The Fairy Tale Spring in the Upper Region

For thousands of years, these streams have been places where devout monks built hermitages for meditation, where people in the forest regions erected shrines to worship deities and pray for peace, and where many famous figures resigned from their official positions to live in seclusion.

The poem "Con Son Song" by Nguyen Trai (1380 – 1442) praises the beauty of the Con Son mountain region (present-day Chi Linh, Hai Duong ) when he retired to his home, where the Truc Lam Zen master Huyen Quang of the Tran dynasty practiced meditation: "The streams of Con Son murmur, I hear it like the sound of a zither in my ear" (Nôm translation).

The stream in the mountains is also associated with the concept of a source of elixirs, linked to the legend of "Peach Blossom Spring," the stream of peach blossoms in the celestial realm of Thien Thai, where Luu Than and Nguyen Trieu of the Han dynasty in China met fairies and married while gathering medicinal herbs. This legend has been introduced into Vietnam with versions such as Tu Thuc meeting fairies in Nga Son ( Thanh Hoa ).

Famous for centuries to this day is the Yen Stream at Huong Tich Pagoda (My Duc, Hanoi ). Its official name is Yen Vi, and the stream is a source of water flowing around the Huong Son mountain range, creating a natural wetland area before finally joining the Day River. It is a total of 4km long.

This is also a stop on the traditional pilgrimage to Huong Tich Pagoda for visitors from all over. In fact, the scenery of Yen Stream is what creates the beauty of the entire complex, softening the beauty of the caves and mountains reflected in the water.

If in spring the kapok trees along the banks are the highlight, then in autumn, the entire Yen stream is ablaze with purple and pink water lilies, making the Huong Pagoda tourist season no longer just the three months of spring.

Many streams have attracted pilgrims, such as Tay Thien (Tam Dao, Vinh Phuc), Ao Vua (Ba Vi, Hanoi), Suoi Mo (Luc Nam, Bac Giang), or Giai Oan stream (Yen Tu, Quang Ninh), creating cultural and religious sediments that make these streams places where people entrust their aspirations for peace and seek to cleanse themselves of worries and sorrows.

Even the sacred fish streams in Cam Thuy (Thanh Hoa), where the Muong and Thai ethnic groups consciously preserve the natural ecosystem, have created a small legend for this mountainous region.

The most famous stream during the revolutionary period was the one named after a world communist leader: Lenin. The water of the Bang River flows through Coc Bo Cave, where President Ho Chi Minh worked upon his return to Vietnam in 1941. Lenin Stream and Marx Mountain have become a famous pair of landmarks in Cao Bang province, with their clear blue water reflecting the forests and dark, mysterious rocky mountains. This atmosphere becomes especially beautiful in autumn, coinciding with the anniversaries of the August 1945 Revolution.

Heritage Magazine