Muddy Vinh Giang River

(Baonghean) - My child suddenly asked the other day: 'Does our Vinh city have any rivers, Dad? I mean, other than Lam River?'.

Actually, I was not surprised by her question, but suddenly surprised because my daughter and probably many other children born on this land do not know about the existence of the Vinh River. Even though it contains so many sediments over the long years.

As an atonement to my little daughter, on a weekend afternoon, my father and I, wearing hats and shirts, went for a tour of the river south of Vinh city. While standing on Cua Tien bridge looking down at the red river, my little girl suddenly asked: “Is Vinh river still important now, dad?”. I answered that this river is still important, but I am not really sure about what I told my daughter.

Vinh River flowing through Cua Tien Bridge. Photo: Dao Tuan

In the past, Vinh River was called by many different names such as: New River, Con Moc Islet, and Cua Tien. However, according to some documents that I read before, the "taboo" name of Vinh River is actually Vinh Giang. This name is associated with the ancient land of Ke Vinh. Accordingly, at the end of the 19th century, when the French came to this urban area, they built a consulate in the West outside Nghe An citadel in Yen Vinh village, close to Vinh market (in Nghe An, it is also called "Vinh" market). Also because the French could not pronounce (read) words with tones, gradually, Vinh market was called "Vinh", and in all administrative documents at that time, the word "Vinh" was used when talking about this small town. Because of that, Vinh Giang, from a Sino-Vietnamese name, was Vietnameseized into Vinh River.

The name Cua Tien is because the river flows through the front gate area of ​​Nghe An citadel (the citadel also has a left gate and a right gate).

Speaking of historical sediments, Vinh River is part of the Le Dynasty Canal, more than 500km long, connecting Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh provinces, built and built since the Tien Le Dynasty in the late 10th century. In particular, Vinh River connects from Cam River, through Gai River to the communes and wards: Hung Thinh, Cua Nam, Vinh Tan, Trung Do before passing through Ben Thuy and flowing into Lam River. There is another source of Vinh River originating from Nam Dan district, when flowing to the junction of three rivers in Hung Nguyen district, it merges to form the final section of Le Dynasty Canal in Nghe An.

Fishing on Vinh River. Photo: Dao Tuan

Although it is not a long and wide river with endless banks, in the past, Vinh - Cua Tien River was considered the busiest market place in Nghe An. In the southern part of the city, with the presence of Vinh market, this is the place where boats and merchants from all over flock to. On market days, agricultural products and food come by boat from Duc Tho, Huong Son, Vu Quang, Nghi Xuan communes (Ha Tinh); wood, bamboo, pigs, chickens... from people from the upstream of Nghe An also row down Lam River through Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen.

Not only has it sheltered countless lives and people over the years, for generations, the Vinh Giang River has also shouldered the responsibility of "rescuing" Vinh City during the rainy season, when it floods. The city has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to gradually complete the works and drainage systems, especially in the context of increasing urban pressure, but the Vinh River is still "responsible" for handling up to 2/3 of the water that accumulates during the flood season.

But the once beautiful Vinh Giang River is now very different from what we see now. It is true that due to time, urban development, the "blooming" of all aspects of life... the Cua Tien River is no longer the dreamy blue water, but why do we still feel regretful and desolate? People have lamented about the Vinh River: "The river is dying", "the river is suffocating", "the environmental pollution warning of the Vinh River"...

I don’t often go to Cua Tien so I don’t know what the residents along the river have had to endure. However, the desire for a beautiful, cool river is real. More than 10 years ago, the Vinh city government developed a project to renovate the Vinh River. Accordingly, along with finding the “memory” of the river, Vinh Giang will become a destination on the city’s tourism map. That there will be cruise ships going from Vinh Giang, down to Ben Thuy to Lam River, through the mangrove forests in Hung Hoa and stopping at Cua Hoi, Cua Lo…

That idea, if it could be done, would be wonderful, but that is still a story of the future. What my father and I are seeing right now is still the chaos of our current lives.

Mrs. Tran Thi Mui introduces her family's boat. Photo: Dao Tuan

When she saw us walking on the newly opened dual carriageway through block 6B, Cua Nam ward, the old lady hobbled up from the riverbank and looked. We approached to talk. Then she invited us to her “house” to play. It was a boat made of reinforced concrete. It was the first time my child had heard about a boat not made of wood or iron, so she kept asking questions. The landlady just smiled.

She said her name is Tran Thi Mui, 67 years old. Her family's roots are in Van Giang commune, Vu Quang district (Ha Tinh). Her husband died when she was only 33 years old, so there was no one to do the river trade in her hometown. Mui rowed with her 5 children to Vinh river and has lived here for more than 15 years. "The father, grandfather, husband, wife, children, grandchildren are all on the river" - the old lady squinted her cloudy eyes and told us. She also said that when she first came to Vinh by boat, her family worked as sand carriers at Cua Tien wharf. Then the city closed the sand and bamboo wharfs, and she and her children switched to fishing like in the old days.

Now on the old concrete boat, there are only her and her daughter and two grandchildren. The other children, some left the boat, some went ashore to find work, hoping to change their lives. The girl who is living with Mrs. Mui on the swaying boat is Hoang Thi Thang, 35 years old this year. She also lost her husband 2 years ago in a traffic accident. "His husband's family is in Hung Loi (Hung Nguyen - PV), their roots are also in grouper fishing on the boat, her father also died early, there is no land, the mother is now living with her youngest child. It's a very pitiful situation" - Mrs. Mui explained why Mrs. Thang did not bring her children to live with her husband but instead lived with her on the cramped boat.

While we sat chatting on the bow of the boat, Thang was still lying still in the cabin, only occasionally wiping her eyes with her hand. Mrs. Mui also said that her daughter had a herniated disc and spinal spurs, so she had been unable to get up for the past month, and that was why no one was doing the work. Thang's two children, the eldest of whom is 15 years old, had dropped out of school to help the family. "Mam" - the old lady called her grandson like that later and sighed: "He went ashore to wash dishes for hire, serve for others, I alone cannot make crab and grouper, so I go to Vinh market every day to buy at the beginning of the East and sell at the end of the West. Call it throwing tangerines to get through the day, uncle!".

We left the boat as the late afternoon winds suddenly whipped up the river. It was drizzling. I didn’t know what to say to my daughter and felt her grip my hand tightly. Yes, the Vinh River! The water is muddy at this time of year but someday it will be clear.

Dao Tuan