7th ANNUAL HERITAGE AWARDS

­­­A wonderful article about the Seventh Annual Asian Heritage Award on board of the USS Midway by Gloria Tierney, Senior Contributing Writer to the Asia Media, the Journal of Culture and Commerce, and Board Member of the Asian Heritage Society.

My  wife  attorney , pharmacist Michelle Mai Nguyen won the Asian Heritage award in the legal affairs category.

Nguyễn Xuân Quang

USS Midway Hosts Seventh Annual Asian Heritage Awards

­

By Gloria Tierney

­­­    The trip to San Diego from Washington for Navy Capt. Cynthia Macri last weekend was full of surprises.

A little more than half-way there, an elderly man on her flight took ill and collapsed. A physician, Macri attended the man as best she could, then asked the captain of the flight to divert the plane to Omaha, so the man could be taken to the hospital.

Later, Saturday evening, her name was called to receive the Seventh Annual Asian Heritage Award for Military Service, presented by Congresswoman Susan Davis of San Diego, a champion of veterans affairs, who beforehand praised the military for their sacrifices beyond the call of duty.

“That’s what I do,” Macri, the daughter of a renowned plant geneticist and a World War II Japanese relocation camp internee, told the audience of some 500 in attendance aboard the USS Midway.  “I am not an extrovert by any means. I just do my job.”

Macri was among 15 men and women of Asian descent honored for their achievements and community service as part of the Seventh Annual Asian Heritage Awards.

Dr. Lilly Cheng, who followed Macri, in accepting the Humanitarian Outreach Award for her 40 years of global work on cross-cultural communication and speech pathology, told the audience that “speech-language communication” is a human right. That award was presented by Navy Rear Admiral Ron MacLaren, who said, “I am honored to be able to give back to my (Korean) roots and to honor those who have achieved so much.” The U.S. Navy was among the major sponsors of the Awards. Other major sponsors included the Avery-Tsui Foundation, Ford Motor Company Fund, Barona Resort and Casino and Phamatech of San Diego.

Added MacLaren: “The important thing about events like these is to show how diverse our Navy community is.”

Indeed, the night was as diverse as any could be – from five-month-old Rhys Dann, half Thai and half Welsh, who came in a tux, with his parents, to show support for grandma Rosalynn Carmen, co-founder of the Awards, to octogenarian and retired chief boatswain’s mate Richard Kong, who, proudly in uniform, rendered the Pledge of Allegiance. Before that, a Junior Navy ROTC color guard comprised of Asian American high school students from Troy High School in Fullerton, California, presented the colors.

The theme of the event was set at the opening by the One Dream Children’s Choir of San Diego, led by Darleen Herriman, a teacher at Francis Parker School. The 65 youngsters, all dressed in ethnic attire and representing the event’s theme of inclusiveness, sang “One World,” a musical composition written by Chinese composer Wang Lee Hom.

The message resonated throughout the night, even to the end, when Tom Hom, who received the final honor for Special Recognition, told the current generation of Asian Americans that they need to “reach outside the box and embrace all cultures.”

While ethnic enclaves like Chinatown in San Francisco are important for the older generation, said Hom, “second and third generations” have to embrace the greater community. “By blending the ancient wisdom of Asia with the dynamic culture of America, you can make a new and wonderful contribution,” he said.

A large part of the audience had come to honor Hom, 83, who received the major award for breaking ground more than a generation ago as the first Asian American in San Diego to hold public office. Hom was elected to the San Diego City Council and later became only the third member of the California Assembly. In presenting him the honor, San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts, honorary co-chair of the event, called Hom a “beloved friend and an inspiration to generations of Asian Americans.” Roberts also cited many of Hom’s accomplishments, including his involvement in downtown development and helping to expand the city’s role as a professional sports town, with the addition of a stadium in Mission Valley that housed the San Diego Padres and San Diego Chargers.

While Hom is a third generation Asian American, several of the honorees came to this country as immigrants and included David Du (Business Enterprise), who escaped from Vietnam to head several companies in San Diego; Michelle Nguyen (Legal Affairs), who, herself, escaped the fall of Saigon; Dr. Charles Liu (Health and Medicine), who was born in Taiwan and reared in Thailand, and Giovanna Pang-Garcia, who left her native Hong Kong when she was 16 years old to pursue the American Dream and found it. By the age of 40, she had founded a multi-million-dollar computer company, sold it and wrote the book “Why Chinese Women Are Not Broke,” which earned her the Seventh Annual Asian Heritage Award for Art and Literature.

