Banyan Tree, Moon Lady & Moon Boy in Vietnamese Culture

Banyan Tree, Moon Lady and Moon Boy in Vietnamese Culture: Every year, on the 15th of Aug in the lunar calendar, many countries of the East Asian cultural sphere happen the Mid-Autumn Festival jubilantly. On this occasion, children are extremely excited to listen to the fairy tales related to the Mid-Autumn Festival, especially the fairy tale of Moon Lady and Moon Boy in Vietnam (also called Hằng Nga and Chú Cuội).

1. Banyan Tree in Daily Life and Vietnamese Culture:

What is special about the banyan tree? The Banyan Trees are great holy trees, natural edifices rich in local cultural, spiritual and folkloric symbolism as well as practical usages. A bridge to connect between the human, natural and spirit worlds, banyan trees are living altars and a link between the past, present and future.

banyan-trees

Growing to enormous sizes and living for many of years, banyans connect generations and are a symbol of life, stability, longevity, growth and vitality. The mesmerizing scale and complexity of their organic architecture has made banyans the tree of poets and wanderers; a refuge for travelers and rebels; a place of worship and deities.

In Vietnam, banyan trees can be found everywhere, from deep in the jungles, far from human habitation. But they are also traditionally standing at village gates, in Market Places, Communal Houses and other places of spiritual gathering, such as Vietnamese Shrines, Temples and Pagodas.

banyan-tree

Banyan Trees are majestic and beautiful, exotic and heroic, mysterious and magnificent: a sight to behold for any traveller, but particularly those that, like me, hail from temperate regions, where banyans rarely grow. Vietnam is one of several countries where great, ancient banyan trees are found.

To be beneath the splayed branches and giant pillars of a grand old banyan tree is to feel a certain magic: these trees have an undeniable presence, exuding a noble, timeless and benevolent aura.

2. The Fairy Tale of Moon Lady or Hằng Nga in Vietnam:

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful and gentle Lady named Chang’e or Hằng Nga in Vietnamese. She was the wife of a marksman in the world named Hou Yi (Vietnamese: Hậu Nghệ). He shot down nine suns to save everyone from dying because of hotness. Therefore, He became very famous. Soon after, he had a lot of disciples to go to his house for studying. Until one day, while going to Con Lon Island to meet his friends. On the way, he met Queen Mother of the West (Tây Vương Mẫu) and was given a kind of elixir, if he had drunk it, he would have flown straight to the Heaven.

moon-lady

Receiving a precious gift, Hou Yi was extremely happy. However, he did not want to leave his wife. He brought the pill home and gave it to his wife to store in a sealed jar. Bong Mong, one of Hau Nghe’s disciples knew this thing. He had an evil mind; once, when Hou Yi left home to hunt, Bong Mong pretended to be sick and stay home to steal the treasure. Hou Yi was very honest without a doubt.

As soon as Hou Yi just left, Bong Mong immediately brought a sword to threaten Chang’e to force her to give him the elixir. Hang Nga was unable to give the medicine to a wicked man; immediately she took the medicine. Miraculously, her body suddenly became light, no gravity, so she slowly followed the wind to the sky. Because her love for Hau Nghe was so deep, Queen Mother let her stop at the moon, the closest to the world of humans so that she could see her husband and homeland.

lady-moon

When returning home, Hou Yi did not see his wife there, rushed into the room to find the pill and did not see it; he realized that Chang’e had been taken to the sky, he was deeply sorry. Since then, every night he looked up at the high sky to find the wife but was hopeless. On the night of August 15, when the moon was bright and beautiful, he looked up to the sky, calling his wife’s name, he suddenly saw her on the moon. Immediately he set up an incense table to pray Moon Lady. Seeing Hou Yi do that, people in the region also do after him because they loved Moon Lady very much. Gradually that ceremony became the festival named Mid-Autumn Festival (Vietnamese Name: Tết Trung Thu) and has been handed down until today.

3. The Fairy Tale of Moon Boy or Chú Cuội in Vietnam:

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Cuoi in a village in Vietnam, who was an orphan, doing woodcutting. But he was extremely kind and intelligent. One day, in the forest, he discovered a big banyan that can help to cure many diseases. He brought it to his house and grew it beside the house. Every day he brought banyan leaves going to cure for the patients in his village and nearby.

fairy-tale

Soon after, Cuoi got married. Every day he still went to help the patients in the village. Every time leaving home, he did not forget to tell his wife to take care of the banyan tree carefully, not to water dirty water on the tree or the tree would disappear. Cuoi’s wife was a poor memory woman, not remembering what her husband had said. One day, she went to the banyan tree root and had a pee down there. Immediately, the ground and the sky shook. At that time, Cuoi returned home and he saw the banyan slowly pulled its root out of the ground. Being available the ax with him, Cuoi cut into the banyan tree root to keep it. But helpless. The wind kept taking Cuoi and the tree flying straight up to the moon.

moon-boy

Since then, on the ground, looking up at the moon, especially in the full moon nights, we have seen the image of Cuoi (Moon Boy) sitting beside the banyan root. And also since then, Moon Palace has become the residence of the Moon Boy. The fairy tale of Moon Boy makes the moon become more mysterious and attractive.

Adventure Journey

See Related Articles: