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The Magic Crossbow
After ending the Hung Vuong dynasty, King An Duong Vuong unified the two countries of Au Viet and Lac Viet (some books have said Ba Thøc and Van Lang. Van Lang is Lac Viet. Ba Thøc is probably incorrect because it too far north! An Duong Vuong is probably a descendant of the Ba Thøc royal family and was known as Thøc Phán An Duong Vuong) into a single country that he named Au Lac. An Duong Vuong settled in Phong Khe (now in the district of Dong Anh, province of Phuc Yen). In 225 BC he decided to build the spiral-shaped fortress of Co Loa. However each time they were just about to complete the walls of the fortress,
they crumble. The King set up an altar, fasted (an chay - went on a vegetarian
diet to purify oneself) for three months to appeal to the Heavens. On the 7th of
March, an old man appeared at the Western gate and commented: The King invited him to his court, bowed himself and in tears asked: The old man replied: Then the old man bid his good-byes. The next morning the King went to the East gate. Suddenly he saw a golden
turtle emerge from the water in the sunrise direction. The turtle said: The King was very happy because this fulfilled the prophecy of the old man yesterday. He had a golden chariot transport this honored guest to his court. He asked him about the reason for the fortress falling down. The turtle replied: "The spirits of the mountain and the river in this area have been subverted by the departed spirits of the Hung Vuong descendants to take revenge on their loss of their kingdom. There is also a thousand year old white rooster that has been transformed into an evil spirit that now inhibits the That Dieu mountain. The ghost of a musician that was buried in these mountains, is also haunting it. By the side of the mountain, there is a small inn, whose owner, Ngo Khong, has a daughter and a white rooster. They are the evil spirits haunting these mountains. Each night they will reveal themselves under their evil forms and kill travelers. You need to catch the white rooster and the daughter of the inn owner, kill them both. Only then will the evil spirits be done with. However, before these evil spirits disappear, they will draft a petition to the Heavens to destroy the fortress. An owl will be used to transmit the petition. I will bite the owl and it will drop the petition for you to catch. Then that will be the end of these spirits and you can finish your fortress." The turtle then instructed the King to disguise himself as a traveler and go
to the inn and ask to stay the night. The King followed the instruction and came
to the door of the inn. He put the turtle on top of the entrance. The inn owner
Ngo Khong told him: The King smiled and replied: Then he spent the night there. The night came and the evil spirits came to
the door of his cabin and called out: The golden turtle shouted back: The evil spirits used fires and other means to try to break down the door but
they were unsuccessful thanks to the magic of the golden turtle. When the
rooster crowed, the spirits retreated. In the morning the inn owner brought an
undertaker with him. He was very surprised to find his guest alive and laughing.
He prostrated himself and said: The King said: As Ngo Khong killed the white rooster, his daughter also fell dead. The King had his people dig up Mount That Dieu. They found an old music instrument and a skeleton. They incinerated everything and threw the ashes in the river. At sunset, the King and the turtle went up Mount Viet Thuong. They saw the evil spirits transforming themselves into an owl up the big teak tree with a petition in its beak. The turtle transformed itself into a mouse and rushed after the owl up in the tree. The mouse bit the owl, which dropped the petition. The King picked up the petition and ripped it to shreds. From then on the evil spirits were finished. The fortress was finished in less than a month. Its perimeter was over ten thousand feet, in the shape of a snail, thus its name Loa Thanh. After three years, the golden turtle bid his farewell. The King asked: The turtle replied: The turtle then gave the King one of his claws and said: The King had Cao Lo build a crossbow with the claw as the trigger. A few years passed. Trieu Da (a general of Tan Thuy Hoang who decided to move south to strike out on his own) decided to invade. The King took out his magic crossbow and took a shot at the enemy. In one shot he killed thousands of the enemy. Trieu Da retreated to the Trau Son mountain range. He learned about the magic crossbow of An Duong Vuong. So, he had his ambassadors sue for peace. The King was very happy to let Trieu Da govern the land to the north of the Tieu Giang (small river). Shortly after, Trieu Da sent his son, Trong Thuy, to the King's court to ask for the hand of Princess Me ChAu. The King approved and Trong Thuy came to live at the King's court. Trong Thuy asked My Chau to let him have a look at the magic crossbow. He
substituted the magic trigger with a fake one. After this devious trick, Trong
Thuy asked for permission to go back and visit his parents. Before he left, he
told My Chau: She replied: Trong Thuy bid his farewells and took the magic claw with him back to his father. Trieu Da was very happy and raised his army for a sudden attack. When he heard the news, the King calmly continued his chess game and said: When Trieu Da's army arrived at the gate of his fortress, the King took out his magic crossbow and fired at the invader. But nothing happened! The unprepared army and the court just fled in panic. The King had to flee on a horse in the southern direction. When he reached
the seashore, there was no ship in sight. In desperation he cried out: The golden turtle emerged out of the water and shouted to the King: "The person on the back of your horse is your enemy. You must kill her before I would rescue you." The King pulled out his sword and beheaded My Chau. Before she died she
vowed: Her blood flowed down the ocean floor where oysters swallowed it and the blood transformed itself into pearls. The golden turtle took the King below the waters and disappeared. Trong Thuy with his pursuing troops following the goose feather trail arrived at the seashore shortly after. He only found the body of My Chau. In grief he took it back to Loa Thanh where he buried her. The grave became a deep well with crystal clear water. Trong Thuy fell sick from grief and in a moment of despair he jumped down the well to kill himself. Legend has it that if one were to wash a pearl from the
eastern sea (South China Sea) with water from this well, its brilliance will
increase tenfold. Memorial of king An Duong Vuong
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