The sacred cross-bow is handed over inadvertently to the enemy So that the great cause is immersed in the sea Tố Hữu,
The sacred cross-bow is handed over inadvertently to the enemy
So that the great cause is immersed in the sea (Tố Hữu)
The legend of My Chau – Trong Thuy with the sacred cross – bow of An Duong Vuong is a legend full of reverie, which the great poet To Huu has condensed in two verses full of warning for vigilance before the danger of agression which the Vietnam is faced to along its history. The legends and the tradition have always a historic core and the material proofs of this legend have been exhumed, they are the tumbler of the cross-bow, the heads of arrow in bronze and the golden turtle.
The archeologists have found a storehouse of heads of arrow, and there are still plenty of other arrows with different forms, found in cultural sites of Dong Son in the North, which proves that the ancient Viets are well versed in bows, and attribute this arm to their supreme chief, An Duong Vuong.
The tumblers of cross-bow are found in rather great quantities in the sites of Dong Son but the greatest quantity is probably that exhibited in the hall entitiled “Echo of Dong Son” at the National Museum of Vietnamese History. It resembles to a machine for throwing arrows that researchers have restored and experienced at the National Museum of Vietnamese History.
The turtle the nail of which has been used as a tumbler of the cross-bow, has also been found by archaeologists in stamps the handle of which is a turtle of the time of late Dong Son.
Thus the legend of My Chau – Trong Thuy was materialized by three sorts of objects having relation with the legend of the sacred cross-bow, the secret of the legend has it been discovered ?
The legend of the sacred cross-bow exists not only in Vietnam.It is an arm striking from far, utilised by many peoples of the world and having an effect surpassing arms striking near, though this comparison is rather lame. However, the love story of My Chau – Trong Thuy with the series of vestiges: the tumbler, the sacred turtle, the bronze heads of arrow of the citadel of Co Loa, gives me a profound impression about a true story, which time has covered with contemporary elements, so that it is difficult to distinguish the true from the false. Therefore I always consider that the objects exhibited at the National Museum of Vietnamese History and the tumbler of the cross-bow in the hall of exhibition “Echo of Dong Son” as material elements giving to the legend a power of persuasion full of humanism (2 photos: the tumbler and the sacred cross-bow)
Hồng Hải