The first work on genealogy in our country was the book Genealogy Research and Practice by Mr. Da Lan Nguyen Duc Du (1919-2001), published in 1972. Besides, there was also a Vietnamese Genealogy Research Program under the Hanoi National University and the French Institute of the Far East, the University of Paris, and Alberta (Canada) after 1975.
Villagers write history
In the structure of the relationship between the clan and the village, I suddenly remembered an elaborate compilation, considered as "lu su". It was a village history book compiled by only 4 people who considered themselves amateurs, over many years.
“Writing the history of a village requires a lifetime” - they quoted the famous saying of the late writer Nguyen Van Xuan to reconstruct the history of Quang Lang village, which is 350 years old. The four people were Vo Dat, Dang Huu Ly, Vo Nhu Tong, Dang Huu Duyen in Dien Nam Trung commune, Dien Ban town from nearly 15 years ago.
In fact, before this work, we had read the authors Phan Khoang and Li Tana about the process of establishing villages in the north of Quang Nam. Accordingly, between the two historical periods that O Chau Can Luc (Duong Van An) and Phu Bien Tap Luc (Le Quy Don) told us, in addition to 66 village names, in Dien Ban there were also 7 residential units called Giap and two camps.
Before 1776, Quang Lang did not have a village. Le Quy Don first clearly recorded in Phu Bien Tap Luc that Quang Lang was a village along with Co Luu, An Luu... belonging to Le Duong district, Thang Hoa prefecture.
In the 221 years from 1555 to 1776, when Quang Lang village was formed is a story that "village historians" had to look into the genealogy and the document "Quang Nam Xa Chi" in 1944 to verify.
Here the relationship between clan and village emerges.
Clues from their family tree
The Vo family genealogy kept by Mr. Vo Uy and documents recorded in Quang Nam communal records show: "Our ancestor, whose name is Vo Nhu Oanh, was a former villager who founded the village during the reign of Hieu Nghia De, also known as Lord Nguyen Phuc Tran, in the year 1667 according to the solar calendar."
At the same time, the Dang Huu family genealogy also pointed out: "The predecessor Dang Huu Chieu, alias Quang Minh, was from Thanh Hoa, Nong Cong district, went to the South to establish a career during the reign of Lord Nguyen Phuc Tan, established the Quang Lang military camp in 1665...".
Both documents, based on the genealogies of the two predecessor clans, trace the origin of Quang Lang village. Then came other brother clans in the total of the first 16 clans to exploit the new land and settle down. Thus, the genealogy of the village began to show its origin from the genealogies of the predecessor clans, which is a reliable clue for each locality.
The genealogy of Quang Lang village continues to expand into the horizons of geography, historical periods, transportation, climate, population and economy, including folk literature. In short, Quang Lang originated from the terrain characteristics of a village with many large mounds. It was here that the songs of a time of poverty were born, such as: Enough to eat and spend thanks to potatoes and tubers/ All year round, debt free thanks to tubers and potatoes.
However, from the genealogy of the ancestors to the establishment of the "commune name" is a step that is not easy to find, if there is a lack of reliable data. Because from the document "Northern land memorial" leading to the establishment of commune names such as Nhat Giap to Luc Giap next to the place name Quang Lang, there are still many historical factors that need further investigation, but anyway, the above conclusion is also a truly valuable research step!
"Memories of Homeland"
In the 1980s, when I visited the northern Dien Ban area, I met Mr. Ha Thao - a man who was deeply concerned about his hometown Ngu Giap. From the research of Dr. Ha Phung - "When did the Ha family enter Quang Nam?", Phong Ngu village (now Dien Thang Nam commune) published the book "Hometown Memories" with the main material from the "village genealogy" of Dr. Ha Phung.
Accordingly, from the 4 copies of the Northern Plain Proclamation that Mr. Phung collected, compared and explained, it shows that today's Ngu Giap village is Phong Nien commune, meaning a year of good harvest. Mr. Phung continued to research the genealogies of the Ha Duc and Vo clans in Ngu Giap village and compared them with many genealogies of the clans in the region that had marriage relationships.
In the Bac Dia memorials from the time Bui Ta Han entered Quang Nam in 1545, it was determined that Phong Nien village was established as a commune in the period from 1555 to 1560 - the time Bui Ta Han was the governor of Quang Nam, before Nguyen Hoang came to govern in 1570.
The "Phong Nien village genealogy" later changed to Ngu Giap in Ha Phung's research and was supported by many people. Later, they continued to record the change of village name.
Mr. Phung's feat was also in finding changes in the area of Ngu Giap village, based on land records from the Gia Long period and later, including details about land, surroundings, and waterways during the Gia Long and Minh Mang periods. The place name Ngu Giap existed from the beginning of the 20th century to 1945, which was also proven by the author from documents on rice and land sales, the name of the primary school during the French colonial period, and folk songs.
Ngu Giap, Giap Nam or Phong Ngu is the name of a village that has changed over time. The genealogy of Ngu Giap village after Mr. Ha Phung's research also has the following steps of Mr. Ha Sau, Ha Cung, Vo Xuan Que... Thanks to that, they continue to preserve the traces of clans, village temples, the history of scholars, sacred relics, ancient temples and folk literature heritages.
The “village genealogies” are the work of many successive generations. In which, there is the cooperation and encouragement from the clans of each locality. The village genealogy contains elements of history, ethnology, psychology, education, culture, demography, including marriage relations in a locality. The genealogy of each village helps people perceive and approach the development trends of each locality, so that they can then turn back to foster love for their homeland and country.
If every Vietnamese village had a genealogy as mentioned, it would give us invaluable historical evidence!
Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/pha-he-lang-chuyen-cua-doi-nguoi-3146905.html
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