Van Nho - land of history and culture

Le Loi Temple in Van Nho Commune - a place to educate revolutionary traditions for the young generation.

According to the history of the Party Committee of Ba Thuoc district (old), Ba Thuoc land was the area where Lam Son insurgents operated continuously and for the longest time. From 1420 to 1423, Lam Son insurgents won many resounding victories, including the battle of Ba Lam (Dien Lu, Dien Quang) in 1420; the battle of Kinh Long (Co Lung) in 1421... The contributions of the people of Ba Thuoc district (old) to Lam Son insurgents are still preserved in historical stories and worship relics. A typical example is the temple of Le Loi in the field of Bo Ha village (old Ky Tan), now Van Nho commune.

Legend has it that while plowing the field, a farmer named Ha saw three strangers passing by, claiming to be merchants, wanting to enter his tent for a midday rest. The farmer named Ha immediately invited the guests into his tent to rest. Seeing that the guests were hungry, he opened a bundle of sticky rice and a tube of soup to invite them to eat together. They happily chatted and were of one mind, and the farmer named Ha prepared many dishes to invite the guests. The guests praised the delicious meal, and before leaving, the guests told the farmer that if he were successful in the future, he should make offerings to him with offerings like this meal. When he returned home, he told the story to everyone in the village. After hearing the story, many people in the village speculated that Le Loi and the generals of the Lam Son insurgents had disguised themselves as merchants to deceive the enemy and investigate the situation. Some time later, Le Loi fled the enemy to Muong Muan, present-day Van Nho commune, to hide. Here, the Lam Son insurgents were sheltered and helped by the people. After the Lam Son uprising was successful, the people of Muong Muan built a temple on a high mound in the middle of the Bo Ha village field to commemorate the merits of the national hero Le Loi. Every year, on the 22nd of August (lunar calendar), the people prepare offerings to the temple and burn incense to commemorate the hero Le Loi.

Coming to Van Nho land, tourists can also explore and experience the sacred fish cave in Chieng Ban village. Around the fish cave, there are still many difficult to explain stories, imbued with mythological colors. Therefore, Van Nho people worship the fish living in the cave.

From the sacred fish cave, following the terraced fields to the halfway up the mountain is a stone cave - where the altars of the leaders of the Can Vuong movement are placed. According to the history of the Van Nho Commune Party Committee, the stone cave is where the leader of the Can Vuong movement, Tong Duy Tan, hid. Here, Tong Duy Tan was protected and cared for by the people. But because of Cao Ngoc Le's betrayal, the French army found his hiding place. After capturing Tong Duy Tan, the French army tried to subdue him but failed, so they executed him. To commemorate Tong Duy Tan, the people of Van Nho Commune built a temple to worship him.

During the resistance war against the US to save the country, Van Nho land became the base of the air defense radar company. During this period, Van Nho commune had Mr. Ha Van Kep, Hieng village, who was honored to be awarded the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces.

Coming to Van Nho land, tourists can explore and experience the cultural space of the Thai ethnic group, admire the majestic natural landscape, enjoy the traditional dishes of the local people... This is an important condition for Van Nho commune to develop tourism , create more jobs, and increase income for the people. However, due to many subjective and objective factors, the potential and advantages of the cultural and historical land of Van Nho have not been promoted by the people.

Mr. Tong Minh Hoa, Chairman of Van Nho Commune People's Committee, said: Van Nho is a historical and cultural land, the people still preserve many traditional cultural values. However, for many years, the locality has not had the conditions to exploit the potential and advantages for tourism development. In the coming time, Van Nho commune will pay attention to renovating and embellishing Tong Duy Tan worshiping cave, Le Loi worshiping temple; focus on developing eco-tourism in Bat cave (Pat village), Fish God cave (Chieng Ban village), Ta Ton waterfall (Hieng village); restore Muong Ky festival; organize the Pray for Rain festival... To achieve this goal, the commune focuses on promoting the natural beauty, historical and traditional cultural values. Strengthening promotion work, calling for attracting potential businesses to explore opportunities and cooperate in investing in tourism development. Focusing on investing in building traffic infrastructure, grassroots cultural institutions; foster and improve the quality of human resources, exploit the tourism potential of Van Nho land, contribute to the development of local socio-economy.

Article and photos: Xuan Cuong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/van-nho-vung-dat-lich-su-van-hoa-270242.htm