Searching for the Dang family's leader from ancient documents

In the process of opening up the land, establishing villages, building markets, and digging canals in Tay Ninh, many ancestors were respected by the people, who built communal houses and temples to worship them until today. Coming to Trang Bang land, people still remember the chief of the Dang family who had the merit of establishing Phuoc Loc village (later changed to Gia Loc village). He was worshiped by the people, honored as the village's tutelary god and was granted the title "Duc Bao Trung Hung Linh Phu chi than" by the king.

The temple of the Boss is in the middle of the old market of Trang Bang.

Following the past, we came to Dang The Toc Pha, the general name of 3 genealogical books of the Dang family in Trang Bang, currently worshiped at Ong Ca temple (Loc Thanh quarter, Trang Bang ward).

The genealogy was written in Chinese and Nom characters on red paper, each volume was sewn with thread to bind into a volume. On the cover of each genealogy volume, the year of writing according to the year of the zodiac (Agricultural calendar) is clearly stated. Among them, there is a volume with 10 double sheets measuring 18x21cm (20 single sheets measuring 18x10.5cm), we temporarily call it volume 1, on the cover it is stated that it was rewritten on a good day and month of the year Canh Thin (1880).

The cover page says: Co to chi bon, the last page shows that this genealogy book was written in the year Canh Thin (possibly written in the same year as book 1), this book has 20 double sheets with size 18x24cm (40 single sheets with size 18x12cm), we temporarily call it book 2.

Another book on the cover states that this genealogy book was written by the Dang Van Day Council at Dang Phu Duong (now house number 121, Dang Van Truoc street, group 6, Loc Thanh quarter, Trang Bang ward) on a good day in April of the year Ky Ty (1929). This book has 15 double sheets with the size of 16.5x31cm (30 single sheets with the size of 16.5x15.5cm). We temporarily call it book 3. In this genealogy, Mr. Day calls Mr. Dang Van Truoc as his paternal grandfather and calls Mr. Dang The Chau as his paternal uncle (father's uncle).

Set of 3 volumes of Dang The Toc Pha

The royal decree for the sage Dang Chua at Ong Ca temple (Loc Thanh quarter, Trang Bang ward)

Research from 3 genealogical books shows that among the children of Mr. Dang The Thoi was Mr. Dang The Chua. According to book 1 of the genealogical book, Mr. Chua died on March 5 (Agricultural calendar). Up to now, every year on this day, a very solemn death anniversary ceremony is held at Ong Ca temple. The year of his death was also determined by his family and many documents to be the year of Binh Tuat (1826).

In volume 1 of the genealogy, it is also stated that Mr. Vaa had a wife named Le Thi Tu, her grave is currently in Ba Tung pit (Ben Kinh hamlet, Hung Thuan commune). Mr. Vaa had an eldest son whose name was associated with many achievements, respected by the people in Trang Bang, Mr. Dang The Truoc, in volume 1 he was also mentioned with the name Dang Van Truoc. Later, his name in the 3 genealogy books was also recorded as "tu Tong" and "hau Tong". That means he also had another name "Tong", or later changed his name to "Tong".

In book 2, it is stated that Mr. Dang The Truoc died on March 26 (Agricultural calendar). According to Mr. Dang Binh Chi - a descendant of the family, we speculate that if Mr. Dang The Truoc was Mr. Dang The Tong, the date of death recorded in the family tree could be the day he was arrested by the French or the day he was exiled to Guyane Island (South America). Since then, the family has had no information about him.

According to the Southern Land Register (1836), Gia Loc village had a character named Dang Van Truc who held 3 fields. The word "Truc" in Chinese according to Nom pronunciation is also read as "Truong". The character Dang Van Truc in the land register was Dang Van Truoc. Thus, in 1836, Mr. Dang Van Truoc was still alive and was recorded in the land register. Combining this information and according to Dang The family genealogy, March 5, 1826 was the death date of Mr. Dang The Chua, which was previously considered to be Mr. Dang Van Truoc.

In 1822, Mr. Ca held the position of Village Chief of Phuoc Loc village. Today, in Mr. Ca's temple, there is still a tablet with the following content: The spirit of the village chief Dang Chua. In the royal decree of King Bao Dai in the 8th year (1932), it was written: Decree for Gia Loc commune, Ham Ninh Ha commune, Trang Bang district, Tay Ninh province to serve the wise and virtuous Chief Dang Chua, who has appeared many times...

In the notebook written in Chinese characters by Mr. Tran Ngoc Con (Ba Con), there is a note inviting the Thanh Hoang god in the congratulatory text of the Gia Loc communal house offering ceremony: "The Gia Loc communal house's decree invites the Bon Canh Thanh Hoang god, the village chief Dang, whose given name is Vu Duc Bao Trung Hung Linh Phu, the god of the communal house". In addition, on the tombstone of Mr. Ca in Loc Thuan hamlet, Hung Thuan commune, his given name is "Dua", it can be assumed that this is the tomb of Mr. Dang The Giua, because in the Southern dialect, "Vua" is mispronounced as "Dua".

Gia Loc Communal House (Trang Bang Ward), where the village's patron saint is worshiped.

Dang Van Tong's clan name is Dang The Tong. According to Dang The clan genealogy, Mr. Dang Van Tong is Mr. Dang Van Truoc, son of the sage Dang The Chua. At Ong Ca temple, there is still a memorial tablet for Mr. Dang Van Tong with the content: Respectfully inviting the position of Hau Hien Gia Nghia Co Chanh Quan Co Dang Van Tong, in which the word "Tong" on the memorial tablet is written like the word "Tong" in "tu Tong" after the name of Mr. Dang The Truoc in the genealogy. We assume that the person named Dang Van Tong and Mr. Dang Van Truoc are the same person.

Mr. Dang Van Tong recruited hundreds of insurgents in Trang Bang and was respected by the people as a Commander, so people often called him Commander Tong, but according to his memorial tablet at Ong Ca temple, he held the position of Chief Manager of Gia Nghia base or the position of Chief Captain is also engraved on the four pillars of That Phu assembly hall (Loc An quarter, Trang Bang ward).

Trang Bang old market canal, associated with the achievements of the boss Dang The Chua (Photo archive)

Until now, the Dang family, the people of Trang Bang or later documents all believed that the Chief who created humanity and founded Gia Loc village was Mr. Dang Van Truoc, but when researching ancient documents such as genealogy, royal decrees, wills, memorial tablets, and tombstones, we guessed that the Chief who initially contributed to the formation of Gia Loc village was the sage Dang The Chua, the father of Mr. Dang Van Truoc.

The background of the characters Dang The Chua, Dang The Truoc, Dang The Tong is information we have just discovered in the process of learning about local history in Tay Ninh, which needs to be carefully researched to clarify further. In the past, due to taboos, the elders of the Dang family rarely told their descendants about their ancestors, and wars and chaos also caused many documents to be lost, leading to today's confusion.

But fortunately, the Han Nom genealogy is preserved at Ong Ca Temple and ancient documents are used to "clarify the muddy water and bring out the clear water" about a family line that has made many contributions to the southwestern region of the Fatherland./.

Phi Thanh Phat

Source: https://baolongan.vn/tim-ve-vi-trum-ca-ho-dang-tu-thu-tich-co-a207198.html