The season of burnt cotton flowers...

That flower chose the exact time of March, the month of the lean season, to bloom, to burn, to call the crested mynah and the fantail to gather among the green color of the young rice to contain the desire for plenty of farmers in the midst of famine.

From the humble tree

Perhaps, there are few trees that choose a precarious, lonely place to take root, spread branches and bloom like the kapok tree. On the dike slopes, river banks, which are originally “deserted fields”, they take root. Birds drop seeds without choosing a specific land or day, and then in the sun and rain, the kapok tree silently gathers its life sap from the aridity, without anyone fertilizing or caring for it, sprouting, thorns along the trunk, both protecting itself and growing up to spread branches and canopies. In the middle of the vast alluvial plains or precariously along the slopes of the road to the rocky plateau or alone in the middle of the fields, there are kapok trees spreading their canopies. Those kapok tree canopies are not only a mark of the way back in the luggage of those who travel far away.The cotton tree flowers at the temple entrance forever wave to those far from home"As in Hoang Cam's poem, it is also a shade for the hard-working farmers, who lie prone to avoid the scorching sun pouring down in the middle of summer, a place to rest every time they stop working. The kapok tree exists like that, alone, rough, thorny in the middle of the green, so that every March, when the village festival drums sound, the whole space of the rice explodes with red.

The season of blooming cotton flowers is also the festival season, the season of cold weather and the crop gap season when "Dear, spring has run out of days"... Perhaps the fiery color of the cotton flowers not only brightens up the damp space of the humid weather in the midst of the drizzle, but also contains nostalgia.“Now you are far away/ But the cotton flowers are still red in the March sky”as in Ha Cu's poem.

Each tree and flower has its own shape, but with the kapok tree, the shape of the trunk and flowers are very distinct. The mature kapok tree is straight, about 15 - 20 m high, a woody tree with a rough outer layer that turns gray-brown. The young kapok branches are often covered with sharp thorns, the kapok canopy spreads out in layers to create shade. Next to the roof of the quiet village temple, few people usually remember the age of the tree, remember the name of the person who planted it. Only when it flowers, the kapok trunk is already tall, rough and moldy, the top leaves are young and the flowers are blooming. The kapok flowers bloom when there are only a few cold winds playing with the kapok canopy above and the jumping steps of the mischievous birds are enough to make the young brown branches covered with red stars sway. The kapok flowers are 5-pointed, straight, the calyx is as thick as a young girl's wrist, tightly embracing the petals, from the time they first bloom, to when they fully bloom and then fall from the branch, they are still a brilliant color in that tight embrace. The young kapok flowers are large, red-yellow in color, with 5 straight petals. The sticky rice flower is smaller, bright red, blooming, with curved petals like bamboo shoot fingers arching towards the flower calyx.

There are many legends about the cotton tree, but the legend that many people know and remember, whether the tree's name is Po lang, Moc Mien or the cotton tree according to "Vietnamese Fairy Tales", is associated with "the passionate, troubled but faithful love of a couple who are responsible for the lives of the villagers, and the cotton tree is the incarnation when the young man, before going to heaven, asked the Jade Emperor why the rain and sun were so erratic and the villagers suffered, and tied a red cloth band around his lover's hand, each end with a five-petal tassel, as an oath of loyalty. Held back by heaven, and raised above the sky so that people on earth could not freely go up and down heaven, the young man could not return to marry the girl. In pain, the girl told the Jade Emperor, “If you cannot bring him back, please turn the pole into a flower with deep roots, a straight trunk, and a tall top so that I can see him, and turn the red cloth into a flower so that he can recognize me.” Then she threw herself on the ground, the five red cloth tassels on her wrists burst into five blood-red petals, spinning, spinning in the air. People called it the kapok flower, a bright red flower like the passionate love of the two people.

Perhaps from that legend, every March, the red color of the cotton tree on the high tree canopy lights up new rays of sunlight. The passionate red color evokes the old season, childhood, and the afternoons wandering around picking cotton flowers and picking silk petals to play with. Often growing in communal houses and pagodas, the cotton tree is often associated with the lives of villagers, even being a place for the poor and destitute to take refuge when they go to the other world. "The spirit of the banyan tree, the ghost of the cotton tree, the owl of the bodhi tree" and the day of offering to the wandering souls in the seventh lunar month, when the Ngau festival is sobbing, white porridge is poured into a funnel of banyan leaves and filled with cotton trees in the temple yard. When the sky is bluer, the sun is dry and yellow, the flowers show themselves off in the sun, burning even more brightly. From the gnarled roots, from the bare, peeling tree trunk, the red color gathers on the cotton tree petals, always fresh and radiant. Holding the cotton flower in hand, it is like feeling the passage of time with countless contemplations. "When March comes/ When the cotton flower falls, then plant sesame seeds" or "When March comes/ When the cotton flower falls, the old woman puts away her blanket".

