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| Phuong Nam with idyllic and poetic rivers. |
Nine branches of the Mekong River bring sweet alluvium to build up the delta land, with luxuriant fruit gardens, "straight-wing storks" fields, an abundant source of shrimp and fish. The cuisine has a strong flavor of the river and garden. The people are hospitable and honest. It is these things that have created the special traditional culture of the people and the land of the Mekong Delta.
The Mekong Delta is the largest freshwater alluvial plain in the country, built up by God's gift of a large and gentle river named Cuu Long.
The Mekong Delta is formed from ancient sweet alluvial deposits, gradually accreted through epochs of sea level change, leading to the formation of sand dunes along the coast. The journey through thousands of years of people going down to explore this river delta:
"Mam first, mangrove after, melaleuca following closely
Behind the row of coconut palms, the roof of the house.
In order to have the southern land, the colonists had to exchange it with a lot of sweat and blood. Wild land with strabismus fields, melaleuca forests, wild animals.
According to Vuong Hong Sen, in the years 1670-1680, right at the garrison of Vice Vuong of Cambodia Prei Norkor, later Saigon, "Prei Norkor at that time, was just a small village in the jungle, next to a fortress. fortified, sparsely populated, houses shackled, with tree-roofed poles, concentrated on high hills, surrounded by ponds with stagnant water all year round. Nature has existed since the creation of heaven and earth, no one has explored it, full of mosquitoes, leeches and wild animals: westerns, statues, leopards, monkeys, crocodiles..."
And according to "Vietnamese culture in the Southwest region" by Tran Ngoc Them, editor: "For those who go to reclaim land in small groups and rudimentary tools, the places with favorable natural conditions are first of all the regions. high and dry coastal or along rivers and canals. After settling down and the population gradually increasing, people will continue to expand gradually. Only when creating the art of "digging ditches up on the floor", the Southwestern people came to master the low-lying areas.
From a desolate land to a rich land, it is the blood and sweat of the settlers who struggled with the rigors of the reclamation. They are poor farmers and craftsmen in the outer provinces suffering from extreme poverty because of the war, oppressed and brutally exploited by the feudal class, poor teachers... unable to live, forced to live. They had to leave their homeland and villages to migrate to a new land far away to find a way to live, to find a new life.
With the special character of those who go to find new land is strong, fierce, tough bravery. There is no obstacle to slow them down. Is it possible that he has created a reckless, brazen, and social character.
With dangers and uncertainties from the very beginning. The wild features of the southern nature were first discovered: "Mosquitoes sound like a flute / Leeches wade like pancakes" or "Thap Muoi salty water, sour fields / Half a season of sunshine, half a season of rising water".
The place is called the sacred forest, poisoned water and beasts. Animals that always threaten their lives: "U Minh, Rach Gia are too mountainous / Under the crocodile river, wading in the tiger forest". They have to live in a place full of weeds, strabismus, melaleuca, etc. They fight tigers, kill crocodiles, fight with these aggressive animals, and also have small animals like mosquitoes, leeches… The wild features of the reclaimed land, the landscape. things that make explorers afraid: "Come here to a strange land / The birds are scared, the fish in the area are also terrible".
In return, nature has a favor for them with very rich products: "Mom, the duck is drowned / Reach out my hand to catch the catfish to bite me" or "Who wants to come back to Thap Muoi / Fish and shrimp are ready caught, the grain of heaven is ready to eat." They make use of available natural resources to serve their daily livelihood. They have left behind a rich treasure of experiences in how to live in harmony with nature. A land with chivalrous, honest, and respectful people.
The land is favorable with two seasons, rainy and sunny, and the land is fertile. Rich in animals, aquatic products, birds, wild flowers, etc.
Especially in the flood season. Create a culinary world full of colors and unique flavors that other regions do not have. It is the wise behavior of man before nature. The rustic dishes that once opened the land have become typical dishes representing the cultural philosophy of a land and a population. Creating a unique culture of people and land in the Mekong Delta.
Now the water no longer operates according to the rules, no longer provides resources (aquatic, alluvial ...) to help the sweet and sour alluvial land wash alum for the fields and gardens as in previous years. According to scientists, the amount of alluvium in the Mekong Delta has decreased significantly.
And people no longer live with water (dams, embankments), make use of water, consider floating water as a part of their lives anymore. Water resources are severely affected. This is no longer a “meeting place of favorable natural conditions”.
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| Nature has a favorable part with very rich products, people take advantage of available natural resources to serve their daily livelihood. |
Although the period of land reclamation has receded, the people of the Mekong Delta still keep many customs and habits of this period through their daily living habits. Although there are changes with the times, due to the needs of socio-economic development, the new land still retains many unique cultural traditions such as cuisine with bold flavors of rivers and gardens, kind people. , honest and simple in the people of the South.
Post, photo: HOI THUONG
