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- Following the Turtle; or, the Emperor strikes again
On the way to Co Loa, Nga gave us a rundown of Vietnamese Political history. Vinh Phu was the first capital that is known. 18 generations of Hung Kings spanning the centuries from 2879 BC to 217 BC. Then King AnDong Vuong moved his center to a more defensible place when the Chinese invaded, building a citadel at Co Loa, about 20 km north of the present HaNoi. There behind moats and earth walls, Duong held out for 9 years. The Chinese Emperor, Trieu Da, decided that he could not take the Citadel because of a secret weapon, the cross bow, given to the King, An Duong, by the turtle, which is kind of a divine messenger in their mythology. Trieu Da proposed peace, to be sealed by the marriage of his son, the prince, Trong Thuy, to the princess of Co Loa, the daughter of An Duong, My Chau.
These two were married and lived in the household of the VietNamese King at Co Lai. They came to care for each other deeply, but the prince was really there to steal the magical crossbow. He did so and left for his father's camp to deliver it. The King, An Daong, took My Chau and ran on hoarse back for the HaNoi area. By arrangement with the price, she left a trail of peacock feathers for her husband to follow.
Her father discovered what she was doing and cut off her head, afterward throwing himself in the Red River. meanwhile, Trong Thuy, following the feathers, came upon his wife's headless body and carried it back to the Citadel, after which he drowned himself in the Diang River, at the fortress. On this site today, temples commemorate these tragic figures and children are brought here to visit a headless statue of the princess to be taught that loyalty to country comes before family or friend. Our politicians should have read that story before deciding to wage limited warfare. The turtle has never re-appeared.
Note: the Taoist symbol in the photograph to the right is a bronze figure about 5 inches tall, purchased on one of our nighttime excursions into the old part of HaNoi. There stands a large one at the altar of the Headless Princess. The symbol is a stork standing on a turtle. The turtle provides the foundation, wisdom, and dependability. The stork reaches out into the world and feeds them both. The Turtle and Stork are a symbol of complementarity.
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