To Dương Vương
An Dương Vương ("King An Dương"; chữ Hán : 安陽 王, Chinese An Yang , literally "pacifier of the south"), personal name Thục Phán (蜀 泮), was a legendary ruler of the early Vietnamese period. As the leader of the Âu Việt tribe , he is said to have conquered the kingdom of Văn Lang, ruled by the Hùng kings, in the lower reaches of the Red River . Through the union of its inhabitants, the Lạc Việt , with the Âu Việt, the state of Âu Lạc with the capital Cổ Loa was created .
According to traditional Vietnamese historiography from 257 BC, Dương Vương's rule - the Thục dynasty Until 208 BC (Or alternatively until 179 BC) lasted. However, it was first mentioned in the third and fourth centuries AD in stories by Chinese court writers, which in turn became part of the authoritative Vietnamese historical work of Ngô Sĩ Liên in the 15th century . In modern history, his existence is therefore controversial, in part he is seen as the first historical ruler, in part as a purely mythological figure. It is possible that several historical persons were mixed up in the figure of An Dương Vương. There is also the theory that he was a historical prince in what is now southern China, whose place of work was "relocated" to Vietnam by later authors. Archaeological excavations, however, have shown that Cstell Loa was a militarily significant regional power around the time of his reign.
Around 200 BC The region of the Red River was finally conquered by the state of Nanyue (Nam Việt) under the leadership of the North Chinese Zhao Tuo (Triệu Đà) - on this point the Vietnamese tradition agrees with the established Chinese chronicles.
The story of An Dương Vương
Origin and advancement
According to traditional historiography, Thục Phán was a prince of the Chinese state of Shu ( Thục in Vietnamese) in what is now Sichuan during the Warring States Period (the state of Chu is sometimes also called differently ).
After the conquest of the state by Qin (which took place as early as 316 BC), he fled to the mountainous south and rose to become the leader of a non-Chinese tribal federation called Âu Việt ( Ouyue ). Their territory, the kingdom of Nam Cương , is said to have been in what is now the Sino-Vietnamese border area ( Cao Bằng and parts of Guangxi ). Due to the large time span, this shift to the south is alternatively attributed to his ancestors.
In any case, Dương Vương finally turned to around 258 BC. BC still further south and conquered the fertile plain of the Red River. The Lạc Việt ( Luoyue ) settled here, who until then had been ruled by the Hung kings. Thục Phán now took the ruler name An Dương Vương ("King pacifier of the south") and united the Âu Việt and the Lạc Việt as the kingdom of Âu Lạc.
Cổ Loa, the golden turtle and the magic crossbow
The capital of his empire was Cổ Loa (today located on the northern outskirts of Hanoi ). Cổ Loa had existed before, but was expanded into a spiral citadel under An Dương Vương. According to the legend, the construction was extremely arduous, because at night spiritual beings tore down the construction progress of the day. The gods therefore called on Dương Vương for help, who finally answered his request: the golden turtle Kim Quy appeared and gave him one of its claws. From this claw Cao Lỗ (also Cao Thông , Chinese Kao Tong ), his most important advisor, was able to manufacture a magic crossbow that not only enabled the completion of Cổ Loa, but also made An Dương Vương militarily invincible. His kingdom now rose to become an influential and prosperous country thanks to this powerful weapon.
The weapons designer Cao Lỗ is described in the different versions of the story as a scholar, military or holy man. If this is a historical person, he was probably a Chinese from the north who introduced the advanced military techniques of the warring states in the southern region. The relatively backward contemporaries on site are likely to have perceived his innovations as magical miracle weapons - this is how the legend could have originated. This theory is supported by archaeological investigations in Cổ Loa, which unearthed various weapons and implements typical of the northern arguing states, including a large number of crossbow bolts.
Despite Cao Lỗ's outstanding achievements, the king treated his advisor disrespectfully, which eventually led to a falling out between the two and ultimately led to An Dương's downfall.
Mỵ Châu and Trọng Thủy
The great prosperity of the country aroused the interest of hostile neighboring powers: The Qin general Zhao Tuo (viet. Triệu Đà ), who had conquered large parts of southern China, made himself independent as ruler of the Nanyue (Nam Việt) empire during the collapse of the Qin dynasty . He then tried repeatedly to conquer the neighboring kingdom of Âu Lạc in the south, but always failed because of An Dương's defenders, who could not be defeated thanks to the powers of the magic crossbow.
