Man Mountain - Bai Tho Mountain are legendary twins

(Construction) - Ha Long City is known domestically and internationally as a semi-mountainous land - a beautiful coastal landscape, embracing a stone forest on the water with 1,969 islands of all shapes and sizes. Couple of chickens is a symbol of Ha Long Bay, but few people know about the twin mountains in Ha Long city with cultural deposits.

(Construction) - Ha Long City is known domestically and internationally as a semi-mountainous land - a beautiful coastal landscape, embracing a stone forest on the water with 1,969 islands of all shapes and sizes. Couple of chickens is a symbol of Ha Long Bay, but few people know about the twin mountains in Ha Long city with cultural deposits.

That is, Bai Tho mountain and Man Son mountain. Bai Tho Mountain is located in Bach Dang and Hong Gai wards, Man Son Mountain is in Thong Nhat commune. This mountain is on the North bank, the other is on the South bank of Cua Luc Bay, 12.6km apart. The two mountains have a common feature: they are large limestone mountains and isolated from neighboring rocky mountains; has quite similar geomorphology, minerals, and vegetation. According to scientists, these two mountains were born at the same time during the second geological period.

Legend has it that at the beginning of the wilderness, the Jade Emperor sent angels to patch up the tears between heaven and earth. The angel carrying stones and patching up the sky has a huge body, mortals call him a giant. One day, when the giant changed roles, his burden was broken, one stick fell to the edge of the sea now called Bai Tho Mountain, and the other stick fell to the edge of the forest at the foot of the Thien Son mountain range "five tigers sitting on mountains" in the Northeast ( The 5 mountains over 1,000m high in the Dong Trieu arc are now called Man Mountain.

The twin mountains have an inseparable relationship with the giant's footprints left on the ground. Legend has it that Cua Luc Bay is 17m deep, has a water surface area of ​​18km2, and the water surface between Bai Tho Mountain and Man Mountain is the giant's footprint. Xich Tho village, Thong Nhat commune, bordering the northern shore of Cua Luc bay, today local people still say that there are two giant footprints on the pine hill, called giant mountain and giant footprint. The low land shaped like a human foot here is about 1 acres wide. During the subsidy period, people planted crops there and it was called giant field.

Bai Tho Mountain

Bai Tho Mountain is located in the urban center of Ha Long city. In 1992, it was ranked as a national historical and scenic relic.

Bai Tho Mountain is 198.2m high, has a base area of ​​22.9ha, and the old area is Truyen Dang Mountain. In the past, fishermen and merchant ships called the lighthouse Truyen Dang, now it is Hai Dang, a signal light for boats and ships traveling in the Northeast sea. In 1468, King Le Thanh Tong patrolled the waters of An Bang, arriving at the foot of Truyen Dang mountain, a calm sea with green water, emerging a tall, isolated mountain with breathtaking scenery. The king turned the scene into poetry and had someone carve it into the cliff. Next, there are 11 poems written by mandarins of later feudal dynasties and other people and guests who also carved poems on Truyen Dang cliffs. The mountain has many poems, the greatest being the poem of King Le Thanh Tong, the locals used to call it De Tho mountain, then gradually called Bai Tho mountain.

Poem by King Le Thanh Tong with 56 Chinese characters, carved into a cliff about 6m above tide level.

The poem by King Le Thanh Tong was carved into the mountainside in the south and is the oldest poem and has the most historical and cultural value. The poem has 56 Chinese characters, carved into a rectangular hollow cliff, about 6m above tide level.

After King Le Thanh Tong, many poets carved poems into Truyen Dang mountain. The poem by An Do Vuong Trinh Cuong was engraved in 1729, depicting a poem by King Le Thanh Tong. In 1910, Quang Yen Governor Nguyen Can engraved an article; In the same year, the judge brothers Vu Tuan and Vu Dai each engraved two poems, Vu Dai's wife, Dao Thi Thoa, had a poem in the national language. In 1929, officials Hong Lo Tu Khanh and Nguyen Van Ban engraved an article; In 1935, the Tuan Phu mandarin of Quang Yen province, Nguyen Van Dao, engraved a poem. On Truyen Dang Mountain, there are two more poems carved into rocks around the 40s of the 20th century. The preface and content of the poems are mainly about natural beauty, the spirit of the Tran dynasty, and the prosperity of the Le dynasty.

