The village at the foot of Phuoc Ly mountain

At the foot of Phuoc Ly mountain, there is a village of the same name, now in Hoa Minh ward, Lien Chieu district, Da Nang . Through many changes, "the beach becomes a mulberry field" and the ups and downs of the times, the village leaning against the cliff has changed a lot but still retains the ancient village culture in the midst of modern urban life.

Phuoc Ly village communal house, old (left photo) and new. Photo: VTL

20 years ago, the first time I visited Phuoc Ly village, I was surprised that the land at the foot of the mountain of the same name, although only a kilometer away from National Highway 1A, was once a “remote area” of Hoa Minh ward. At that time, in the middle of the field next to Phuoc Ly mountain range, there was a small communal house like a level 4 house, facing North, which had just been renovated and swept in time for the anniversary of the ancestors that year.

The communal house faces north, according to the elders in the village, because their ancestors chose it to remember their homeland. In the past, in the group of people leaving their hometown of Thanh Hoa to head south, there were two people with the last names Nguyen and Mai. Stopping at the foot of Phuoc Ly mountain, they realized that this wilderness had its back against the mountain and its face toward the sea - according to ancient feng shui, this was a land of talented people - so they stopped and decided to choose this place as their second homeland. The two people who had the merit of opening up the land and establishing the village were honored as the ancestors of Phuoc Ly village. Later, there were also clans with the last names Ho, Duong, Tran, Do, Bien, Nguyen Van, Phung, Phan... who came to settle here, and were called by later generations as the later ones.

In the ancient documents still kept in the private home of Nguyen Dinh Phung - a descendant of the Nguyen Tien Hien clan - there is a document dated April 24, the 42nd year of Canh Hung (1781, under the reign of King Le Hien Tong) mentioning the two Tien Hien Nguyen and Mai standing up to establish a land register and submitting to the court a request to establish a new commune with the commune name "Phuoc An Ha". During the Thieu Tri period (1841-1847), in the royal decree dated April 12, the 3rd year of Thieu Tri, "Phuoc An Ha" was changed to "Phuoc Ly", this place name still exists today.

In addition, Mr. Phung also kept the Land Register of Phuoc Ly Commune established on April 10, the seventh year of Bao Dai (1932), which contained the rectangular Ly Truong seal with the words "P. QUANG NAM" (P is the abbreviation of province, in French, meaning province - NV), "D. HOA VINH" (D = district = district). Mr. Phung explained: Hoa Vinh was written in Chinese as 和荣, later mispronounced as Hoa Vang.

The Nguyen clan temple in Phuoc Ly village still preserves many royal documents and certificates from many dynasties, besides the Tay Son kings such as Thai Duc (Nguyen Van Nhac, 1778-1793), Canh Thinh (Nguyen Quang Toan, 1793-1801), there are also Nguyen kings such as Gia Long, Minh Mang, Tu Duc. In Phuoc Ly communal house alone, there are still 12 royal decrees, the oldest dated September 17, the seventh year of Minh Mang (1826), the newest dated July 25, the ninth year of Khai Dinh (1924).

The entire Phuoc Ly village had 18 royal decrees. During the French resistance, the enemy burned down all the houses in the village, but the nearby bamboo and thatch temple was not burned, so the royal decree was not affected. During the American resistance, one time, American soldiers went on a sweep and suspected that the royal decree box contained secret documents, so they took them all to the station to "investigate". The whole village was in a panic, and asked Mr. Phung to find a way to ask an interpreter to explain everything to the American soldiers. When the decree was brought back to the communal house, they checked and found that all 6 copies were missing. In the past, the villagers only heard about the royal decree but no one dared to look at it. Occasionally, on important holidays, only the village elders were allowed to look at it.

According to the old custom, Phuoc Ly village has 3 main ceremonies every year according to the lunar calendar: the death anniversary of the ancestors on April 16, the death anniversary of the ancestors on August 16 and the death anniversary of the spirits on December 16. Mr. Mai Dinh Lich, a descendant of the Mai Tien Hien clan, said that in the past, the expenses for these ceremonies were taken from the profits of 4 sao of "first-class" fields specializing in growing can rice - a famous type of rice that is delicious and nutritious, ranked by the people as "first can rice, second liver of goby" - left by the two ancestors. In the village, in addition to the scholars, the profession of medicine is also famous. The Mai clan was once famous for its traditional medicine specializing in treating typhoid. The Ho clan had a person practicing traditional medicine specializing in treating measles. The Nguyen clan passed down the profession of treating broken bones and dislocations, which the people commonly called "Master Phuoc Ly".

In the past, most of the villagers of Phuoc Ly relied on rainwater for farming. Although life was still difficult, the spiritual intention of worshipping ancestors was always in their hearts. Seeing that neighboring villages were able to organize village festivals, thanks to the communal house, they were able to connect activities of village solidarity and restore the village's cultural traditions. After many meetings, the villagers of Phuoc Ly village decided to upgrade the Ancestors' Commemoration Ceremony to the Village Commemoration Festival.

In 2005, Phuoc Ly Village Festival was held for the first time on the occasion of the Ancestor's Death Anniversary on the 16th day of the 4th lunar month. After the 2012 Village Festival, Phuoc Ly was cleared and granted 2,000 square meters at Group 128, Le Hien Mai Street. The Phuoc Ly clan rebuilt a new, spacious and majestic communal house with a budget of 2.354 billion VND. This year, the inauguration of the communal house took place along with the 8th "Village Festival in the middle of Hoa Minh Street" hosted by Phuoc Ly.

Mr. Mai Dinh Vuong, Head of the Council of Clans of Phuoc Ly village, Head of the organizing committee of the inauguration ceremony of Phuoc Ly village communal house and the 8th Hoa Minh village festival, said that from the two original Tien Hien clans, Phuoc Ly now has nearly 40 clans with 1,700 households and more than 3,000 people. Long-time residents and newcomers, all living together on two old lands called Go Du hamlet and Trang hamlet (also called Lang hamlet), and Phuoc Ly urban area, gathered at the new communal house to offer incense in memory of the ancestors who founded the country. Mr. Phung has now passed away, Mr. Lich is now over 90 years old. The two elders were satisfied when the communal house and the people were resettled right on the land that their ancestors had worked hard to reclaim, fulfilling their duty to the people who opened the land and founded the village.

VAN THANH LE

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