Other winners included Jonathan Ton, Education; Kathy David, Entrepreneurship; Cecil Magpuri, Innovation and Technology; Lani Lutar, Government; Aurora Cudal, Media and Film; the Confucius Institute at SDSU, Cultural Preservation, Felix Fan, Performing Arts; Margaret Iwanaga-Penrose, Community Service, and Holly Fujie, who tied in the category of Legal Affairs. The only other tie occurred in 2006, in Education. The Community Service honor was presented by Sally Wong-Avery, who chaired the event and sponsored the category through her Avery-Tsui Foundation. Other sponsors included Cox Communications, The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, DDH Enterprise Inc., United Parcel Service, Julia Cheng Wealth Management and Gingi.

Miss Asian America Amy Chanphavong with Rosalynn Carmen and Leonard Novarro.

Michelle Nguyen with her award.

and Navy guests.

Honorees in each category were selected by votes cast through an on-line ballot, emails and the newspaper ASIA, The Journal of Culture & Commerce, co-sponsor of the Awards and Show.

Habitat for Humanity International was also awarded the first ever Social Responsibility Award for demonstrating diversity, social awareness and global and environmental concern. The award was presented by Damrong Kraikruan, consul general for Thailand, who told the audience that Habitat’s “concern for the environment runs through everything they do, just as it does in my country.” Habitat has built or rehabilitated more than 75,000 homes serving 350,000 people throughout Asia, including Thailand.

The ceremony was also attended by Chung-chen Kung, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, who welcomed those in attendance after being introduced by Wong-Avery at the beginning of the program.

The program was emceed by award-winning television news personalities Marcella Lee and Robert Santos., who kept everything moving at a brisk clip, ending on time, an accomplishment almost unheard of at an awards banquet.

Leonard Novarro, vice president of The Asian Heritage Society and co-founder of the Awards, cited not only the variety of ethnicities of attendees and award recipients, but also the wide range of age.

“This event affirms what the Asian Heritage Society is all about – leadership, legacy and inclusiveness,” he said.

Added Carmen: “Using achievement as a guideline and honoring people like Tom Hom and all our honorees, as we did tonight, offers everyone a beacon of hope.”

The ceremony included entertainment by Japanese pop star Masumi, the Thai Classical Ballet and the Silk Road Dancers from San Diego, whil Amy Chanphavong, Miss Asian America, welcomed guests and assisted on stage.

On deck, during the reception, Kenneth Nguyen, a local designer and hair stylist, showed off some of his avant garde fashions of snappy cocktail dresses made from trash bags, as he put it –“good for the environment.” Naruwan Taiko, a traditional drum group, called guests to dinner.

The Seventh Annual Asian Heritage Awards was produced by The Asian Heritage Society.

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Asia Media Incorporated

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ANATOMY OF THE DONGSON BRONZE DRUMS

AN OVERVIEW  OF

THE CLASSIFICATION AND

ANATOMY OF THE NÒNG-NỌC

(CIRCLE-ROD) SOUTHEAST ASIAN

BRONZE DRUMS (1)

Nguyễn Xuân Quang

Abstracts

The anatomy of the bronze drums reveals that the morphology and structure of the bronze drums reflect the entire spectrum of the cosmogony (cosmogeny). In general, the bronze drums are purposely made with open bottoms and have n nòng nọc yin-yang characters. The different morphology of the drums portrays the different aspects of cosmogony. My classification is based on the doctrine of cosmogony.

*

Dr A.B. Meyer and W. Foy, the two first authors in the book Bronzepauken aus Sušdostasien (The Bronze Drums of the Southeast Asia, Dresden, 1897) have divided the Southeast Asian bronze drums into six groups based on the studying of 52 bronze drums. In 1902, the Austrian scholar F. Heger expressed his disagreement with Meyer and Foy’s classification, and published his drum typology in his book, Alte Metalltrommeln aus Sudost Asien. Based on the meticulous work on the 165 bronze drums, he has classified the bronze drums into four main groups: H.I, H.II, H.III, H.IV and three intermediate groups.

A. THE NGUYỄN XUÂN QUANG’S CLASSIFICATION BASED ON THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE BRONZE DRUMS.

