Through that place name, it can be seen that the Ma River basin of the Thanh culture region was the area where residents using the Mon - Khmer language lived, in the pre-Dong Son culture period.
Create fertile plains
Among the rivers that make up the Thanh Hoa cultural region and are one of the cradles of ancient Vietnamese culture - Dong Son culture, Ma River is currently recognized as the river with the most important position and role. The Ma River flowing through Vietnam is 410 km long, the upper stream belongs to Dien Bien and Son La provinces; the lower stream lies entirely in Thanh Hoa province, 242 km long.
When the river flows from Laos into Vietnam in Muong Lat district (Thanh Hoa), it receives water from several other tributary rivers, forming a river system belonging to the large Ma river basin.
From the perspective of historical and cultural sites, in order from upstream to downstream, there are two tributaries, the Luong River and the Lo River, both originating from Hua Phan Province (Laos), flowing through Quan Son and Quan Hoa districts (Thanh Hoa) and then pouring into the right bank of the Ma River through Hoi Xuan town, Quan Hoa district. The convergence of the two rivers mentioned above with the Ma River belongs to Muong Ca Da, an important cultural center of the northwestern region of Thanh Hoa. Professor, Dr. Tran Tri Doi commented: "In terms of phonetics, the names of the Luong River and the Lo River seem to bear the linguistic imprint of the Mon - Khmer people who once lived here."
Next, the tributary of the Buoi River, also known as the Soi River, consists of two branches on the left bank of the Ma River. One branch originates from Phu Cuong Commune, the other branch originates in the high mountains of Trung Hoa Commune, Tan Lac District (Hoa Binh). This river receives water from several other small tributaries, flows through the downstream area of Vinh Loc District to pour into the left bank of the Ma River.
The southern tributary is considered the most important, about 325 km long, flowing into the right bank of the Ma River at the Giang junction, now officially called the Chu River. Thanks to that, the Ma River has collected a huge amount of alluvium from the tributaries to create a Thanh Hoa plain, identified as one of the three fertile plains in terms of products as well as cultural values of the country.
Etymology of the name Ma River
In terms of place names, according to the etymological perspective of Professor Tran Tri Doi: Luong River, Lo River in the upper stream; Soi River (Buoi), Luong River (Luong), Su River (Chu) are place names bearing the linguistic imprint of the Vietnamese group belonging to the Mon - Khmer language branch. The official and unofficial names of the tributaries flowing into the Ma River are the source of ethnolinguistic data that reflect the cultural characteristics of the name of the Ma River according to each specific historical period.
From there, we have a database of historical linguistics to reasonably approach and explain the supposed official etymology of the name of the Ma River. “According to our collection, up to now there are many different explanations about the etymology of the name of the Ma River in circulation.
But it can be said that the official explanation is the explanation that the implementers themselves evaluate based on the principles of scientific etymology," said Professor Tran Tri Doi.
In a linguistic document by the group of authors Mai Ngoc Chu, when citing an illustrative example of the concept of "scientific etymology" in linguistic research, it is written: "In Central Vietnam, there is a river called the Ma River.
In folklore, people explain that it is called the Ma River because it flows fast, strong and swift like a galloping horse and the Ma River means “horse river”. The Ma River is a way of saying “trai” the real name, the Ma River. Ma in ancient Vietnamese, still preserved in the Central dialect, originally means mother”. According to the above explanation and considered “scientific etymology”, the name of the Ma River has the real name of the Ma River.
However, there is another explanation, the name of the Ma River originates from the name Nam Ma, referring to the upper part of the river used by the Thai and Lao people. The Thai people in some communes of Sop Cop district (Son La) believe that the reason for the name of the Ma River is because the upstream Nam Ma stream flows through slopes and beaches with many vegetable plants. This is considered a fairly common naming rule of the people who name the rivers and streams where they live based on ecological characteristics.
There is also another opinion from the Thai people themselves: The origin of the name Ma River is based on the upstream stream flowing through the rice field forest. The evidence of that name is Co Ma commune, Thuan Chau district (Son La) today, where the Ma River originates.
Prof. Dr. Tran Tri Doi concluded: “In the two explanations of the name of the Ma River mentioned above, there are actually issues that need to be further discussed. To clarify the related content, we first need to go back and examine the different forms of names of the Ma River that have been recorded in historical documents.”
The name of Ma River recorded in history
Nguyen Trai's "Du dia chi" in 1438 is considered the earliest historical and geographical document that records the Thanh Hoa region. In section 31, Nguyen Trai wrote: "Na, Tung and Luong lived in Thanh Hoa". Thus, in the geographical document about the names of rivers in Thanh Hoa, Nguyen Trai did not mention the name with the pronunciation of Song Ma. That allows us to say that this is an important historical milestone confirming that the name Song Ma had not yet appeared in social life.
Next is the book “Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu” printed in 1697, which records the names of important rivers in Dai Viet territory from the early period of the nation’s founding to the 17th century. In this book, the combination Ma Giang appears twice.
However, the context and geographical description do not show that the place names mentioned are names referring to the Ma River but to an administrative unit. In other words, by the end of the 17th century, the Complete Book also confirmed that the name Ma River may not have appeared in the historical records of the Thanh land.
The late Professor Ha Van Tan's annotation in the book "Du dia chi" by Nguyen Trai said: "Loi giang means Ma river" and in the Complete Book, there are a total of five times mentioning the place name Loi giang; of which four times can be determined to be used to refer to the name Ma river. The remaining time on page 245 (volume 2) is the name of an administrative unit, Loi Giang district. As recorded in the Complete Book, by the end of the 17th century, Loi giang was likely the name of Ma river.
Regarding the identification of the name Loi Giang to refer to the name of the Ma River, there is an interesting fact about the handling of toponymy. In the Complete Book, it is recorded: "Sai Tran Ninh ordered the people of Thanh Hoa to plant bamboo in the west of the citadel, from Don Son in the south, from An Ton in the north to Bao Dam gate, from Kha Lang market in Vuc Son to Loi Giang river in the west". The citadel that the Complete Book mentioned was the Ho Dynasty citadel. Thus, according to the Complete Book, the name Loi Giang is the name of the Ma River, the section flowing through Vinh Loc district.
In addition, in the Complete Book, there is another name mentioned to refer to the Ma River, which is the name No (No) Giang. This name is noted as the section of the Ma River flowing through Nguyet Vien village, Hoang Hoa district, not the general name of the entire river flowing in the entire Thanh land. Thus, when examining two historical geographical documents and historical chronicles, the records of the main rivers belonging to the Thanh land in history until the end of the 17th century, feudal historians did not use the name Ma River.
Professor Tran Tri Doi said: "Currently, we use the name Ma River to name the river flowing from the upstream to the sea, that is, the entire flow of the river.
However, in history and in community life, people naming a river has not always been done. Because, the community names the river where they reside and live based on the characteristics that identify the river section associated with their daily life, not always identifying the entire flow of the river.
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