Lang Suong - the legend of the sacred land where saints were born

If I had not been introduced by the head of the Lang Suong Temple (Trung Nghia Commune, Thanh Thuy, old Phu Tho Province), now Tu Vu Commune, and especially if I had not seen with my own eyes and touched with my own hands the sacred artifacts in the legend, I would not have believed that this temple was the birthplace of Saint Tan Vien, considered the "Supreme Spirit" god, the leader of the "Four Immortals" in the Vietnamese folk belief in god worship...

Lang Suong Temple in Tu Vu commune carries the legend of the sacred land where Tan Vien Son Thanh was born.

Holy Birthplace

Following the instructions, we walked along the Da River to find the land of Lang Suong. The road was easy to travel, so we arrived at the temple quite early. Surprisingly and fortunately, when we arrived, the first person we met was Mr. Giang Dinh Quy - the head of the Lang Suong temple. Lucky because this is the "living history" of this land. Letting the guests freely visit around, Mr. Quy said: Our Lang Suong village is proud to be the homeland of the Mother of the Nation Au Co. This is also the birthplace of Tan Vien Son Thanh (Son Tinh), the leader of the "four immortals" in the folk belief of worshipping gods of the Vietnamese people. He was also the talented son-in-law of the 18th Hung King.

Since 2005, Lang Suong Temple has been ranked as a national historical relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Flipping through the time-stained genealogy book, Mr. Giang Dinh Quy slowly told: Lang Suong Cave in the past was not only the birthplace of Tan Vien Son Thanh, but also the birthplace of the National Mother Au Co. Legend has it that this is where Lac Long Quan met Au Co, became husband and wife, and gave birth to a sac containing a hundred eggs and a hundred children. According to him, Lang Suong Temple also worships Princess Ngoc Hoa, worships two generals Cao Son and Quy Minh; worships the father, the parents who gave birth to Duc Thanh Tan, and the foster mother - the person who raised Duc Thanh Tan. The Mother worship here has blended with the Mother worship of the Vietnamese people such as Mother Au Co, Mother Earth, Mother Water... to create a spiritual cultural identity. Every year, Lang Suong Temple opens festivals twice: on the 25th of the 10th lunar month (the anniversary of the Mother who gave birth to Thanh Tan) and on the 15th of the first lunar month, the day Duc Thanh was born.

The temple is a place to worship Princess Ngoc Hoa, worship two generals of Duc Thanh Tan, Cao Son and Quy Minh; worship the father, the parents - the ones who gave birth to Duc Thanh Tan and the foster mother - the ones who raised Duc Thanh Tan.

Lang Suong Temple Festival has long been a famous festival of the Tan Mountain and Da River region. In addition to the sacred ceremony, the festival is organized with many folk games close to the lives of the people such as throwing con, cockfighting, rice cooking competitions... With its special meaning and value, on July 12, 2005, Lang Suong Temple was ranked as a National Historical Relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information. Since then, the temple has been restored and embellished on a large scale. The main temple consists of 3 main worship rooms and 3 rear sanctuary rooms. In the main worship room, there is an altar to worship the statues of Cao Son and Quy Minh, the generals who helped Tan Vien defeat the enemy. The rear sanctuary is decorated with a throne to worship the Holy Mother Dinh Thi Den (Tan Vien's mother) and to worship Duc Thanh Tan. In the rear sanctuary, there is also worship of the father of Thanh Tan Vien, Mr. Nguyen Cao Hanh, his foster mother Ma Thi Cao Son and Princess Ngoc Hoa (Duc Thanh Tan Vien's wife)...

Spiritual support by Tan mountain, Da river

When coming to Lang Suong Temple, for us, the most interesting thing was to sit and listen to the legend of the birth of Duc Thanh. Listening to the story, we felt that this legend was real. So real that no one thought that it was an ancient legend tinged with fantasy. Because besides the stories and legends, at Lang Suong Temple, there is still the "Quỳ rock" with imprints of the footprints, hands and knees of the Holy Mother when she gave birth to Duc Thanh Tan Vien.

The story of the Holy Mother giving birth to the Holy One is tinged with fantasy and is still remembered by the people.

At Lang Suong Temple, there is still the "Kneeling Stone" that marks the time when the Holy Mother gave birth to Duc Thanh Tan.

According to Mr. Giang Dinh Quy, the story of the Holy Mother giving birth in excruciating pain, kneeling and supporting herself with her hands is still imprinted on the stone slab. Everyone believes that it is a legend because hundreds, thousands of years ago, no one had seen what the stone looked like, and people only knew that it was recorded in the Jade Genealogy of the Temple. However, a miracle happened in 2003 when participating in the tree planting festival at Lang Suong Temple, people dug up a stone. On the surface of the stone, there was a knee-shaped indentation, 5 finger prints and a foot print imprinted on the stone slab just like the description in the Jade Genealogy. Moreover, in addition to the stone slab, Lang Suong Temple still has relics in the legend of the birth of the Saint, such as the stone that pressed the Saint's belly, and the Saint's bathing basin, a square green stone basin. Legend has it that this was the basin that the Mother used to hold water to bathe the Saint when he was just born; There is still the Thien Thanh well where Mother used to bathe when Duc Thanh was born in those distant days...

Thien Thanh Well and legendary artifacts such as the stone used to hold the mother's belly and the bath used by the Holy Mother after giving birth are still vividly present.

All of these artifacts, through the ups and downs of history, still exist vividly today. These artifacts seem to confirm that this is truly the birthplace of the Saint... Not only having historical and cultural value and significance, Lang Suong Temple is also a temple with unique architecture on a vast sacred land from ancient times. This has become a spiritual support for local people. During natural disasters, droughts or epidemics, villagers come to the temple to burn incense and pray, placing their faith in the sacred Saint's protection. And strangely enough, most of the prayers are fulfilled like a communication between humans and gods...

For local people, Lang Suong Temple has become a spiritual support, a place where people place their faith in the protection of the sacred Saint.

Returning from Lang Suong, I brought with me a deeper belief than ever in the power of tradition, in the roots of national culture when “gods” are not an illusion but a spiritual symbol of humanistic aspirations, justice and national unity. Lang Suong Temple is not only a spiritual tourist destination, but also a historical milestone, a place to preserve the original memories of the Vietnamese people in the heart of thousands of years of mountains and rivers.

Manh Hung

Source: https://baophutho.vn/lang-suong-huyen-tich-ve-noi-dat-thieng-sinh-thanh-236717.htm