Yesterday, my niece, who's in Vung Tau, texted me asking, "Auntie, why does Mom take me to Ai Tu Bridge when she loves me so much?" My uncle's family moved to the South a long time ago to start a business. What always makes me happy is that my uncle and aunt and their siblings always teach their children and grandchildren about their roots and hometown. On the anniversary of my grandparents' deaths, my uncle always prepares a memorial feast far away so that the children there remember the day and know whose death it is. The children born and raised there all get to go back to their hometown at least once. They hear the Quang Tri dialect from their grandparents, understand the dialect from "back home," and are always curious and eager to learn about their homeland. Returning to my niece's question, she said, "I saw a woman on Facebook rocking her baby like that, Auntie, but I don't understand why Mom would rock her baby to Ai Tu Bridge. Doesn't Ai Tu, in my understanding, mean 'love is death'?"
Oh my dear, my love, I'm going to the Ai Tu Bridge.
The wife waits for her husband to climb Mount Vọng Phu.
One day the moon will set.
The cicadas sing in the summer, how many autumns will it be before I meet him again?
This folk song has been passed down through generations, so no one knows the author. The name Vọng Phu (waiting for her husband) originates from the story of Tô Văn, the older brother, who discovered that his wife was his younger sister, Tô Thị, from a scar on her head that he himself had inflicted when they were children. Overwhelmed with grief, the husband and brother left, and the wife, carrying her child, waited for him day after day until she turned to stone. The place name Vọng Phu exists in many provinces and cities across the country, each with its own legend or story, all sharing the same meaning to explain a rock or mountain resembling a mother holding her child. What about Ái Tử Bridge? Is there any story related to its name? According to another interpretation, Ái Tử means loving one's child. However, there is almost no document or story to explain the origin of this name in detail.
-Illustration: LE NGOC DUY
Before officially being incorporated into the map of Vietnam, Ai Tu was part of the O Chau region of Champa. In 1306, through the marriage between Princess Huyen Tran and the Champa king Che Man, the O Chau region belonged to the Tran dynasty. The Champa people abandoned the land and moved south, and the first Vietnamese people migrated from the north to settle here. In 1307, the Tran dynasty changed the name of Ri Chau to Hoa Chau, O Chau to Thuan Chau, and Ai Tu belonged to Hoa Lang district within Thuan Chau. By 1469, King Le Thanh Tong redrew the map of the entire country and reorganized the administrative units; Ai Tu belonged to Vo Xuong district, Trieu Phong prefecture, Thuan Hoa province.
In 1558, Duke Nguyen Hoang, who had the ambition to establish a kingdom in Dang Trong (Southern Vietnam), took up his post in Ai Tu. According to the book "Vietnamese History of Dang Trong" (Phan Khoang), when Lord Nguyen Hoang decided to stop at Ai Tu, upon hearing of his arrival, the local elders came to pay their respects and offered him seven jars of water. Imagine, in the scorching heat of the southern land, after a long journey, those seven jars of water were incredibly precious. Moreover, Grand Tutor Nguyen U Di said that this was an omen of "water," a good start for a long-term national cause. Under the rule of Lord Nguyen Hoang, the land of Ai Tu flourished and the people enjoyed peace . Thus, Ai Tu was the initial cradle that the Nguyen dynasty used as a springboard to expand its territory southward.
During the war years, Ai Tu was known as one of the largest military bases of the US and South Vietnam in central Vietnam. Ai Tu became even more well-known when the US built a massive helicopter landing pad there. The US military relocated residents to make way for the construction of an airfield, fortifications, and ammunition depots covering over 150 hectares. With the US military base located there, the people of Ai Tu and the surrounding areas took up "working for the US," doing various jobs ranging from administration to domestic work, laundry, and cleaning rooms for the US soldiers. My aunt used to work there; she still remembers a few broken English phrases, and still feels bitter about the tragic death of her cousin who died when a pile of rice fell on him while he was getting rice from the warehouse. Working for the US military base in Ai Tu back then caused many families to break apart, and many women still bear the stigma to this day.
When the Ai Tu base was liberated, the remnants of the war left behind a desolate land littered with scrap metal and landmines. Local men used metal detectors to search for war-related scrap metal around the Ai Tu airfield. Despite the dangers, this profession undeniably provided a livelihood for many families in the area during those difficult times.
Nearly 50 years after the war, Ai Tu is now a humble town located on National Highway 1. Nearby, another village also named Ai Tu, belongs to Trieu Ai commune. In 1986, my father brought our family to this land to start a new life. He named his firstborn daughter, me, with the word "Ai" to always remember where he was born and raised. My father always said that one must always remember their roots. But honestly, despite trying to find out and asking around, I still don't know much more about the Ai Tu Bridge, a small bridge a few hundred meters from my house now. The Ai Tu Bridge, mentioned in the old folk song, remains a very ordinary bridge, without any mysterious story or legend. My father said that the lullaby might just be a play on words.
It always takes a long time for a place to develop, for a child to grow up and mature. I don't know much about history, so within the scope of my understanding, I wouldn't dare give a specific answer to my nephew who loves his hometown and is far away. In recent years, Ai Tu Airport has changed. From a desolate white sand beach, it has now become an industrial cluster with many factories already operating and under construction, providing jobs for many people in the area. Ai Tu village has also transformed, with a highway expansion project, and people's land, measured in acres and hectares, is worth billions of dong. People who never held five or ten million dong in cash, who bought everything on installments, have suddenly changed their lives, building beautiful houses and owning cars. Ai Tu village has changed dramatically with its grand and beautiful houses.
Whenever I'm talking about my house, I always say it's a few hundred meters from Ai Tu Bridge. It's like a landmark to hold onto, so I used to tell my younger siblings, if they ever got lost, to remember to say our house was near Ai Tu Bridge. My nieces and nephews, even those visiting for the first time, would tell the driver to stop near Ai Tu Bridge, and they all got off at the right house. Well, that lullaby is like a message from home, a loving reminder from afar, yet not at all unfamiliar.
Dieu Ai
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