F. Heger’s typology of the bronze drums is merely descriptive; therefore I classify the bronze drums based on the doctrine of cosmogony. Based on their morphology, or gross anatomy, the bronze drums of  Southeast Asia are classified as follows:

1.  Nguyễn Xuân Quang type I (NXQ.I): egg-shaped drums or cosmic drum.

The drums of this type have the shape of a sphere, O shape or an egg shape. I call them cosmic drums. The O-shaped drums symbolize the Cosmic Pouch (Nothingness, Hư Vô, Universe, Vũ Trụ,  or Creation, Tạo Hóa). The egg-shaped drums (representing yin-yang, the Great Ultimate Thái Cực), symbolize the yin-yang Cosmic Pouch or Cosmic Egg. The egg-shaped drums are usually called barrel drums. I called them creator drums. The cosmic bronze drums can be the symbol of the Macrocosm or Upper World or Universe.

A regular barrel-shaped bronze drum with two membranes (a Dongsonian  bottomless barrel drum has only one membrane).

In front of a yin sacred house or cosmos house on the Ngoc Lu I drum (see chapter The Houses in Nguyễn Xuân Quangs The Decipherment of the South East Asian Bronze Drums), there is a person holding a round object which is considered by many scholars to be a drum.

A yin cosmic drum on the Ngoc Lu I drum.

In the book Dong Son Bronze Drums Found in Viet Nam, Nguyen Van Huyen and Hoang Vinh have mentioned that the Caœnh Thịnh drum or Taýy Sơn drum (inventory number D.6214-22), worshipped at the Buddhist temple Cổ Lễ and Buddhist temple Keo, at Hành Thiện, Nam Hà province and Nguyễn’s dynasty drum displayed at Hùng king’s museum at Vĩnh Phú city have the shape of the skinned barrel drums, but without bottoms (similar to the other types of the bronze drums). Unfortunately, no pictures or drawings of this type of bronze drums are available.

2. Nguyễn Xuân Quang type II (NXQ. II): Tubular or Cylindrical drums or Fire-drums or Kien drums (Trống Kiền hay Càn).

On the yang side, the bronze drums of this type have the shape of a tube or a cylinder with open bottom and straight sides portraying male principle and/or fire element or Kien. The yang fire-drums have no significant shoulders and bases.

3. Nguyễn Xuân Quang Type III (NXQ. III): Air Parasol-Shaped Drums or Yang Wind Drums or Tui Drums (Trống Đoài).

The drums of this type have the shape of parasols which are symbols of air, wind and sky.  The wind drums have insignificant bases.

Karen drum (NXQ. type III, Heger III).
(A. J. B Kempers, plate 19.04)

Heger called these drums Shan drums, because they are mainly cast by the Shan and Karen people living in east Burma. Note that Shan people, speaking a Tai-Kadai language, belong to the yin side  or cool sun stem of the tai yang sun Hồng Bàng family. The yang side of the yin branch is IO (rod yang on circle yin), young yin, air or wind clan. The Shan is a young yin, air or wind clan. This is the reason why the Shan people make a lots of yang wind parasol-shaped drums.
Under the projecting part of the roof, on the right side of a yin sun house on the Ngoc Lu I drum, there is a drum or drum-like object placed in a horizontal position. This parasol-shaped drum is a yang wind Tui drum (see chapter The Houses).

Stylized parasol-shaped drum on the Ngoc Lu I drum.

Under the floor of the Triple World dais of the boat 2 on the Ngoc Lu I drum, there is a parasol-shaped drum or drum-like object representing a tai yang Tui drum of the water people.

Parasol-shaped drum on the Ngoc Lu I drum.

Lương Sơn (Kim Bôi) drum, NXQ. type III, (Heger III).
(J. Cuisinier, planche XXXI).

Figure 4 in planche XXXI, in Les Mường, by J. Cuisinier, shows a gigantic bronze drum. Three parts of the drum are clearly divided, but the insignificant base and the waist form a cylinder. The drum has the shape of a parasol.
The drums of Heger type III can be considered as yang wind drums or NXQ type III.

4 . Nguyễn Xuaýn Quang Type IV (NXQ IV): “Âu” Shaped Drums or Male Water Chen Drums (Trống Chấn).

The drums of this type have the shape of an “âu” container or upside down cauldrons (see Signs and Symbols) and are yang water Chen drums. The drums are divided into only two parts. The drums of this type having no waist or axis and look very short.

