today), 65 pages thick, written from 1980 and completed in 2000, by men of three different generations of the Sam family in Chieng Yen village: Sam Van Hoa, Sam Van Phong, Sam Van Vinh and Sam Van Binh, Pu Chieng Yen (unknown name, date of birth, date of death) is the ancestor of the Lo Kam family of Chieng Yen village; he was the one who had the merit of defeating the enemy on Pu Che mountain, and was rewarded by the king with a piece of land in Chieng Yen village today!

When Pu Chieng Yen and the Lam Son insurgents devised a plan to fight the "Xac Han" (the Ming army), many people from the whole region joined in, including the "Chet Chai" brothers from Phay village, who were very talented, brave and courageous, and were very trusted by Pu (Chet Chai, in Thai, means 7 brothers, from Phay village, Chau Quang commune, Quy Hop district).

During the process of organizing the fight against the enemy, the "Chet Chai" brothers got acquainted with a girl from Ban Don. This girl was very young and beautiful, and was captured by the Ming army to Pu Che mountain to serve and entertain them (it should be added that, according to legend and the handwritten "Genealogy" of the Sam family in Chieng Yen village as mentioned above, no one knows the name, age, year of birth, year of death of this girl, and she was from Ban Don, not from Ban Le as some people have written).

Having been humiliated, forced to serve them and seeing the cruelty of the Ming army towards her own people every day and every hour, the girl hated the "insolent Khans" very much. Therefore, when she met the "chet chai" brothers and Pu Chieng Yen, the girl agreed to be an insider. According to the plan, the people of Don village spread the news that the girl on Pu Che mountain had someone come to ask for her hand in marriage, so the family carried the rice wine up the mountain, both to perform the ritual and to celebrate with the soldiers...

That night, when the enemy officers and soldiers were full of wine and meat, they all hid in the sacks to sleep to ward off mosquitoes as usual. At that time, the girl from Ban Don used the forest vines to tie the mouths of the sacks tightly. When she was done, she ran down the mountain, using her eyes to glance at the insurgents as a signal (because at this time, there were still some guards at the foot of the mountain protecting them). Receiving the "glance" as a signal as planned, Pu Chieng Yen ordered the "chet chai" brothers, along with many other militiamen, to combine with the Lam Son insurgents, to quickly destroy the guards at the foot of the mountain, then charge up to the top of Pu Che...

In just a moment, hundreds of "insolent Khans" were completely annihilated. The insurgents set fire to the entire Pu Che mountain. The fire of victory lit up the entire Khun Tinh village, causing the Ming troops at other key points to flee in terror. The fire of victory not only burned down the entire Pu Che mountain, but it also burned down another higher mountain right next to it. To this day, no trees can cover the burn, and the people call this mountain "Pha Luom" (in Thai, "luom" means burning. "Pha Luom" means burning mountain)!...

After defeating the enemy, the village returned to peace, Pu Chieng Yen was rewarded by the king and established the present-day Chieng Yen village. At the foot of Pu Che, Pu established a new village, named Le village (not Le village as people used to call it) to remember and reward the girl who helped the insurgents defeat the enemy on Pu Che mountain! Later, the people in the area created a legend and built a temple to worship Pu Chieng Yen in Chieng Yen village.

Every year on the 20th of August (lunar calendar), the people in the area make a "ho moc" (ancestral offering) and send representatives to Chieng Yen village to offer to Pu, showing their utmost sincerity and respect to the person who had the merit of killing the enemy, building the village, and bringing peace to this vast Khun Tinh region! The girl from Don village was recognized second only to Pu Chieng Yen, and had a church built on a small hill, close to Nam Huong stream, which was the place where, in the past, the girl used her "glance" to signal the insurgents to rush up and destroy the enemy on Pu Che mountain.

Nowadays, the people call it “Nha Pom” hill (in Thai it means: Goddess Hill). Because “Nha Pom” is a girl, according to Thai custom, girls are not allowed to build a big church, only a church made of bamboo and thatch, repaired once a year for worship. Like Pu Chieng Yen, “Nha Pom” is worshiped on the 20th of August (lunar calendar) every year. The worshiping offering is just a very simple and rustic “ho moc” package, but in addition to the “ho moc” package, “Nha Pom” is also worshiped by the people with an uncastrated male pig, about 8-10kg. After the worship, a meal is organized on the spot, no one is allowed to take anything home. Normally, the worship in the past was done by the Don people, because they were their descendants, but gradually, there was a combination of two "chau dam" people, the Don people and the Le people (chau dam is the spiritual leader, the person in charge of the spiritual affairs of the village) to organize the worship of "Nha Pom"!

Over the years, with many changes of the times, until now the descendants of the "chau dam" of Le village still maintain the worship of "Nha Pom", but only within the scope of one family!

The "chet chai" brothers who were evaluated and recognized after "Nha Pom" were also worshiped by the Phay villagers in the Heo May area (the seed station area of ​​Quy Hop district now). Every year, they were also worshiped with a "ho moc" package on the 20th day of the 8th lunar month.

Thai Tam