VGP - To the north of Cổ Loa Citadel lie seven mountains called Thất Điệu Sơn (Thất Điệu Mountains). According to legend, these mountains were seven tortoises that came from the north. The biggest mountain located in Nhồi Village was the mother tortoise, and the smallest mountain beside it was the youngest tortoise. The other tortoises were older so they went further away and spread to Găng Bridge. In the past these mountains were covered with a thick forest which was the home of many different kinds of birds.
Cổ Loa
Temple
One day, a monk from the north came to the area and saw that the
landscape was very beautiful and reminded him of his home town. He chose the MotherTortoiseMountain and cut down
some trees to build a temple. People said that the monk was a prince who was
tired of the royal life and wanted to become a monk. However, his father, the
king, always found him wherever he went, and ordered him to return to their
palace, so this time he escaped to ThấtĐiệuMountain,
far away from the capital. While he was living there a phoenix came from the
south every day and taught him magic and martial arts. Since the time the monk
lived on Mother Tortoise Mountain it has been called Sãi Mountain (MonkMountain),
and later Sài Mountain because Sài sounds similar to Sãi.
When An Dương Vương became king in 258 BC, he built the snail-shaped Cổ
Loa Citadel to defend against invaders. At this time many monsters and devils
lead by the horrible White Chicken monster (a white two-headed chicken)
suddenly appeared in NhồiVillage and attacked the
people.Villagers who wanted to go to
the market through Cửa Hàn had to wait and go in a group to avoid being
attacked; this is why the market was nicknamed Chờ Market (the waiting market).
NhồiVillage became desolate so people called
it Ma Lôi (the village of a monster). The monsters and devils also destroyed
the citadel at night by turning into fierce giant pigs and butting it until it
collapsed so it had to be rebuilt during the following day. It took a long time
to rebuild the citadel so the Jade Emperor sent fairies every night to help An
Dương Vương carry soil for construction. However, the White Chicken monster
sabotaged their efforts by crowing so the fairies would think it was almost
morning and throw down the soil they were carrying and go back to heaven.
The soil the
fairies dropped turned into the many small hills in this area such as Đồng Nam, Đồng
Meo and Đồng Veo. Many of the place names today relate to the legend of the
fairies that helped King An Dương Vương for example, the village where the
fairies would gather was named Tiên Hội, and the three ditches they dug to get
the soil became a three-way crossroads and the hamlet beside it is called. It
was also said that Đa HộiVillage was where the
shovels and hoes were made for the fairies.
King An Dương Vương became very worried so he built a temple and prayed
for the genies to help him finish rebuilding the citadel. Then a monk came and
asked if he could help the king kill all the monsters and devils. Carrying a
sword in his right hand and a wand made from phoenix feathers in his left, the
monk led king An Dương Vương to the HànBridge. When they arrived
at the bridge the monk went straight into the monsters' den and brandished his
sword. The light emanating from the sword frightened the monsters and devils so
much that they ran away and hid behind small hills near the roadside. The monk
decapitated the White Chicken monster and gave it to the king saying: "Your majesty, I’ve chased away
all the monsters and devils and killed their leader. You do not need worry
about them any more and you can finish building your citadel. You should put
the head of the White Chicken on a pole so any other monsters will see it and
they will be afraid."
An Dương Vương was very grateful and asked the monk if he was a genie.
The monk pointed to ThấtĐiệuMountain
and answered, “I am only a monk living on Thất Điệu Moutain. I just wanted to
destroy the monsters and devils to help you build the citadel and help the
people have a better life.”The monk
said goodbye to the king and returned to his mountain.
After he finished building the citadel, King An Dương Vương went to SàiMountain
to show his gratitude to the monk. The monk gave the king his wand and told him
it was made from the feathers of the phoenix who was his teacher. He said it
was magical and very powerful and would help the king fight against his
enemies. When it was pointed at a river, the river would dry up; when it was
pointed at the mountain, the mountain would collapse; and when it was pointed
at a forest, the forest would burn.
The
monk died a short time after An Dương Vương's visit and the king built a big
temple on SàiMountain to celebrate his merit. He was
conferred the honorable title and every year, on the 12th of January
in the lunar calendar, King An Dương Vương went to SàiMountain
to honor him.