A South China drum or an “âu” container–shaped drum.
NXQ IV or H.IV. (A. J. B. Kempers, plate 20.02).

Âu (C. Higham, figure 4.23, f).

Therefore they are termed “squat” drums. This type of drum represents male water Chen. The drums of Heger type IV belong here. The male water drums are the symbols of the male Water clans who worshipped the water sun of the yin side. Heger called these drums South China drums, because they are mainly found in south China, and their decorations have Chinese motifs such as dragons, fish and on some drums even there are the Chinese characters. It is easy to understand since south China is the old domain of the yin branch of the tai yang sun Hồng Bàng family (Red Family or Sun Family in the Vietnamese tradition). They belong to the Sun Tốn (Cosmos, yang wind), Chen (Water Sun) or Âu / Giao dragon stem.
Under the projecting part of the roof, on the right side of a yang house on the Song Da drum, there is a drum or a drum-like object. On the yang side, this “aýu”-shaped object is a Chen drum (Nguyễn Xuaýn Quang type IV).

A yang water Chen drum at a yang sun house on the Song Da drum.

The drums of Heger type IV can be considered as yang water drums or NXQ type IV.

5. Nguyễn Xuaýn Quang type V (NXQ. V): Pillar-shaped Drums or Earth-drums or Young Yang or Li Drums (Trống Li).

The drums of this type have the shape of pillars or supporting posts with wide bases that looks like flat-cratered volcanoes. They symbolize Fire Mountain, yang earth, earthy World Mountain, the earth-axis Mountain, sky supporting post, or World axis.

Figure a.                                                             Figure b.

Tan Long, Hoa Binh province drum (fig.a)

and South  China drum  fig. b
(A. J. B. Kempers, plate 18.02).
(NXQ.V, Heger II).

The shape of the drums of this type is rather simple, with less distinctive divisions but their three parts are still visible. The drums have insignificant cylindrical shoulders (short, flat), the surface usually spreading out beyond the mantle like a supporting disc of the sky supporting post. However they have a characteristic higher prominent waist (or axis).
Under the projecting part of the roof, on the left side of a yang sun house on the Ngoc Lu I drum, there is a drum or drum-like object in the shape of a supporting pillar (see chapter The Houses). This pillar-shaped drum is a young yang Li drum.

A pillar-shaped drum on the Ngoc Lu I drum (from Nguyen Van Huyen, p. 169), the wide base and the straight upper part portray a pillar or a supporting post.

On the Co Loa I drum, under the projecting part of the roof of a sun house, at the lower right corner, there is a horizontally laid drum with the tympanum facing to the right. This drum portrays tai yang Li (see chapter Signs and Symbols). The pillar-like shape confirms that this drum is a Li drum.

A pillar-shaped drum at a yang sun house on the Co LoaI drum (from Pham Huy Thong, p.8).

Under the projecting part of the roof, on the right side of a yang sun house on the Kai Hua drum, there is a drum or drum-like object in the shape of a supporting pillar (see chapter The Houses). This pillar-shaped drum is a tai yang Li drum.

A pillar-shaped drum on the Kai Hua drum.

The drums of Heger type II can be considered as earth drums or NXQ type V.

6. Nguyễn Xuân Quang Type VI (NXQ.VI): Mushroom-shaped Drums or Cosmic Mushroom drums (Trống Nấm Vũ Trụ).

Cosmic Mushroom Drums or Triple World Drums convey the entire spectrum of the cosmogony. The drums of this type have the shape of a flat-topped Mushroom, which is the symbol of the Cosmic Mushroom (a kind of Cosmic Tree), the Triple World Mushroom and the Mushroom of Life. These drums have three very clear-cut parts: broad shoulders, slim axis and slanting bases.

Ngọc Lũ I bronze drum Nguyễn Xuân Quang VI (Heger I).

The drums on the platform next to the yang sun house on the Hoang Ha drum have three distinctive parts and are considered cosmic mushroom drums.

The drums of Heger type I belong to this type.

