From a beautiful story on the occasion of the Ancestor's Death Anniversary

"No matter where you go
Remember the Ancestor's Death Anniversary on the tenth of March"

Before the story of Son Tinh - Thuy Tinh during the time of the 18th Hung King, there was a very beautiful legend about the origin of the Vietnamese people, that is the legend of Au Co - Lac Long Quan.

When Lac Long Quan - a brave Dragon in the ocean, met Au Co, a beautiful Fairy in the highlands, they got married, Au Co gave birth to a sac that hatched into one hundred eggs. Each egg hatched into a child who grew up like a puff of air, all beautiful, healthy and extremely intelligent. Lac Long Quan told Au Co about the reason for the separation: "I am a dragon, you are a fairy, it is difficult to stay together for long. Now I will bring fifty children to the sea, and you will bring fifty children to the mountains, divide and rule the places, some go up the mountains, some go down to the sea, if we encounter danger, let each other know, help each other, don't forget". From here began the separation so that the Vietnamese people can have more than a hundred million people like today.

A large number of people and tourists from all over the country came to offer incense at Hung Temple on the Hung Kings' death anniversary.

50 children went to the forest, 50 children went to the sea, miraculously the Forest and the Sea became two inseparable parts of the country of Vietnam.

***

After the legend of that first migration, our nation also had the task of expanding the territory to the South, and poet Huynh Van Nghe had two immortal verses: "Since the time of carrying swords to expand the territory/Thousand years of missing Thang Long land/". Expanding the territory to the South means expanding the country to develop vertically in an S-shape. After 1975, Vietnam carried out the process of merging provinces, many provinces merged vertically, most notably the Central provinces: Binh Tri Thien (including Quang Binh - Quang Tri, Thua Thien), Quang Nam - Da Nang, Nghia Binh (including Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh), Phu Khanh (including Phu Yen and Khanh Hoa)...

Nghia Binh province, originally Quang Ngai, my hometown, merged with Binh Dinh, the hometown of many of my friends. Quy Nhon, the capital of Nghia Binh, is where my family lived for 10 years. That was a very difficult subsidy period, but my family and friends from Binh Dinh shared the hardships and lived together very affectionately. As a poet, I spent 10 years writing in Quy Nhon with many poems and 5 collections of long poems that I was very satisfied with. In 1989, when Binh Dinh and Quang Ngai provinces were separated, I returned to my hometown, bringing with me many warm and sweet memories of the 10 years my family lived in Quy Nhon.

Until today, there has been another “general merger” of provinces across the country to bring Vietnam into a new era, to rise to prosperity, to stand shoulder to shoulder with the great powers of the five continents. This merger will not take place vertically across the country, but will most likely take place horizontally. For many days now, I have been thinking about the future of our nation from this transformation, and I always think about the story of the Forest and the Sea in the time of Lac Long Quan - Au Co.

According to unofficial information, many provinces in the Central region will merge according to the model of having forests and seas, such as Quang Ngai merging.

Kon Tum, Binh Dinh merged with Gia Lai, Phu Yen merged with Dak Lak… This is a merger model for economic development, the newly opened highways will connect the forest and the sea, something that was very rare before. And I strongly believe that this is a decision of the Party that is beyond the time.

If Binh Dinh connects Gia Lai with the newly invested Highway 19, and Quang Ngai connects directly with Kon Tum by a similar highway, for the first time in history, the forest and the sea will be side by side with much shorter connection and travel time than before. At that time, we will not only develop the economy and tourism, but also create national defense advantages and protect national security in the most effective way.

Merging according to the forest-sea model like this, any merged province will have the opportunity to develop, no land will be "left behind", on the contrary, the old provinces with the advantage of large land will "rise thanks to the land". And magnificent seaports will open for the old mountainous provinces. In the past, both Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh had the same folk song: "Young jackfruit sent down, flying fish sent up" talking about the primitive level of forest-sea trade, but now it is not only young jackfruit and flying fish anymore, but will be... all kinds of things, all transported by highway. The prospect of opening up a prosperous life for all merged lands is clear.

When the economy can develop and exchange along the forest-sea route, culture, literature and art, affection and mutual concern will continue to develop and deepen along the traditional vertical route. Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh are already dear to each other, and now they are even dearer. If the Quang Ngai - Binh Dinh expressway is completed by the end of 2025, it will only take an hour and a half from Quang Ngai city to Quy Nhon city, then it will be easy for us to meet each other. Quy Nhon is not only a "City of Poetry" (Nguyen Thuy Kha), Quy Nhon is also a livable city, which is and will grow to be no less than any other city.

Emotional exchanges, both vertically and horizontally, are well developed. The death anniversary of the ancestors, now called the National Ancestor Day, is a 3-day holiday, allowing brothers and sisters from Quang Ngai - Kon Tum - Binh Dinh - Gia Lai to meet each other. How happy!

Tra River or Con River both originate from the mountains and forests and flow to the sea. Now Binh Dinh merged with Gia Lai, Quang Ngai merged with Kon Tum, both follow the flow of the rivers. That means following the flow of nature. The process of merging provinces following nature will certainly be successful. That is a very happy thing.

***

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, our people have a very beautiful legend about the origin of the Vietnamese people, that is the legend of Au Co - Lac Long Quan, from that Fairy - Dragon legend, the Vietnamese people have a beautiful and pure word - Dong Bao. And on this year's Ancestor's Commemoration Day, we are facing the opportunity to write another beautiful story about a great connection between the Forest and the Sea. I believe so and believe that this story will soon come true.

THANH THAO

Source: https://baobinhdinh.vn/viewer.aspx?macm=18&macmp=18&mabb=353878