"Mother loves her child, go to Ai Tu bridge"

Yesterday, my niece who is in Vung Tau texted me asking, “Auntie, why did Mom love me so much that she went to Ai Tu Bridge?” My uncle’s family has been working in the South for a long time. What always makes me happy is that my uncles and siblings always teach their children and grandchildren about their hometown. On the death anniversary of their grandparents, my uncle always makes a memorial tray far away so that the children there remember the day and know whose death anniversary it is. The children who were born and raised there all had at least one chance to return to their hometown. They heard the Quang Tri dialect from their grandparents, understood the “outside the hometown” dialect and always wondered and learned about their hometown like that. Back to the niece’s question, she said she opened Facebook and saw that woman singing her baby to Ai Tu, but she didn’t understand why her mother sang her baby to Ai Tu, isn’t Ai Tu, in her understanding, “love is death”?

Oh, mother loves me, go to Ai Tu bridge

Wife waits for husband on Vong Phu mountain

One morning the moon sets and the shadow sets.

The cicada sings in the summer, how many autumns have I met you.

This song has been passed down for a long time so no one knows the author. The name Vong Phu (waiting for husband) comes from the story of an older brother, To Van, who discovered that his wife was his younger sister, To Thi, from a scar on his head that he caused when he was young. The husband, the older brother, was so heartbroken that he left, while the wife, carrying her child, waited for her husband day after day and then turned to stone. The place name Vong Phu actually exists in many provinces and cities across the country, each place has a similar story and legend, all with the same meaning to explain a rock, a mountain shaped like a mother carrying her child. So what about Ai Tu bridge? Is there any story related to this name? In another way, Ai Tu means loving children, loving children. However, to explain in detail, there is almost no document or story to explain where this name comes from.

-Illustration: LE NGOC DUY

Before officially entering the map of Vietnam, Ai Tu was part of Chau O of Champa. In 1306, through the marriage between Princess Huyen Tran and King of Champa Che Man, Chau O belonged to the Tran Dynasty. The Champa people abandoned their land and moved to the South, the first Vietnamese people from the North migrated here to live. In 1307, the Tran Dynasty changed Chau Ri to Chau Hoa, Chau O to Chau Thuan, Ai Tu belonged to Hoa Lang district in Chau Thuan. In 1469, King Le Thanh Tong re-defined the map of the whole country and divided the administrative units, Ai Tu belonged to Vo Xuong district, Trieu Phong prefecture, Thuan Hoa province.

In 1558, Duke Nguyen Hoang came to guard Thuan Hoa land, with great ambition to build a career in Dang Trong, and ordered to set up a garrison in Ai Tu. According to the book Vietnamese history of Dang Trong (Phan Khoang), when Lord Nguyen Hoang decided to stop at Ai Tu, hearing the news of the Lord's arrival, the elders in the area came to pay their respects and offered the Lord 7 jars of water. Imagine, in the hot southern weather, after a long journey, those 7 jars of water were so precious. Moreover, Quan Thai Pho Nguyen U Di said that it was a sign of "water", a good start for a long-term national affair. The land of Ai Tu under the rule of Lord Nguyen Hoang developed prosperously, the people were peaceful . Thus, Ai Tu was the initial cradle that the Nguyen Dynasty used as a springboard to expand its territory to the South.

During the war years, Ai Tu was known as the largest military base of the US and the Republic of Vietnam in the Central region. Ai Tu became more well-known when the US built a huge helicopter airport here. The US army relocated residents to take advantage of the long sandy beach to build an airport, a military post, and an ammunition depot with an area of over 150 hectares. When the US army camp was stationed here, the people of Ai Tu and the surrounding area had an additional job of "working for the US" with many different jobs, from administration to housekeeping, laundry, and cleaning rooms for US soldiers. My aunt used to work here, still remembers a few broken English sentences, still feels resentful and regretful, then mentions the unfortunate death of her cousin when she went into the warehouse to get rice, a pile of rice fell on her, crushing her to death. Working for the US army stationed in Ai Tu at that time caused many families to break up, and many women have a bad reputation until now.

When the Ai Tu base was liberated, the remnants of the war left behind a devastated land, littered with scrap metal and bombs. Men in the area held machines to search for war scrap metal around the Ai Tu airport. Although dangerous, it cannot be denied that this profession has supported many families in the area during difficult times.

Nearly 50 years after the war, Ai Tu is now a humble town located on Highway 1. Nearby, there is a village also named Ai Tu, belonging to Trieu Ai commune. In 1986, my father brought his family to this land to settle down. He named his first daughter, me, with the word Ai to always remember the place where he was born and raised. My father always said that people must always remember their roots. But honestly, despite trying to find out and ask around, I still don't know much more about the place name Ai Tu bridge, a small bridge a few hundred meters from my house now. The Ai Tu bridge in the old song is still a very ordinary bridge to this day, without any mysterious story or legend. My father said that lullaby might just be a play on words.

It always takes a long time for a land to develop, for a child to grow up and mature. I don't know much about history, so within the scope of my knowledge, I don't dare to give a specific answer to my nephew who loves his hometown far away. In recent years, Ai Tu airport has changed. From a deserted white sand beach, this place has now become an industrial park with many factories in operation and under construction, creating jobs for many people in the area. Ai Tu village has also changed its appearance, there is a project to expand the national highway, the land of the people is calculated in sao, in mau is worth billions. People who have never held five or ten million in cash in hand, and paid for everything in installments, now suddenly change their lives, build beautiful houses, buy cars. Ai Tu village has changed clearly with majestic and beautiful houses.

Whenever I point out my house, I always say that my house is a few hundred meters from Ai Tu bridge. That is like a landmark for me to hold on to, so in the past, I always told my younger siblings, if they accidentally got lost and drifted somewhere, to remember to say that my house was near Ai Tu bridge. My grandchildren live far away, even though it was their first time visiting their hometown, they still asked the driver to stop near Ai Tu, and they all got off at the right house. Well, that lullaby is like a message from home, a love that is far away but not strange at all.

Miraculous Love

Source