The tympanum usually does not spread out beyond the mantle. The tympanum and the shoulder form the flat-topped dome of a Mushroom, symbolizing the Upper and Middle Worlds. The axis of the drum, similar to the stem of a mushroom, represents the World Axis and/or the World Mountain. The base of the drum, corresponding to the root of the mushroom, symbolizes the Under World. This explains why the NXQ.VI cosmic mushroom drums, such as Ngoc Lu I and its kin (Hoang Ha, Song Da drums, etc) are the finest, most artistic and ancient of all specimens.
This type of bronze drum is termed “Dong Son drums” by Vietnamese scholars. These drums are considered to be representative of the Dong Son culture (Pham Huy Thong, p. 262). They were carved on the Ngoc Lu I, Kai Hoa, Hoang Ha and Song Da drums.
The Cosmic Mushroom is born from the Cosmic Egg, therefore, from an anatomical point of view, the morphological outline of the Cosmic Mushroom bronze drum NXQ.VI must have the shape of an egg (which represents the NXQ. type I, cosmic drum).

B. Dissection of a Cosmic Mushroom Drum NXQ.VI.

The four elements  Fire, Wind, Water, Earth interact to give birth to the entire universe, life and all living things (Cosmic Tree or Tree of Life).  Thus, the four types of drums representing the four elements {NXQ.II (Fire), NXQ.III (Wind) NXQ.IV (Water) and NXQ.V (Earth),] can be put together to form the Cosmic Mushroom drum NXQ.VI. Conversely, the Cosmic Mushroom drums NXQ.VI can be dissected into the NXQ.II, III, IV and V types.

C. The Gross Anatomy and the Structure of a Cosmic Mushroom Drum.

The meaning and anatomy of the Cosmic Mushroom-shaped drums NXQ VI express the doctrine of cosmogony, so their “blue print” of the structure must be followed the doctrine of cosmogony represented by the Cosmic Tree.

The Anatomy of a Cosmic-mushroom shaped Bronze Drum.

a. The Macrocosm or Upper World.
The central zone of the tympanum represents the Macrocosm or Upper World, which also portrays the entire spectrum of cosmogony.
b. The Microcosm or Middle World or Human Living Being World.
The Middle Worlds on the bronze drums are represented by the remaining parts of the tympanums (the area is unoccupied by the Upper World) and the shoulders (upper parts of the mantles or bulging parts) of the drums.
c. The Under World.
The Under World or Nether World is represented by the base of the bronze drum.
d. The World Axis or axis mundi.
The World Axis is represented by the axis (middle part of the mantle or waist) of the drum.

D. Yin and Yang faces of the Bronze Drums

The bronze drums are purposely made with open bottoms. When placed in the beating position (the tympanums are facing upwards), the bronze drums symbolize male, yang. When placed in the upside down positions, they become mortars or cauldrons, or containers or gongs, symbols of female, yin.

Therefore, the bronze drums  with open bottoms are yang-yin drums. The shape of the drums which is the same shape as the containers when in upside down positions, carries the symbolic meaning of cosmogony.

Conclusion

In summary, the anatomy of the bronze drums reveals that the morphology and structure of the bronze drums reflect the entire spectrum of the cosmogony. The form and structure of the bronze drums are accorded with the meaning of the drums or the doctrine of cosmogony. In general, the bronze drums are purposely made with open bottoms and have yin-yang characters.
The different morphology of the drums portrays the different aspects of cosmogony. In the view of religion, bronze drums are the symbols or religious icons of cosmogony, and in the patriarch society, they are symbols of sun worship or solar cult. Culturally, the bronze drums recorded the bronze nòng nọc I Ching. In the view of ethnology, bronze drums are symbols of the clans, nationalities, federals, the Empire of the sun or the Sun family. In comparison to Vietnamese ancient history and traditions, they are the symbols of Vietnamese Red Family or Sun Family Hồng Bàng (see Giải Đọc Trống Đồng Nòng Nọc, Âm Dương Đông Nam Á Decipherment of The Nong Noc Ying Yang Southeast Asian Bronze Drums).

————————————-

Foot Note

(1)
.see more details in the chapter  Cơ Thể Học Trồng Đồng Nòng Nọc Âm Dương Đông Nam Á  (The Anatomy of the Nòng Nọc Ying Yang Southeast Asian Bronze Drums) in  Giải Đọc Trống Đồng Nòng Nọc, Âm Dương Đông Nam Á (The Decipherment of the Nòng Nọc Ying Yang Southeast Asian Bronze Drums) (published by Hừng Việt 2008 written in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Xuân Quang).
.Vietnamese term nòng nọc (circle-rod), in a respect, means ying yang represent ying yang concept with circle O represents yin (female) and rod I represents yang (male).

VIETNAMESE I CHING BẦU CUA CÁ CỌC.

