On the occasion of the birth anniversary of King An Duong Vuong (the 11th of the 8th lunar month recorded in the book "Ngoc Pha Co Luc"), the Management Board of Co Loa relic site sends you the article Story of King An Duong Vuong through ancient books.

The story of King An Duong Vuong who led Au Lac army and people to organize the construction of citadel, build ramparts, fight against foreign invaders, establish the first capital of the Nation at Co Loa in the third century BC has been re-created consistent, vivid through the mind and folk legends and then transferred into ancient books in the lives of Vietnamese residents from generation to generation.

“Linh Nam chich quai” tells the story of An Duong Vuong who could not build a citadel. The king then made an offering to ask for help. On the 7th of March, suddenly, an old man from the East came to the gate of citadel and complained, "When will this citadel be built? The king was overjoyed, welcomed him into the temple, and asked, "This city has been destroyed many times, it took a lot of effort, but it failed, so what's the excuse?" The old man replied: "There will be a Thanh Giang envoy to join the king to build a successful new city." Then he said goodbye and left.

The next day, the king went to the East gate to wait, suddenly saw a golden turtle from the East, floating on the water, speaking fluently in human language, claiming to be the Thanh Giang envoy which knowing about heaven and earth, yin and yang, ghosts and spirits. The king rejoiced and said, "That's what the old man told me."

The king then used a golden chariot to bring him into the palace, asking why the city could not be built. The golden tortoise replied, "The soul in this mountain is the son of a previous king who wants to avenge the country. There is also a white chicken that has lived for a thousand years and turned into a leprechaun hidden in That Dieu mountain. There is a ghost in the mountain, that is the soul of a former musician who is buried there, next to an inn for visitors, the owner is named Ngo Khong, has a daughter and a chicken that is the residual energy of ghosts. If there are guests passing by, the ghost will transform into many forms to harm them. So many people died because of that. Now, the rooster marries the innkeeper's daughter. If you can kill the rooster and subdue the demon spirit, it will gather its dark energy and turn into a demon, turning into an owl, holding a letter, and flying up on a harp, asking God to destroy the city, I would like to bite the letter down, the king immediately picked it up, the citadel will be built.

The golden turtle told the king to pretend to be a guest at the inn, place the golden turtle on the door frame. Ngo Khong said: This inn has goblin, often killing people at night. It is not dark yet, please go quickly, do not rest. The king laughed and said: "Life and death have a destiny, the devil can't do me, it's not scary". Ben just stay. At night, the devil outside came in, shouting: "Who is here, why don't you open the door quickly?". The golden turtle shouted: "If I close the door, what do you do?" The devil then set fire to change into many shapes, used many tactics to intimidate, but in the end could not enter. When the rooster crows in the morning, the ghost spirit runs away. The golden turtle told the king to chase, reached That Dieu mountain, the ghost spirit disappeared, the king returned to the shop.

The next morning, the innkeeper sent someone to pick up the dead body of the guest for burial. Seeing that the king was still safe, he ran to worship and said: "You must be a saint, so please give me magic medicine to save people's lives." The king said: "If you kill the white chicken and sacrifice it to the ghost god, it will all disappear". Wukong obeyed the order to kill the white chicken, the daughter immediately died. The king then ordered to dig in That Dieu mountain to get musical instruments and bones, burn them to ashes and pour them into the river. In the twilight, the king and the golden tortoise went up Viet Thuong mountain to see the ghost spirit that had turned into a six-legged owl with a letter and flew up to the tree. The golden tortoise that turned into a large rat, then followed and bite the owl's leg, and the letter fell to the ground. The king quickly picked it up, the letter was half torn. Since then, the ghosts have been destroyed, and the city has been built in half a month." The king thanked him and asked, "Thanks to you, the fortress has been solid, if there is an enemy from outside, what will you use to defend it?" The golden tortoise then gave the king its hooves and said: "The peace or the danger of your country is all due to fate, but you should also be on guard; if the enemy comes, use the sacred claw as a crossbow nut to shoot at the enemy." . The king sent his servant Cao Lo to make a magic crossbow which using a turtle's claw as a nut, and named it Linh Quang kim clawed crossbow.