To the burning "torches" is the heritage preserved in Hai Duong land

Coming to Hai Duong in March, it is not difficult to find a canopy of red cotton flowers in full bloom. Beside the communal house roof, on the curved roof of the pagoda, along the dike slope, along the roads connecting villages, there is an endless array of red cotton flowers. There are curves where cotton flowers bloom one after another, creating rivers of blazing wild flowers. At that time, the entire cotton canopy looks like a large torch with flames clinging to the reddish-brown branches.

Originally an alluvial land at the estuary, known as a good land with many cultural relics and famous landscapes nationwide, Hai Duong people are also proud of the ancient cotton trees. With these "old trees", cotton flowers are not simply shade trees but also symbols of the Vietnamese countryside with peace and prosperity... In recent years, many cotton trees have been surveyed and ranked in the list of ancient trees that need to be honored and protected. The image of a cotton tree in Phi Gia village, Dong Cam commune, Kim Thanh, nearly 200 years old, with a trunk about 30 - 35m high, still blooming red in the sky; the rows of cotton trees along the inter-district road from Phu Loc to Cam Giang town, Cam Giang district; the bright red torches amidst the green of cajuput and acacia trees throughout Vien Lang and Kiep Bac temple; is an ancient kapok tree in Lac Thien village, Lien Hoa commune, Kim Thanh district, about 175 years old, with a straight trunk 25m high, 97.34 cm in diameter, and a multi-layered canopy spreading out like a large umbrella, witnessing the joys and sorrows, gains and losses of countless lives in this purely agricultural village.

Each tree's fate, many lives when the kapok tree stands there as a historical witness. A part of the culture and customs of Cat Tien village, Hong Hung commune, Gia Loc is marked in the ancient kapok tree with a root diameter of about 80 cm, about 20 m high, through many rains and suns, the kapok tree is still green and attached to the spiritual life of the people of Cat Tien village. And together with the ancient kapok tree in Lac Thien village, the two trees have been recognized as Heritage Trees by the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment.

The ancient kapok tree recognized as a Vietnam Heritage Tree is not only a joy for the people of a specific village or commune associated with the preservation, maintenance and promotion of values ​​in the cultural life of the people, but also a lever to push many other movement activities to improve the material and spiritual cultural life of the people in harmony with the development of the locality. Who says trees do not have souls? Trees are the soul of the village, the spirit of the commune, the most unforgettable memory, especially for those who are far from home returning to their motherland.

Not as dreamy as the white trumpet flower, as fragrant as the grapefruit flower or as elegant as the lotus flower, the red silk cotton flower is always associated with the humble simplicity but also the resilience and patience of the hard-working farmer. "In March, the red silk cotton flower calls for summer/ The red fire flickers on the country road at the village entrance/ After a long time, I am surprised to see it again/ Who brought the red fire to the sky"... is a familiar feature when talking about red silk cotton flowers. But Hai Duong is also unique and famous for its canopy of golden silk cotton flowers, which are graceful and charming. This silk cotton tree belongs to the historical relic of Long Dong temple, Nam Tan commune, Nam Sach district, the temple worships three of Vietnam's leading scholars, Mac Hien Tich, Mac Kien Quan and Mac Dinh Chi, which is ranked as a national historical and cultural relic in Nam Sach. Not bearing the familiar red color, the silk cotton tree at Long Dong temple produces extremely brilliant and unusual yellow flowers. This yellow cotton tree was planted by Mr. Mac Song Chinh, a resident of Long Dong village, in 2010. After more than 10 years of care, the tree is now over 10m tall and has begun to bloom in the past 3 years. The yellow color of the cotton tree's flowers, like the color of the royal robe, has made the temple a place for tourists to worship and take photos when they come to Hai Duong. And to preserve this precious gene source, the management board of Long Dong Temple relic has grafted and propagated the yellow cotton tree, but once again, it was mysterious when Mr. Mac Song Chinh, the person who brought the tree to plant, said: "This cotton tree only blooms yellow flowers when planted on the land of the sacred temple".

So... there is another witness in Hai Duong land. As mysterious and legendary as the famous two-country champion Mac Dinh Chi.