Name: Nguyen Thi Diem Suong

Class: IS-LIT 121

WORLD LITERATURE BEFORE 1660

FINAL PRESENTATION
Topic: Vietnamese mythology PHU DONG THIEN VUONG

During the sixth Hung Vuong King, Vietnam which was called Van Lang at that time was
under the menace of the Ân, situated in the North of Vietnam’s borders.

Hung Vuong King was very worried and assembled his court to prepare a plan of defense for
the country. A mandarin of the civil service reminded the King that the original founding
King of the country, Lac Long Quan (the Dragon King of the Lac Tribes), had instructed that if
the country were ever to face danger, it should pray for his help.

The King then invoked the spirit of the founding King. Three days later, a very old man
appeared in the midst of a storm and said that he was Lac Long Quan himself. He prophesied
that in three years the Ân from the North would try to invade the country; he advised that
the King should send messengers all over the country to seek help from talented people, and
that thereafter a general sent from heaven would come to save the country.

A few years later, at the village of Phu Dong, County of Vo Ninh, Bac Ninh Province , a
woman in her sixties reported she had seen footprints of a giant in the field.

She put her foot on the huge footstep and suddenly felt that she was overcome by an
unusual feeling. Thereafter she became pregnant. Especially, she was not pregnant for nine
months and ten days which is similar to other woman but twelve months. Then, she
delivered a boy whom she named Giong. Even at the age of three, Giong was not able to
crawl, to roll over, or to say a single word.

On that day, there were Ân invaders coming into our country to rob us. Aggressors were
fierce, they burned down houses, killed people and robbed. Hung Vuong army fought many
times but could not beat them. King Hung worried to send messenger around the country to
find talented generals to help the King save the country.

Surprisingly, at the news of the messenger from the King, Giong suddenly sat up and spoke
to his mother, asking her to invite the messenger over to their home. He then instructed the
messenger to request the King to build a horse, an armor and a sword of iron for him so that
he could go and chase the invaders away.
After meeting the messenger, he grew up rapidly. His mother cooked many pots of rice for
him but it was not enough for his appetite. The whole village brought over their whole
supply of fabric and it was still not enough for his size. When the horse and sword were
eventually brought to his home, Giong stood up on his feet, stretched his shoulders, became
a hero.

Giong put his helmet on, carried his sword, jumped on the back of his horse and rode away,
as fast as a hurricane. The iron horse suddenly spit fire and brought Giong to the front line.
Finally the invader's armies were destroyed. Suddenly a sword was broke, Giong used the
bamboo trees that he pulled up from the sides of the road and wiped away the enemies.

Afterwards, he left his armor on the mountain Soc (Soc Son) and both man and horse flew
into the sky. In recognition of Giong's achievement, King Hung Vuong proclaimed him Phu
Dong Thien Vuong (The Heaven Sent King of Phu Dong Village), built a temple and now it is
still in Phu Dong village.

Legend holds that lakes in the area of mountain Soc were created from the footprints of
Giong’s horse. At the site of the forest where he burned the enemy armies is now the Chay
Village ("Chay" meaning burned).

Thanh Giong is a historical legend. Thanh Giong's character is not a real hero. It is an artistic
image imagined by the Vietnamese people, the crystallization of the tradition of both
building and defending the country from the time of Hung Kings. Vietnamese people love
their country, so when an aggressor invades, everyone wants to fight against the enemy to
save the country. But when standing up to protect the country, everyone wants to grow up
and have an extraordinary power to be able to fight off any enemies invading. And when
chasing the enemy out of the realm, people return to their daily life. Thanh Giong is a typical
image for Vietnamese people and is the first heroic image of the hero who fought to defend
the country in Vietnamese history.