The Dai Viet history book is based on a popular folk legend up to the 15th century, also written similarly and with more details about the date:

Binh Ngo - third year, Dong Zhu Jun first year. In the spring, in March, suddenly a god came to the gate of citadel, pointed at the citadel and said: "When will it be done?". The king invited him into the palace to ask, and the god replied, "Just wait for the envoy to come", and then leave immediately.

Regarding a war of resistance against aggression of Trieu Da - Nam Viet, The Dai Viet history book records wrote:

October, Year of Tân Mão, winter, Qin Shi Huang in the 37th year ... Trieu Da brought troops to invade. Da was stationed at Tien Du mountain, Bac Giang province. The king took the magic crossbow to shoot, Da lost and ran. At that time, Nham Ngao sent his navy to Tieu Giang, got sick, and had to withdraw. Nham Ngao told Da that: "The Qin Dynasty is about to die, using a scheme to attack Phán can build the country". Da knew that the king had a magic crossbow and couldn't resist, so he retreated to defend Vu Ninh mountain and sent messengers to make peace. The king was happy, so he divided from Binh Giang upwards to the North under the rule of Da, and back to the South under the rule of the king. Da sent his son, Trong Thuy, to serve as a bodyguard and propose mariage to the king's daughter, My Chau. Trong Thuy coaxed My Chau to peek at the magic crossbow, then secretly broke the crossbow nut, replaced it with another one, then pretended to go to the North to visit her parents, told My Chau that: "The love of husband and wife cannot forget each other, if a war happen, North and South are separated, how can we find each other?"

My Chau said: "I have a mattress with goose feathers, wherever I go, I sprinkle goose feathers at the turn to make a sign." Trong Thuy reported to Da.

Da brought troops to fight the king. The king did not know that the crossbow nut was broken, he still played chess, laughed and said: "Isn't Da afraid of my maggic crossbow?". Da's army approached the place, the king could not shoot with a crossbow. He lost, and together with My Chau ran to the south. Trong Thuy received the goose feathers and chased. The king arrived at the beach, and there was no boat at the end of the road, so he called the golden turtle "Hurry to save me!". The golden turtle floated to the surface, scolding: "The one sitting behind is the enemy, why not kill it?". The king intends to kill My Chau. My Chau made a vow: "Loyalty for life, but deceived, please turn into pearls to curse this humiliation". In the end, the king still cut My Chau, blood splattered on the surface of the water, and the mussels swallowed it turned into pearls. The king took a 7-inch-long rhinoceros horn and went down to the sea. Trong Thuy chased to the place, saw that My Chau was dead, hugged her body and brought it to be buried in Loa Thanh, turned into jade stone. Trong Thuy misses My Chau, goes back to the place where My Chau bathed and put on makeup before, finally jumps into the well and dies. People in the future will receive pearls in the East Sea and wash them with water from that well to make them brighter.

Currently, in Co Loa relic site, many ordinations of the Le and Nguyen dynasties (from the 17th century to the early 20th century) are preserved in Co Loa commune to worship King An Duong Vuong such as: "In the past, a person was worshiped, Thuc An Duong Vuong, who was honored by the dynasties to commemorate, so it is allowed to worship like before to pay respect." At the same time, the ordinations all worshiped An Duong Vuong as a king who had many merits in building and defending the nation's country. As the decree compiled on April 20, leap year in the 1st year of Duc Long (1629), there is a passage: An Duong Vuong is "a mighty and talented man in the world, using the divine crossbow as his power, shining like a star, defending the country, and making great merits”.

The merits of King An Duong Vuong are praised on the couplets at Thuong Temple:

Đế tĩnh sơn hà, thiên sinh hùng vĩ, Âu Lạc khải phong, Côn Luân triệu địa, uy chấn viêm giao, công thùy thanh sử.

Thành quách do tồn, nhân tâm vô dị, miếu mạo nguy nga, trường lưu thiên địa.

Translation:

Well-ruled country, mighty earth, enlarged Au Lac, Con Luan good land, majesty Nam kingdom, long-lasting merit record.

Preserved rampart, unchanged heart of people, superb temple, all exist in the universe forever

MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT OF COLOA VESTIGE SITE