From village affairs, national affairs to the era of rising up

Living in the village

On the third day of Tet in the countryside, from early morning, next to the clattering sound of neighbors getting up to cook, the village loudspeaker announced: An old lady passed away due to old age and poor health.

So for the remaining days of Tet, the village was quiet with no singing. It was not appropriate at the time, but the whole village was quiet, only soft greetings remained. The loud "do ta, do ta" sounds during drinking parties also lessened.

The loudspeaker also announces and assigns tasks:

- People gathered at the funeral home from 8am to pay their respects and then take the body to the field.

My uncle's son is also on that list.

- Do you mind going on Tet holiday? - I asked.

- Why are you shy? The whole village takes turns doing our family's work. I can't not go. If I'm busy, I have to tell the village chief to replace me with my child.

Asking that, but honestly, after many years of being away, I always miss the village customs.

My village is remote, in the position of "One rooster crows, three provinces can hear", adjacent to Hung Yen and Bac Ninh. It is not an ancient Northern village, but as the elders say, my village originated from another place about 200 years ago, but the "deep roots" of the village have been preserved for many years.

When there is a family event, especially a funeral, even if there is a conflict, everyone must still be present, it has become a custom. It is like the Catholic saying "Today you, tomorrow me", so that when your family has an event, the neighbors will treat you the same way you treat them.

I remember during the subsidy period, when a family had a wedding, the whole village was like a festival. The kerosene lamps were brightly lit, and the music of Bonye 79 resounded throughout the area. No need for relatives, every night before the wedding, the elderly and children would invite each other to the party to chew betel, drink water, and watch young people dance to loud music.

But to have a wedding is the effort of the whole family and village. To build the wedding tent, we have to borrow bamboo trees, pieces of canvas, share in borrowing pots and pans, aluminum trays, copper trays for the food...

Then build a road to the fields, if any family does not contribute money and labor, it will be "difficult to live" in the village.

"Village work" is like that. When living in the village, when there is work to do, we must roll up our sleeves and work together, considering village work as family work, then we will have deep roots and strong roots. "Living in the village, living in the country" is like that, to talk about the importance of living in the village.

Everyone is concerned about the country's affairs.

Last year, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, I met Mr. Nguyen Duc Noi, who turns 90 this year and is a Dien Bien Phu veteran.

He said that in 1952, two years before the Dien Bien Phu Victory, he was only 16 years old, and along with 18 other young men from Lang Xuyen village, Gia Tan commune (now Gia Phuc commune, Gia Loc), he was led by a soldier to the campaign. When he revealed the secret to his mother about his plan to "go to the campaign", his mother said:

- You're so small, can you keep up with them? If you do, you'll die...

- The village youth have come together, mother. I can go. I can die too - he replied.

I have asked myself many times, 73 years ago, by some miracle, young boys, only 16 - 17 years old, not even full, but together went on a campaign in a dark and stormy night, not knowing if they would return alive or not.

Perhaps, it can only be explained that they consider it a national duty that must be done, that when there is an enemy, they must fight it together.

Then many times returning to Kiep Bac, standing on the Luc Dau Giang dike watching the water rushing out to the sea, I imagined and wondered, why during the Tran Dynasty, hundreds of thousands of farmers and fishermen left their families to join the army in Van Kiep?

Instead of holding hoes, instead of rowing oars, weaving nets, they used their hands to swing swords and knives to drive the Mongol army - the fierce and elite enemy, the fear of any feudal nation from Asia to Europe - out of Dai Viet?

Perhaps, it can be explained briefly in terms of national affairs. "When the enemy comes, even women fight", let alone men.

The war is over, but the Vietnamese people from the mountains to the plains and cities still fully take care of village and national affairs, just like their ancestors did thousands of years ago.

From village affairs to national affairs, if the village is peaceful and the country is prosperous, Vietnam will have enough resources to turn to a new page - the era of national growth.