For some reason, every time I touch Hai Lang land, my heart is filled with the beautiful, picture-like sentence of Russian writer Ilya Ehrenburg about patriotism that I read when I was young: “Patriotism is initially the love of the most ordinary things: love of the tree planted in front of the house, love of the small street flowing to the riverbank, love of the sour and cool aroma of the pear in autumn or the season of steppe grass with a hint of strong alcohol... The stream flows into the river, the river flows into the Volga range, the Volga flows into the sea. Love of home, love of the village, love of the countryside becomes love of the Fatherland...”. I also realized a strange and simple thing about Hai Lang land compared to many other places in Quang Tri, which is that here the rivers are evenly distributed throughout the district; each river is sparkling with epics and red with heroic stories.
Dien Khanh village gate - Photo: D.TT
In this short article, I would like to name the villages in the old way to show the long-standing connection and harmony between the river and the countryside, the people and the mountains and rivers of the land where storks fly straight next to the vast Truong Sa archipelago, and in the harshest season, cactus flowers proudly bloom on the white sand at the foot of the sea and the horizon.
In the outer region, the Thach Han River originates from the foothills of Western Quang Tri to Hai Phuc, flows through Hai Le to Quang Tri town to the Co Thanh intersection, then connects with the Vinh Dinh River. The Vinh Dinh River from the Co Thanh intersection, Sai market passes through Hai Quy, joins the Nhung River, flows to Hai Xuan, Hai Vinh; enters the Hoi Det intersection, joins the O Lau River, flows into Tam Giang lagoon and Thuan An estuary.
The ancients believed that Vinh Dinh River had a close connection with Nhung River and Thach Han River but could not be connected because Thach Han River was straight, Nhung River was winding. In the Later Le Dynasty, the King ordered people to dig from Quy Thien (Hai Quy) to Co Thanh to create a waterway from Thuan An estuary to Thach Han. Vinh Dinh River is winding and located in the middle of the "flood center" so it is often filled up every year, at first the section from Ngo Xa market through Phuong Lang, Hoi Co to Con So.
During the reign of King Minh Mang, people dug a straight section from Ngo Xa to Phuong So; from the Hoi Yen intersection through Trung Don, Phuoc Dien to Hoi Det. The section of the river from Kim Giao-Dien Khanh is called Tan Vinh Dinh; the section through Trung Don-Phuoc Dien is called Cuu Vinh Dinh. Folklore says that the reason for the name Vinh Dinh is because the river is often filled up, so when the excavation was completed, King Minh Mang named the river Vinh Dinh with the wish that the river would be stable and eternal. The king also erected two steles in Phuong So to preserve the traces and record the efforts of Hai Lang people in digging and building the river.
In the interior, the rivers all have very rustic and beautiful names. The book Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi compiled by the National History Institute of the Nguyen Dynasty calls the O Lau River Luong Dien River; while the book Hoang Viet Nhat Thong Du Dia Chi by author Le Quang Dinh calls it Luong Phuoc River, which is the natural hydrological boundary of the two provinces of Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue (now Hue City). The name of the O Lau River reminds us of Chau O of Champa, which King Che Man took as a dowry to marry Princess Huyen Tran.
The Thac Ma River flows through My Chanh Bridge on Highway 1, originating from the western mountainous region, flowing east through Hai Lang land and then joining the O Lau River. The O Lau River also flows from the west through the Phong Dien mountainous region, crosses Highway 1 at Cau Nhi village, and enters Hai Lang land, where it meets the two rivers Thac Ma and O Giang (an extension of the Vinh Dinh River from Trieu Phong to the Hai Lang depression), joining before flowing into Tam Giang lagoon.
Dien Sanh Market - Photo: D.TT
O Lau is an epic river associated with a deeply sad song from ancient times that has been passed down to the present: A hundred years because of a failed appointment/ The banyan tree at the ferry dock, another ferry took them/ The banyan tree at the ferry dock is still lingering/ The ferry that died years ago is numb... Associated with that is the story of a scholar from the countryside on his way to Hue to take the imperial examination, he met a ferry girl on the O Lau River and the two fell in love with each other. After completing the examination, he returned to his hometown and promised to return to see her soon. But time passed quickly, and there was still no sign of the young man. After waiting wearily, the ferry girl fell ill and died. When the young man returned, the ferry girl from the past was no longer there...
Until now, if anyone has the opportunity to step down the O Lau river to the downstream, that heartbreaking story often comes back in every thought, although the plot seems like we have read it before, heard it like a breeze somewhere. Walking on O Lau, people will see banyan trees, river banks where people wash clothes, bare hands splashing the water, stirring the shadows of trees, figures, and sunlight; meet the names of villages following the river downstream with immense fields, deep cultural sediments: Luong Dien, Cau Nhi, Van Quy, An Tho, Hung Nhon, Phu Kinh...
One special thing is that since ancient times, some neighboring villages in the area of Hai Lang district have names starting with the word "ke" such as Ke Dau village in Hai Truong commune, Ke Lang in Hai Son commune, Ke Van village in Hai Tan commune (old), Ke Vinh village in Hai Hoa commune (old). Visiting Ke Dien market in Hai Tho commune (old) which is now a modern market of Dien Sanh town, memories of a difficult time come back to visitors when the market name was mentioned in the folk song "Ten eggs" which summarizes an indomitable philosophy of life of Hai Lang people, Quang Tri people: "Don't complain about your difficult fate, my friend, as long as you have skin, hair will grow and shoots will sprout".
O Lau River - Photo: NVTOAN
Hai Lang is also a land of outstanding people when all the villages are surrounded by poetic rivers that have produced many famous historical and cultural figures such as: Dang Dung, Doctor Bui Duc Tai, Nguyen Duc Hoan, Nguyen Van Hien, Nguyen Trung...; heroic martyrs such as Phan Thanh Chung, Tran Thi Tam, heroes Van Thi Xuan, Vo Thiet...; mother Tran Thi Mit in Hai Phu commune, the mother who endured sacrifices, devoted herself to the Fatherland with her husband and six sons, her daughter-in-law and her grandchild; the mother who is listed at the Vietnam Women's Museum in Hanoi as one of the ten most typical heroic Vietnamese Mothers of the country.
Talking about rivers is also talking about the longevity of a land. Hai Lang in the resistance wars to defend the country always took on the responsibility of "going first and coming last". This beloved land was once a place to fight the enemy, always at the front line, using its body as a fence, protecting a large area in the southernmost part of the province, but it was also the place to enjoy peace and tranquility in the end.
It was not until 6 p.m. on March 19, 1975 that Hai Lang district was completely liberated. It was also here that, during the renovation period, Hai Lang was taking on the great responsibility of building a dynamic economic zone, playing the role of a "locomotive" to promote the socio-economic development of Quang Tri province.
With resilience, intelligence, creativity and inner strength, Hai Lang land and people are continuing to write the heroic history of the renovation period right in their homeland...
Dan Tam
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/hai-lang-dat-cua-nhung-dong-song-su-thi-191319.htm
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