Âu Cơ (

chữ Hán ( , ) are the Chinese characters that were used to write Literary Chinese in Vietnam, Literary Chinese (; ) and Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary in Vietnamese language, Vietnamese. They were officially used in Vietnam after the Red River Delta region ...

: 甌姬; ) was, according to the

creation myth A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Cre ...

of the

Vietnamese people The Vietnamese people (, ) or the Kinh people (), also known as the Viet people or the Viets, are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day northern Vietnam and Dongxing, Guangxi, southern China who speak Vietnamese language, Viet ...

, an immortal mountain snow

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

who married Lạc Long Quân (), and bore an egg sac that hatched a hundred children known collectively as Bách Việt,

ancestor An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder, or a forebear, is a parent or ( recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from ...

s to the

. Âu Cơ is often honored as the mother of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese

civilization A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of state (polity), the state, social stratification, urban area, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyon ...

Mythology

Âu Cơ was a beautiful young tiên (immortal) who lived high in the snow-capped mountains. She traveled to help those who suffered from illnesses since she was very skillful in medicine and had a sympathetic heart. One day, a monster suddenly appeared before her while she was on her travels. It frightened her, so she transformed into a crane to fly away. Lạc Long Quân, the dragon king from the sea, passed by and saw the crane in danger. He grabbed a nearby rock and killed the monster with it. When Âu Cơ stopped flying to see the very person that saved her, she turned back into a '' tiên (immortal)'' and instantly fell in love with her savior. She soon bore an egg sac, from which hatched a hundred children. However, despite their love for each other, Âu Cơ had always desired to be in the mountains again and Lạc Long Quân, too, yearned for the sea where the length of days are measured by seasons. They separated, each taking 50 children. Âu Cơ settled in the Vietnamese snow-covered mountains where she raised fifty young, intelligent, strong leaders, later known as the Hùng Vương, Hùng kings.

In Vietnamese literature

The books ''

Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư The ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'' ( vi-hantu, 大越史記全書; ; ''Complete Annals of Đại Việt'') is the official national chronicle of the Đại Việt, that was originally compiled by the royal historian Ngô Sĩ Liên under ...

'' (from the 15th century) and '' Lĩnh Nam chích quái'' (''Wonders plucked from the dust of Linh-nam'', from the 14th century) mention the legend. In ''

'' Âu Cơ is the daughter of Đế Lai (also known as Đế Ai 帝哀, or Emperor Ai, who was a descendant of

Shennong Shennong ( zh, c=神農, p=Shénnóng), variously translated as "Divine Farmer" or "Divine Husbandman", born , was a mythological Chinese ruler known as the first Yan Emperor who has become a deity in Chinese and Vietnamese folk religion. H ...

), while in Lĩnh Nam chích quái, Âu Cơ was Đế Lai's concubine before she married off to Lạc Long Quân. Additionally in Lĩnh Nam chích quái, Âu Cơ gave birth to an egg sac but threw it away in the field, believing the egg sac to carry bad omens.

Ngô Sĩ Liên Ngô Sĩ Liên (吳士連) was a Vietnamese historian of the Lê dynasty. Biography Ngô Sĩ Liên was the main compiler of the '' Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'', a chronicle of the history of Vietnam and a historical record of an Annamese ...

commented in the ''sử ký'' on the somewhat primitive nature of the relationship between the two progenitors, given that Lạc's father Kinh Dương Vương and Âu's grandfather Đế Nghi were brothers. The story of Âu Cơ and Lạc Long Quân is taught widely in Vietnamese schools.Jonathan D London ''Education in Vietnam'' 2011 Page 68 "Âu Cơ origin goddess" In her pamphlet about the Vietnam War, called simply "Vietnam", the American author Mary McCarthy mentions the use of the Vietnamese creation myth by American agents seeking to rally patriotic support for South Vietnam.

Notes

References

Sources

*Friedman, Amy. "One Hundred Kings – a Legend of Ancient Vietnam", ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', 12 July 2005, pg. 8 *Taylor, Sandra C. ''Vietnamese Women at War'' (Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1999) *Turner, Karen Gottschang. ''Even the Women Must Fight'' (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1998) *Willing, Indigo A. “The Adopted Vietnamese Community: From Fairy Tales to the Diaspora”, ''Michigan Quarterly Review 43'', no. 4 (2004)

External links

Vietnamese Myths & Legends

Civilization.ca - Boat People No Longer: Vietnamese Canadians - History of Vietnam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Au Co Vietnamese mythology Fairies Ancient Vietnam Female legendary creatures Vietnamese deities Vietnamese goddesses National personifications