Bai Tho Mountain is also a historical relic marking the milestones of the army and people of Ha Long city during the struggle against the French colonialists and American imperialists. On the night of April 30, 1930, patriotic miner Dao Van Tuat climbed Bai Tho mountain to hang the Party flag at Mo Qua tip. On the morning of May 1, 1930, the red hammer and sickle flag flew on Bai Tho Mountain in broad daylight, affirming the revolutionary fighting spirit of the miners in the coal region, making the French colonialists extremely frightened at that time.

Cave No. 6 relic is currently managed by the Hong Gai Ward Youth Union.

During the resistance war against America, Bai Tho Mountain also recorded many historical marks. During the first American air attack, on the Mo Qua cliff, a loudspeaker was placed that was transferred from a cluster of high-power speakers on the northern bank of Hien Luong Bridge - 17th parallel to signal air defense orders and an observatory for enemy aircraft. from far away. The caves inside the mountain are different in width and narrow, called from cave No. 1 to cave No. 6. During war, the caves in the mountain are used to hide from bombs, postal information stations, radio stations, etc. Cave number 6 is large, containing the emergency department of the provincial hospital.

The temple festival of Monsignor Tran Quoc Nghien was restored and held on April 29 and 30 in association with the annual Ha Long Tourism Week.

There are many species of plants on the mountain, including some beautiful flowers such as orchids, sycamores, bamboo, and wild golden monkeys still live. At the foot of Bai Tho mountain in the north is Long Tien pagoda, the largest and most beautiful pagoda in Ha Long city; At the foot of the western mountain there is a sacred temple worshiping Hung Vu Vuong Tran Quoc Nghien. The Bai Tho Mountain - Long Tien Pagoda relic cluster was ranked a national historical and scenic relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 1992.

Mountain

Núi Mằn ở thôn Đá Trắng, xã Thống Nhất.

Man Mountain is 381.8m high, has a bottom area of ​​383ha, located between two streams, Da Trang stream and Luong Ky stream, which flow into Cua Luc bay. Man Mountain was also known as Ban Mountain in the past, a beautiful and typical mountain for the terrestrial limestone mountain system of Ha Long city.

In fairy tales and legends, the name "Multiple mountains and seas, ten thousand great kings" has been recorded. According to Dong Khanh's geographical journal page 406, the National History Office of the Nguyen Dynasty compiled in 1886-1888, Hoanh Bo land, now Ha Long city, had many beautiful rocky mountains at that time such as: Ban Mountain, Truyen Dang Mountain, Hap Mountain, Phuong Cac mountain... But there were only two famous mountains ranked as Famous Sons at that time: Man mountain and Truyen Dang mountain. Historians say that Man Mountain was once the headquarters of the Ly Dynasty army during the resistance war against the Song Dynasty in the 11th century. During the Tran Dynasty, during the two resistance wars against the Yuan-Mongol invaders (1285, 1288), Man Mountain was chosen by Hung Dao king Tran Quoc Tuan as the strategic reserve headquarters of the naval army. After winning the Bach Dang battle in 1288, King Tran Thanh Tong gathered his troops at Man Mountain and set up an altar to worship the gods. Mount Man is a mountain river acupuncture point, in the Northeast region, a place of prosperity.

Bach Thach Linh Tu, worships the only Taoist religion in Vietnam.

At the foot of Man Mountain there is a sacred ancient temple, which the locals simply call the White Stone Temple, and the literal name is Bach Thach Linh Tu. Temple of the Supreme Immortal Taoist; Many localities of Thuong Tien Taoism have established shrines and temples, but they mainly worship worship. Bach Thach Temple, in particular, worships the main Daoist gods, is a unique feature in Vietnam. Bach Thach is compassionate, the harem worships a statue of a goddess made of monolithic white stone weighing over 1 ton, sitting on a dragon throne, sitting in the double position, with a compassionate and pure facial expression. According to legend, the ancient god who guarded the Bach Ngoc Kinh in the sky and Man Son was honored with the title Thien Cung Thuong Tien, old mother of Man Son, and Lady Bach Ngoc. Bach Thach's spirit, when the three religions were of the same origin, they worshiped the Council of the Four Palaces, the Jade Emperor, the Tam Thanh and the Buddhist temple.

Mr. Trinh Van Khoa, a long-time resident of Da Trang village, said that on Man mountain there is a large square rock shaped into a strange chandelier. The elders said that it was a tent from the heavens, the lid was kept on Bai Tho mountain.

In the field, halfway up Man Mountain, there are natural rocks with strange shapes, with the top bulging out to be large and the bottom constricting into a small mushroom-like shape called hat rim rocks. There is a box-shaped rock with square edges and an old man's heart that says it is a chandelier, a chandelier built on Bai Tho Mountain (Poi Tho Mountain also has a square stone slab as legend has it). This strangeness is related to the idiom "old snakes shed their skins, old people fall into their shells". On the east side of the mountain there is a large stone cave called Buddha cave, inside the cave there are ruins of an ancient worshiping temple, because on the ceiling of the cave, under a layer of faint moss, there are ancient Chinese characters, roughly translated as Son Than Tu and fragments of ancient worshiping objects, Deep inside the cave, the stalactites are still pristine and shimmer when they catch the light.

The saddle points halfway up the mountain, with many low-lying areas where water collects and crystal clear water seeps out from between rocks, the locals call it Thien Be (or Heaven Well). Thien Be has four seasons of water: in the summer the water is cool, in the winter the water is warm and in the morning the water surface evaporates like a pan of boiling water. The rising steam mixed with the night mist rippled around the rocky outcrops, looking like waves playing in the sea. At the bottom of the water, shrimps swim and there are many mountain crabs and wild snails living. When they see movement, crabs as big as sea fiddler crabs rise up to defend themselves, looking funny and showing that the living environment on the back of Man Son mountain is very good.

It is very possible that people once lived on Man Mountain. Some scholars researched the history of the museum, where Son Vi - Dong Son cultural deposits were located; In the cave there are many fossilized marine flora. Legend has it that Man Mountain used to be a place of refuge to avoid the enemy and to avoid being hunted when soldiers and swords succeeded the royal court, which often happened in feudal dynasties. Because traces of ancient Chinese characters, fragments of ancient terracotta utensils, shells and tangerine trees appear to have been planted, there are still traces left on the ceiling of the cave. Man mountain tangerine, the tree grows on rocks but is green and bears fruit. When tangerines ripen, many patches of forest are golden. In the past, shepherd children still picked them, but now ripe tangerines are falling from the trees, only to serve as prey for wild animals.

Man Mountain has a rich and diverse flora very similar to Bai Tho Mountain, but far from urban areas there are more trees and wild animals. The patch of land interspersed with rocks has many species of precious medicinal plants, cymbidiums and wild animals such as: antelopes, golden monkeys, monitor lizards, geckos, pheasants, peacocks... The Man mountain relic cluster is recognized by the Ministry of Culture - Sports and Tourism ranked national historical and scenic relics in 2014.

Luc Gate

Cua Luc Bay, with a water area of ​​18km2 and a depth of 17m, is the connection center between Ha Long city and Hoanh Bo district when the two localities merged into one, taking the common name Ha Long city. Cua Luc Bay has a similar relationship with Man Mountain and Bai Tho Mountain. Legend has it that Cua Luc Bay is the footprint of a giant carrying rocks to the sky. When he changed shoulders, one of the rocks fell into the sea, Bai Tho Mountain, and the other rock fell into the forest, Man Mountain.

Cua Luc Bay used to be an ancient seaport cluster with Gao Rang wharf and Dong wharf; On the wharf is the Mac Dynasty citadel.

