King Quang Trung and a peach blossom branch as a gift to Princess Ngoc Han.

(Baonghean)In the spring of the year Ky Dau (1789), on his swift march to annihilate the invading Qing army, upon arriving in Thang Long, with his war elephants and robes still smelling of gunpowder, King Quang Trung saw the Nhat Tan peach forest in full bloom with pink blossoms. He immediately ordered someone to select the most beautiful branch and rode a messenger horse into Phu Xuan citadel to present it to Princess Ngoc Han.

It's just an anecdote. But this anecdote is still talked about by many people because it's so beautiful!

That talented royal daughter from the North went all the way to Phu Xuan to become empress, thus becoming a wanderer. The union of "heroic man and beautiful woman" surely could not ease the longing for the spring chill in Thang Long Citadel during this time of reunion.

For the national hero Nguyen Hue, the springs of his childhood in Tay Son, Binh Dinh, may not have featured vibrant red peach blossoms. But amidst the vast expanse of Thang Long during a single march, this great man seemed to sense the profound emotional connection with his beloved wife when he chose to present her with the most wonderful gift of victory: a branch of peach blossoms!

For Ngoc Han, that peach blossom branch represents her entire homeland, her beloved roots, her origins. That branch embodies the spring of Thang Long flowing deep within Ngoc Han's consciousness. Countless works of poetry, music, and art have been written about the image of the peach blossom, a noble and elegant flower. Why is the color of peach blossoms in spring so captivating?

Amidst a remaining peach orchard on the shores of West Lake, in the Nhật Tân area, I recall a beautiful historical image I learned about: In the spring of the year Kỷ Dậu (1789), after the great battle against the Qing army and their advance into Ngọc Hồi, King Quang Trung sent someone to bring a branch of pink peach blossoms to Phú Xuân citadel as a gift to Princess Ngọc Hân. That pink peach blossom branch was planted in the very land of Nhật Tân – the former Lẫm residence.

An old man here excitedly recounted the story of the peach blossom branch that King Quang Trung gifted to Princess Ngoc Han, but the joy quickly vanished from his face. He said, "To this day, historians still consider that story a legend. But my great-grandfather told it to my grandfather, my grandfather told it to my father, and then my father told it to me. Four generations have passed, and I am now almost 70 years old. Comparing the ages of four generations to the historical milestones of the first half of the 18th century, it's quite close! I think historians sometimes forget details when recording them, and perhaps this story is one of those forgotten details."

Let's not talk about truth or falsehood here. Because that beautiful image has already deeply ingrained itself in the subconscious of many generations of Vietnamese people, even if it's just a legend. The vibrant pink of the peach blossom alone evokes an entire dreamy world of the most primal and tender love.

The ancients said: The peach blossom is a flower of heaven. The peach blossom tree in heaven has a vibrant blue color, while on earth it resembles a peach blossom but is a much pinker hue. The leaves of the peach blossom are even bluer than those of a peach blossom… The ancient poem “Peach blossoms still smile in the east wind last year” is associated with the story: An ancient scholar, on his way to the capital to take the imperial examination, met his dream girl on his way back. Their love blossomed during the peach blossom season. They made a promise to each other, but due to continuous wars, many years later the young man returned during the same peach blossom season. The scenery remained the same, but he could not find his beloved. It can be said that the purest things were often compared to peach blossoms by the ancients.

Perhaps it was for this reason that the valiant warrior from Binh Dinh, the land of martial arts, sent flowers from heaven, a type of flower found only in Thang Long (Hanoi), to Hue as a gift to the princess of the Northern royal family. During this historical period, Princess Ngoc Han was likened to the most radiant and cherished flower in the declining Le dynasty. To some, this story may only have political overtones, but it seems to be a meeting between "a heroic man and a beautiful woman," and the poem by Princess Ngoc Han dedicated to her humble hero still resonates today…

Ho Si Ta (337 Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Lieu Giai Ward, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi)