Early restoration of the ancient medicine garden

The ancient Duoc Linh garden is one of the eight ancient sites of Chi Linh, Hai Duong . Restoring the ancient Duoc Linh garden has the effect of educating the younger generation to better understand the role of the Van Kiep base in the resistance war against the Yuan-Mongol army, the historical and cultural values of the land of "geomancy and talented people" and beautifying the landscape of the special national relic complex of Con Son-Kiep Bac.

During the resistance war against the Yuan-Mongol army, when stationed in Van Kiep (the area of Kiep Bac Temple today), Hung Dao Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan always worried about how to have enough medicine to cure people's illnesses and treat soldiers' wounds. Legend has it that one night while sleeping, Hung Dao Vuong saw an old man with a brown turban, wearing a black tunic, carrying a straw bag come to see him. The old man bowed three times and said, "I am Duoc Linh, knowing that Your Excellency needs medicinal plants, I am bringing them as a gift." Hung Dao Vuong thanked him in return, then accepted the bag of medicinal plants. When he looked up, Hung Dao Vuong did not see the person bringing the medicine, so he realized he was dreaming.

The story of medicinal plants kept Hung Dao Vuong awake all night. On the way back to the Shipyard, a few miles from Van Kiep, he saw saplings like the medicinal plants Duoc Linh brought along the road. Hung Dao Vuong brought the medicinal plants back to plant on Duoc Son mountain, then personally picked the leaves, crushed them, and applied them to the soldiers' wounds. Indeed, the wounds were completely healed. The people in the area said that the medicinal plants grown on Duoc Son were incomparable to any other.

According to Dr. Le Duy Manh, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Con Son-Kiep Bac relic site, Duoc Son medicinal garden is located on Duoc Son mountain, south of Kiep Bac temple. Before entering the second resistance war against the Yuan-Mongol army, with the idea of "Southern people use traditional medicine", Hung Dao Vuong assigned Pham Ngu Lao to plant a medicinal garden with many precious medicinal plants on Nam Tao mountain to treat diseases and wounds for soldiers, hence the name Duoc Son, meaning medicinal mountain. History books have recorded: "Since the 13th century, Tran Quoc Tuan and the Tran Dynasty's Imperial Medical Institute have attached great importance to the use of domestic medicinal plants to treat people's diseases and soldiers' wounds. In Van Kiep, Tran Quoc Tuan built a fairly large medicinal plant growing area (that mountain is still called Duoc Son)". During the Le dynasty, the medicinal garden was preserved, developed and called Duoc Linh Co Vien.

According to statistics from the Central Institute of Traditional Medicine in the 70s (20th century), at that time, Duoc Son mountain still had about 600 species of cultivated plants and wild plants which were "medicinal plants". By 2010, on Duoc Son mountain and some neighboring mountains, there were still about 300 medicinal herbs. Duoc Son mountain alone at that time had nearly 160 medicinal species, and now there are about 100 species still existing. The most abundant are plants such as: dog milk, passionflower, bo giac, fo-ti, grass only heaven, yellow finger, white gloves, crow's beak... which have high medicinal value, can cure many diseases of digestion, trauma, rheumatism, spinal degeneration, typhoid, cirrhosis...

Through a survey by the health sector, it is shown that medicinal plants on Duoc Son mountain have high medical value such as purple orchid, licorice, and yellow trumpet vine..., which can cure rheumatism, cirrhosis, sore throat, tooth decay, kidney, spinal degeneration, postpartum, typhoid... Local people as well as visitors from all over still have the custom of asking for medicinal leaves at Duoc Son to cure diseases and the legends about the Duoc Son relic still exist today.

According to local people, the Duoc Son mountain area is more than 10 hectares wide, and in the past there were more than 200 medicinal plants. The medicinal profession in Kiep Bac also originated from here and has been passed down to this day. Local people say that the medicinal plants grown in Duoc Son are incomparable to any other. However, the "Duoc Linh Co Vien" has also been lost over time, no longer retaining its wild beauty and precious medicinal plants. Many old medicinal gardens have been replaced by fruit gardens, and there are areas where people grow timber trees for economic purposes when they are allocated land. Due to many years of lack of management and restoration, this area has become wild, with the remaining medicinal plants growing among the weeds.

To preserve the precious medicinal garden, on June 18, 2010, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 920/QD-TTg "Approving the master plan of the Con Son-Kiep Bac relic site associated with tourism development in Chi Linh town, Hai Duong province", with a total investment of about 1,600 billion VND. In which, the Duoc Son medicinal garden is located in a special protection zone, belonging to the group of restoration and embellishment projects with a total area of 20,000m2.

Director of the Department of Health Le Minh Quang delivered a concluding speech at the working session with Chi Linh Medical Center.

Hai Duong province has also developed a project to restore, preserve and develop Duoc Son into a model medicinal garden, breeding, preparing for medical treatment, and at the same time being a destination in the historical, cultural and scenic relics in the special national relic complex of Con Son - Kiep Bac. After a field survey, Associate Professor - Doctor Le Minh Quang, Director of the Department of Health, emphasized that the ancient medicinal garden is one of the eight ancient gardens of Chi Linh land. The restoration of the ancient medicinal garden is necessary and requires the consensus of relevant departments and branches, especially the people here. The Department of Health listened to the contributions of each member representing the functional sectors and scientists on the advantages, difficulties and plans for building the medicinal garden. Based on the comments, the health sector will synthesize and develop a detailed plan to advise and submit to the City People's Committee a plan to restore the Duoc Son medicinal garden, part of the Con Son - Kiep Bac special national relic site, ensuring the preservation and promotion of the historical, cultural and traditional medical values of the nation./.

Duc Thanh

Source: https://soyte.haiphong.gov.vn/tin-hoat-dong/som-khoi-phuc-duoc-linh-co-vien-782382