Vinh Cua Luc also has different opinions, some say it is the confluence of 6 rivers, but some say it is completely different from Luc Dau Giang in Hai Duong province. Cua Luc Bay, above is the roof of mountains, streams and forests falling straight down, without alluvium, the clear green forest water mixes with the same clear blue sea water. At the estuary, the clear blue water is called Cua Luc. Today's Cua Luc Bay was originally a strait with three navigable channels. The main gate is Cua Luc, the pair of armpit doors are Hon Hai gate and Kenh Dong gate. Inside the bay is a cluster of ancient seaports with Gao Rang wharf, Dong wharf... belonging to Van Yen, Tri Xuyen, Bang Troi cantons.

On July 26, 1884, mandarin Pham Than Duat, on behalf of the Hue court, signed a 100-year coal mine lease to French capitalists. The French colonialists created a land concession map, at that time the Bai Chay - Hon Gai area was an island, boats from Hon Hai (Hong Hai ward) entered Cua Luc bay to Dong Kenh (Geng Day ward). Bai Tho Mountain and Ba Deo Mountain were both islands at that time. Hung Thang Island and Sa To Island have recently become mainland.

Cua Luc is mentioned in the history of the classic naval battle of Van Don - Luc Thuy, where General Tran Khanh Du of the Tran Dynasty sank 600 warships of the Nguyen - Mongol invaders in 1288 in the Northeastern sea. Autographs in two poems engraved on Bai Tho mountain, written by mandarin Hong Lo Tu Khanh Nguyen Van Ban in 1929 titled "Cruising on a boat to visit the Six Seas..."; The article "Going to Luc Hai to sail..." engraved in 1935 by Quang Yen Governor Nguyen Van Dao, further cemented Cua Luc as a sea gate with clear blue water.

Mr. Tran Van Nghi from Xich Tho village said that the person whose body can carry Bai Tho Mountain and Man Mountain must have feet as big as Cuu Luc Bay, but the legend is just a myth.

Cua Luc Bay is the footprint of a giant. There is also another legend, saying that the giant carried a rock and patched the sky when passing Cua Luc Bay. He turned his shoulder and broke his burden, falling into the sea to form Bai Tho Mountain, falling into the forest. into Man Mountain. The giant also left two footprints on the hill in Xich Tho village. The footprints were about an inch into the ground. People who farmed in that low land called it giant field or giant hill. But Mr. Tran Van Nghi, who was born in Xich Tho village and worked as head of the commune's Cultural Committee for 10 years, said that legend says that a person whose body can carry Bai Tho and Man mountains must have feet as big as Cuu Bay. Green.

Bai Tho Mountain - Man Mountain, the twin mountains and Cua Luc Bay - Tam Da are also associated with a series of legends about the giant carrying stones and patching the sky, leaving footprints on the hill. A mountain girl working in the fields, accidentally set foot in the nursery and got pregnant, then gave birth to 3 giant snake gods: Mr. Coc, Mr. Dai, Mr. Loan... with thrilling stories. Currently in the locality, there is still a tradition of worshiping three separate snake gods. Mr. Coc is worshiped in the cave field, Mr. Loang is worshiped in the bronze cave, Mr. Long is worshiped in white stone.

Bai Tho Mountain and Man Mountain in Ha Long city have a project to exploit landscape-eco-tourism. Cua Luc Bay, according to the general planning of Ha Long city until 2040, approved by the Prime Minister, the central urban area of ​​Quang Ninh province will develop according to a model of 5 regions; in which, taking Cua Luc Bay as the center connecting socio-economic infrastructure. Currently, the port cluster in Cua Luc Bay, including: Quang Ninh Port, CICT Container port, B12 petroleum port, Ha Khanh coal port... is accounting for a high proportion in the revenue structure of Quang Ninh.

His giant footprints on the hill in Xich Tho village used to be as wide as a field, but now they are the size of a buffalo puddle.

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Update day : 05/11/2023