This is a famous ancient village in Bac Ninh, the hometown of writer Kim Lan, author of the story "The Beggar's Wife".

Yet there is a village that "breaks the fence", extremely special, different from other villages, which has appeared in the literary works and short stories of writer Kim Lan with the simple name "Village".

That is a village called Phu Luu in Dong Ngan, Tu Son city, Bac Ninh province. “That village has the most spacious information and propaganda room, with a radio tower as tall as a bamboo top, and every afternoon the loudspeaker calls out so the whole village can hear.

In this village, the tiled houses are close together, and the floors are paved like bricks. The roads in the village are paved with blue bricks and stones. When it rains or is windy, the mud does not stick to the soles of your feet when you walk from one end of the village to the other.

With a realistic and emotional pen, writer Kim Lan portrayed his village of Phu Luu in the short story "The Village" which made a special impression on readers.

On an autumn day, we visited the famous ancient village in the land of quan ho in Kinh Bac. Kinh Bac is famous for the legendary vestiges of King An Duong Vuong; or the yin and yang paintings of Ho village with the fragrant smell of paper; the sweet quan ho singing of the lien anh and lien chi in the quan ho villages...

Next to it is a unique village, on an alluvial mound of three river branches, Cau River, Thuong River, and Duong River combined.

Đây là một làng cổ nổi tiêng Bắc Ninh, là quê hương của tác giả truyện ngắn

Phu Luu ancient communal house (Dong Ngan ward, Tu Son city, Bac Ninh province) impresses with its roof and yard shaded by an ancient Bodhi tree.

Not knowing whether it is because of its favorable feng shui position, the village has become a sacred land that has produced many talented people, from military figures: Lieutenant General Chu Duy Kinh, Commander of the Capital Military Region; Minister of Finance Chu Tam Thuc; Ho Tien Nghi, General Director of the News Agency; Ho Huan Nghiem, former Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia, Deputy Minister of Trade.

Scientists such as Professor of History Pham Xuan Nam, Professor of Literature Chu Xuan Dien, Professor of Mathematics Ho Ba Thuan. In modern times, there are many talented artists such as: writers Kim Lan, Nguyen Dich Dung, Hoang Hung, translator Hoang Thuy Toan, cinematographer People's Artist Nguyen Dang Bay, musician Ho Bac, painter Thanh Chuong, painter Pham Thi Hien...

The ancient gate of Phu Luu village has been renovated many times but still retains its ancient appearance. It has a pair of parallel sentences: "Nhap huong van tuc" and "Xuat mon kien tan", which means that no matter what position you hold, when you return to the village, you must still maintain the village's customs and practices. When you leave the village, you must be dignified in your interactions with people, welcoming guests as if they were relatives.

The village road in the middle is paved with blue stone bricks, the two sides are paved with nearly 100-year-old red bricks, stretching over 3km embracing the ancient village. The village has many winding, interconnecting alleys with strange names, such as Giau alley, Gieng Cho alley, Gieng Vang alley, Vuon Dau alley, Nghe alley...

Memorial house of the late writer Kim Lan, an outstanding son of the Village

Mr. Nguyen Trong Vu, head of Phu Luu village (Dong Ngan ward, Tu Son city, Bac Ninh province) said: before the August Revolution, when other villages still lived in thatched roofs and mud walls, Phu Luu village had more than 30 2-storey tiled houses with the fragrant smell of new lime.

Perhaps, thanks to the hard work and diligence of the women in the village, women in the village do business while the men only focus on studying and passing exams, creating many famous names in the military, science and art. The wealth and prosperity also make the village famous and people come to Phu Luu village more and more during the weekly markets.

Today, the green stones paving the village roads have faded from the sun and rain, witnessing the ups and downs of time.

This land has nurtured and embraced many generations, the beloved children of the village grew up and then left. When they were old, their legs were tired, their hair was gray, their backs were hunched, they longed to return once, to freely bathe in the memories bursting forth in the village they once missed.

There are people who have returned to dust like writer Kim Lan, People's Artist Nguyen Dang Bay, screenwriter Hoang Tich Chi... they still "stroll" somewhere in the ancient village.

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