Since his retirement, Mr. Ho Duy Thien has been elected Chairman of the District Cultural Heritage Association. He has been actively and enthusiastically involved in collecting and investigating information, then inviting experts to survey and compile scientific dossiers to submit to competent authorities. As a result, at the end of 2023, the rice tree in Thiet Son village, hamlet 3, was recognized as a "Vietnamese Heritage Tree." This is the first and only "Vietnamese Heritage Tree" in the former Quang Binh province, now Quang Tri province. Needless to say, Mr. Thien was overjoyed when he shared this good news with me.
As for me, more than joy, I felt a surge of emotion. Suddenly, the image of the ancient, majestic kapok tree, towering over the sky, appeared in my mind, like a shimmering piece of the village's soul, like a witness to this beloved village for generations…
Thiet Son is a small village on the banks of the Gianh River, my birthplace. When I was a little child, I already saw the kapok tree standing there. My grandparents also said that since they were children, they had seen the kapok tree like that, its trunk tall and straight, easily fifty meters high. From the beginning of the village looking up, to the end looking down, the kapok tree was clearly visible in every season, sometimes with lush green leaves, sometimes with countless fiery buds, sometimes bare and gnarled in the cold and storms. The base of the kapok tree was enormous, rough and gnarled with strange-looking bumps and knots. I heard that when they built the Kapok Tree Canal, nearly a dozen young men from the irrigation team had to encircle the base of the tree with their arms outstretched…
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| The base of the rice plant is rough and covered with strange bumps - Photo: Provided by the Heritage Association |
"The 'Rice Tree Canal' is a name that's been around for about sixty years, since the cooperative built a wooden canal over thirty meters long across the Mon stream, passing by the rice tree, bringing water to the fields of Trot Can, Ma Hang, Da Lo, Loi Soi... During the period of reform, the dilapidated wooden canal was replaced with a sturdy concrete one, but it still retains the name "Rice Tree Canal". During the fieldwork process to assess the "Vietnamese Heritage Tree" dossier, scientists estimated the rice tree to be about 300 years old, but the elders in the village believe it must be at least 400 years old.
According to family genealogies, my village was formed about 400 years ago. When the inhabitants from the Lower region traveled up the Gianh River to clear the land, there must have been a kapok tree standing at the foot of the towering limestone mountain, like a giant screen protecting a flat area, which is why the mountain was called the Kapok Tree Cliff.
My childhood is filled with countless memories associated with the gnarled, ancient kapok tree, beside the fields where we cut grass, herd buffalo, and search for crabs and snails. Next to the tree stood a moss-covered, deserted shrine, occasionally dotted with flickering incense sticks offered secretly by someone. The kapok tree and the shrine were a mystical world , filled with ghostly tales that adults often told to scare the mischievous children who climbed and played around it.
Not only children, but even adults rarely dared to cross the fields and streams alone at night to pass by this banyan tree. Only when American planes bombed the railway line west of Cay Gao hill did the area around Me Son shrine and the banyan tree become bustling with people at night. These were the uncles and aunts from the Youth Volunteer Unit, all from Zone Three, who were stationed in my village to protect the aforementioned railway line. During the day, they studied and practiced performing arts; at night, the unit divided into two shifts to fill in bomb craters, and the banyan tree became the meeting point for shift changes. On many days, this place was the gathering point for treating the wounded and preparing the bodies of fallen soldiers for burial…
I graduated from high school just as the war against America ended, but not long after, gunfire erupted again at both ends of the country. That year, during the kapok blossom season, I enlisted in the army, leaving behind a poem in my homeland that evoked the image of the beloved kapok tree:
"Goodbye to those not-so-distant years"
The kapok flowers bloom in the fields under the scorching midday sun.
The Mon stream has flowed for a thousand years.
Listless…
The old kapok tree stands contemplatively.
Being thin and frail, they cannot produce rice.
Dong Trot Can, Ma Hang
Stone Fields, Gravel Path
"Those names are barren and dry..."
The wartime journey took me to many parts of the country. I learned that the pơ-lang tree in the Tây Nguyên highlands and the kapok tree along the northern border are also the same as the kapok tree in my homeland… The pơ-lang flowers on the highlands are the soul of the lyrical and tragic epics of the Bana, Ede, and Mnong ethnic groups… The kapok trees along the northern border are the resilient markers protecting the nation's borders. And the kapok tree in my homeland, simple and unpretentious like its name suggests, represents the generational aspiration for prosperity in my village, like so many villages in the harsh, sun-drenched central region…
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| The kapok tree by the village field - Photo: Provided by the Heritage Association |
During the resistance war against French colonialism, my village was the gateway to the Dong Lao War Zone – the “safe zone” of Quang Binh province. Then, during the years of “marching across the Truong Son Mountains to save the country,” my village became a stopover point for soldiers going to the North, year after year. The Chua Cave, Diem Cave, Ca Cave, Mu Lai Cave… became supply depots, weapons depots… for the soldiers and classrooms for children.
Recently, during a field survey to assess the "Vietnamese Heritage Tree" dossier, scientists discovered ancient human and paleontological fossils in Chua Cave, indicating the presence of prehistoric humans in this area. Particularly noteworthy is the recent reappearance of the white-necked langur troop at Cay Gao Cliff. This is one of the primate species classified as critically endangered in the Vietnamese Red Book.
Currently, my village is located within the National White-necked Langur Conservation Area, covering more than 500 hectares across four upstream communes of the Gianh River, part of the Dong Lao War Zone during the resistance against the French.
The return of the rare primate troop has enlivened the Cay Gao mountain range. The kapok tree at the foot of the mountain has become a meeting point between the villagers and the white-necked langurs. It seems they know they are being pampered, and are becoming increasingly bold and friendly towards humans. On fine days, they roam freely on the branches of the kapok tree, posing for amateur and professional photographers from near and far who are coming to my village in ever-increasing numbers. Occasionally, even foreigners arrive by car to admire the white-necked langurs, take pictures, record their observations, and nod to each other with evident satisfaction…
The white-necked langurs and the "Vietnamese Heritage Rice Tree" are promising to bring feasible projects from travel businesses inside and outside the province to my village, aiming to promote the value of cultural and historical relics of the resistance war and the ecosystem of a picturesque rural area. And the rice tree in my village will certainly be an attractive and unique tourism product, contributing to increasing rice production for my villagers in the future…
Mai Nam Thang
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/dat-va-nguoi-quang-tri/202510/cay-gao-lang-toi-4c34da5/
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