After several campaigns, the two sides finally agreed on a truce, which was sealed by the marriage of An Dương's daughter Mỵ Chau (媚 珠) to Zhao Tuo's son Trọng Thủy (仲 始, Zhong Shi ). The young couple fell deeply in love. The two lived with the woman's family - that is, in Cổ Loa - which later chroniclers like Ngô Sĩ Liên found completely incomprehensible and which modern historians will see as a sign of matriarchal social structures.
Zhao Tuo was finally able to find out through his son and his wife that the secret to An Dương's invincibility was his magic crossbow. Trọng Thủy managed to convince his wife to give him the crossbow, then smuggled it out of Cổ Loa and dutifully passed it on to his father. Zhao Tuo then attacked the now defenseless Cổ Loa and conquered the city.
An Dương Vương managed to escape and fled from the conquerors with his daughter in tow. During the escape, the golden turtle appeared again and said: "The enemy is right behind you!", Whereupon he realized that his daughter had betrayed the secret of the crossbow. Furious with rage, he cut off his daughter's head. A little later, Trọng Thủy arrived at the scene and discovered the dead body of his wife. Out of a sense of guilt and not wanting to live without her, he committed suicide, which is why the story is often referred to as the Vietnamese version of Romeo and Juliet .
Dng Vương's ultimate fate is unclear; Depending on the version of the legend, he also committed suicide shortly afterwards, was overtaken and killed by his enemies, or he left the earthly world with the golden turtle.
Adoration
In spite of his cruelty, An Dương V vereng is revered as one of the founders of Vietnam, as the merger of mountain and lowland inhabitants into a unified ethnic group under his rule is considered to be a central step for the emergence of the Vietnamese nation.
He is also celebrated as a great military leader who was able to defend himself against an overpowering enemy from the north for years and was only defeated by treason. This military-nationalistic aspect played an important role especially in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) , where several monuments were erected to it, the most famous in Saigon .
The center of the An-Dương-Vương worship, however, is Cổ Loa: The main temple ( Đền Thờ An Dương Vương ) of today's location serves both the worship of the king and the magical turtle. A small temple ( Am thờ Mỵ Châu ) a few hundred meters away, which is attached to the community house ( đình ) and the pagoda ( chùa ), is dedicated to the daughter Mỵ Châu; inside there is a headless figure of the princess. Finally, a third temple ( Đền thờ Cao Lỗ ) is dedicated to the designer of the magic crossbow; in front of it, in the middle of a small pond, stands his statue with a crossbow in his hands.
Every year from the sixth to the sixteenth day of the first lunar month of the Vietnamese calendar, the An-Dương-Vương Temple Festival takes place here, which, with its extensive processions, is one of the most important regional cultural events in Vietnam.
Individual evidence
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↑ KW Taylor : A History of the Vietnamese , Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 14-17;
Ben Kiernan : Viet Nam: A History from Earliest Times to the Present , Oxford University Press, 2017, p. 53;
Danny J. Whitfield: Historical and Cultural Dictionary of Vietnam , Scarecrow Press, 1976, pp. 4, 46, 282 - ↑ KW Taylor: The Birth of Vietnam , University of California Press, Berkeley 1991, pp. 19f
- ↑ KW Taylor: A History of the Vietnamese , Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 16/17
- ↑ KW Taylor: A History of the Vietnamese , Cambridge University Press, 2013, pp. 14/15
- ↑ virtual-saigon.net - Buildings : An Duong Vuong Statue (accessed March 2018)
- ↑ hanoi-online.net : Co Loa Citadel and An Duong Vuong Temple (accessed March 2018)
- ↑ vietnamnet.vn : 2015 Co Loa Festival in pictures (accessed March 2018)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | To Dương Vương |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Thục Phan |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | fabulous Vietnamese king |
| DATE OF BIRTH | uncertain: 4th century BC BC or 3rd century BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | uncertain: 3rd century BC BC or 2nd century BC Chr. |