Old village

The once beloved names such as An My, An Xuan, Truong Xuan, Tam Thanh, Tam Phu, An Phu, Tam Thang, Tan Thanh, Hoa Thuan, Tam Ngoc, An Son, Hoa Huong have now blended into new names: Tam Ky, Quang Phu, Ban Thach, Huong Tra.

This merger is not only an administrative change, but also a turning point, a mark in the development journey of the land.

I remember the tree-lined streets of An My, where ancient houses nestle among rows of areca trees. The sound of temple bells echoing from An Xuan, peaceful and quiet. Or the image of rice fields stretching out in Truong Xuan, the harvest season golden with a warm color. Those memories are still intact in the minds of every Tam Ky resident, as an indispensable part of childhood, of the years gone by.

Then came Quang Phu, a vast land with towering mountains such as Cam Mountain, Yen Ngua Mountain, Chua Mountain… Each mountain carries within it a story, a trace of time. The Tam Ky, Ban Thach, and Truong Giang rivers flow gently, creating fertile fields.

This place still echoes the heroic pages of history, the revolutionary rallies in Nui Chua in 1939, a testament to the passionate patriotism of the people of Quang Nam . The majestic monument of the heroic Vietnamese Mother on the top of Nui Cam further highlights the historical and cultural value of this land.

Ban Thach, as the ancients used to call it, carries within itself the gentle beauty of the river of the same name. The gentle Ban Thach River flows through the villages, witnessing many changes of the land.

The old poem “ The Ban Thach River flows around/ The Tuy Lam Mountain is built layer upon layer ” beautifully depicts the poetic natural picture of this place. The ancestors from far away came to reclaim, build villages, and establish settlements along this river many centuries ago, creating a fertile land rich in tradition.

Finally, there is Huong Tra, an ancient village nestled at the confluence of the Tam Ky and Ban Thach rivers. The ancients said that the land has a soul, the village has a spirit. Perhaps that is why when the name Huong Tra comes back, I feel peace flowing in my heart. It is as if every straw, row of areca trees, and small alley is always silently waiting for the day to be called. No matter how far my feet go, my heart still cannot escape that small and peaceful village.

Maybe because there, I was born, grew up, the place where I spent my childhood playing in the sand by the river, had sunny afternoons breaking branches to build a dream house and freely trading. Who would have thought that the house, just enough to reach my arm, would cast a shadow that reached to my hair, streaked with silver. I just realized that the old village had been in me for thousands of years… Suddenly, Trinh Cong Son’s “The Call of Eternity” echoed in me: “ Back in the old town I lay/ Once heard a lullaby in the garden ”.

The city in me has just lost the old village voice...

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/lang-xua-que-cu-3156747.html