Exploring the VIETNAMESE love story of CHU DONG TU in 6:32 minutes!

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of MythLoke with your host Nitin Nair. Today we are going to take a little journey into Southeast Asia and look up on Vietnamese mythology which has its own little quirks that actually keep it very different from the other mythologies of the same region. In Vietnamese mythology today we are going to be looking at Chu Dong Tu. In Vietnamese mythology Chu Dong Tu is regarded as one of the four immortals of the country along with Son Tinh, Thanh Giang and Lieu Hang of which Lieu Hang and Thanh Giang have been covered in an earlier episode of this podcast so please do check it out. In legends Chu Dong Tu appeared on a golden or yellow dragon and was able to meet Truong Quang Phuc, a 6th century resistance leader. In Vietnam Chu Dong Tu is regarded as a saint and his story with Princess Tien Dung is one of the oldest stories in the mythology. Chu Dong Tu was a mortal by birth and exhibited all the physicality of a regular person who lived at the time. Due to his extreme poverty all depictions show him as being malnourished before his wedding. He was later shown as becoming more saintly as he aged. Chu Dong Tu was married to Princess Tien Dung who was the daughter of Hung Vuong who was the king of the province in ancient Vietnam. The love story of Chu Dong Tu is celebrated as a Vietnamese version of Valentine's Day. Chu Dong Tu was a poor fisherman's son and was born into extreme poverty including having to share the same loincloth with his father. After his father died he did not want to bury him naked so sacrificed the loincloth to maintain the dignity of his father in death. He retreated to a marsh where few people would approach him and lived there. During this time the princess and her companions were on a journey to find new places to explore. At Datraj they came across a beautiful river close to where Chu Dong Tu lived. After granting the princess's wish to bathe in the river the servants set up a tent on the shore. As the water started to trickle down Chu Dong Tu who had covered himself in dirt to hide his nakedness lost all of his cover and appeared naked in front of the princess. Upon seeing Chu Dong Tu the princess immediately covered herself. The young man then told her that he had used his only clothes to clothe his father and had to hide from people and fish in the dark. The princess was not angry with Chu Dong Tu as he had done nothing wrong however she ordered the servants to clothe him and prepare for their wedding. The king was angered by the marriage of the princess to a poor commoner and then disowned the couple and forced them to work to feed themselves. During his business trip Chu Dong Tu met Fat Quang a sage whom he accepted as his teacher. Chu Dong Tu was a skilled trader and built quite a reputation as a fair and ethical businessman. His association with his mentor assured that he followed the teachings of Tao in his life. When Chu Dong Tu went back to his wife after his education with Fat Quang he was in possession of a conical hat and a pilgrim staff gifted by his teacher. He and his wife converted to Taoism and decided to wander the lands. Feeling very tired one day they stuck the staff and hat on the ground and went to sleep. They awoke to a clap of thunder and a magic citadel emerging from the ground. There were fabulous palaces, housing and other buildings and the population came forward to welcome them and invite them to run the kingdom. When King Hung Vuong heard of this he assembled an army to destroy this new kingdom. Tien Du refused her citizens request for arms to defend the citadel because she believed that heaven had created it and she must accept what is about to happen. The citadel vanished during the storm the night before the attack. After the citadel fell the soldiers found a beach and a pond which were named Dam Nat Da and Bai Tu Nien respectively. The festival of Chu Dong Tu is celebrated every year in the northern Vietnamese province of Phu Nien. The pilgrims arrive in elaborate costumes and are welcomed at the temples Da Trach and Da Hoa. After the opening ceremony a procession is carried out to remember the life and legend of Chu Dong Tu where two dragons lead the procession adorned with flowers and arranged on a drum. The festival begins with a procession consisting of several weapons and musicians. The participants then sit in various boats and dig into the river for the offerings at the temple. Various forms of entertainment are also performed during the festival such as grappling and human chess. Singles visit the to find their husband or wife and the event is also celebrated as oriental valentine's day. Various forms of entertainment are also performed during the festival such as martial arts competitions and folk songs. As you can see the legend of Chu Dong Tu inspired the romantic escapades of Vietnamese people from the very early on and keeping those traditions alive even today with festivals and elaborate rituals that are conducted every single year is a testament to the fact that the people of Vietnam are really keeping their traditions and mythology alive even today. We will be exploring a lot more similar couples and other romantic stories in the days to come but until then this is your host Nitin Nair signing out by reminding you once again that Mithila is the home of mythology.