VIETNAMESE I CHING BẦU CUA

CÁ CỌC.

AN EASY AND ENJOYABLE WAY TO

UNDERSTAND AND TO LEARN THE

VIETNAMESE TRADITION, LEGENDS,

REMOTE HISTORY AND I CHING.

                                        Nguyễn Xuân Quang

On the occasion of Tết (Vietnamese  New Year), the Vietnamese play a game called  Bầu (Bottle Gourd) Cua (Crab)  Cá (Fish) Cọc (Hart). The game actually has six figures: Prawn, Rooster, Bottle Gourd, Crab, Fish and Hart.
This game  is played during the New Year festival because it  reflects the Vietnamese earliest history and culture. It portrays a kind of I Ching (pronounced yee jing)  or  Book of Changes that I name the Vietnamese I Ching  Bầu Cua Cá Cọc. This I Ching is the core of the Vietnamese tradition and legends.

.Few Words About Cosmogeny and I Ching. 

In the beginning of time, there was a Nothingness or Emptiness (called Wu-chi in Chinese terminology and Voý Cực in Sino-Vietnamese terminology). From this Emptiness emanated Chaos (or Great Ultimate or Grand Ridge-Pole or T’ai Chi) which was depicted as a Cosmic Egg or yin-yang egg or Tai Chi disc.
          

                                                                                                                                                                  Cosmic Egg or T’ai Chi disc.

Then the T’ai Chi originated Two Poles (Liang I), the two separate primary principles: the feminine, negative principle or Yin and the masculine, positive principle or Yang. By their interaction, yin and yang produced Four Elements or Four Great Primary Forces: primeval Fire, primeval Water, primeval Earth and primeval Gas (air, wind).  The yin  Four Great Primary Forces coupled with the yang Four Great Primary Forces  gave birth to the cosmos represented by a Cosmic Tree (or Tree of Life or Triple World Tree) from which all things came forth.  The Triple World Tree which represented the whole cosmos consisted of  Upper World, Middle World and Under World. Thus, from a general view, all things in the cosmos were brought forth from the interaction of the male and the female principles.
Cosmogeny was based on yin and yang. The I Ching or Book of Changes was the doctrine of cosmogony and cosmological religion. The I Ching was based on yin-yang and Four Elements. Four yang Elements coupled with four yin Elements to form a pa-kua (eight trigrams). Four yang trigrams are: 1. Kien corresponded to yang Fire or fire Fire (yang tai yang, cosmic Fire), 2. Chen corresponded to yang Water or fire Water (yang tai yin), 3. Li corresponded to yang Earth or fire Earth (yang young yang), 4. Tui corresponded to yang Air  or fire Air (Wind) (yang young yin). Four yin trigrams are: 1. Kun corresponded to yin cosmic Water (yin tai yin), 2. Kan corresponded to yin celestial Water or rain water (yin young yin), 3. Kun corresponded to yin Earth (yin young yang), 4. Sun corresponded to yin Wind (yin tai yang).
Pa-kua is a diagram of arrangements of the eight trigrams.  Each arrangement gave birth to a type of I Ching. The ancient Viet people (Yue) had a Vietnamese Nòng Nọc (yin yang) I Ching which was different from the Chinese I Ching.

POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND

Everything is constantly changing. The formless is forever taking form and the formed is forever returning to the formless. Perpetual change is at the root of all things. Change always has two faces, a face of life or a yang face and a face of death or a yin face.

.Vietnamese Tradition, Legends and  Bầu Cua Cá Cọc Game.

The following discussion is confined onIy to the core of the Vietnamese culture.
According to the earliest Vietnamese traditional legends, the Vietnamese claimed that they were the descendants of the Sun god Viêm Đế (Yen Ti). The Sunlight Emperor Đế Minh was the great son of the Sun god Yen Ti. The Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương, son of the Sunlight Emperor Đế Minh, was thought to be the first man on earth and also the first Vietnamese king. Kì Dương Vương ruled the first Vietnamese nation named Xích Quỉ (Red People, People of the Sun). The Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Quân, son of Kì Dương Vương, married his first cousin Âu-Cơ from the Fire clan (branch). Âu Cơ gave birth to a pouch containing 100 eggs, out of which 100 sons were born. Later, they separated in order to rule the immense kingdom that stretched from southern Yang Tse River (China) to northern Indonesia. Âu-Cơ took 50 of the sons with her up to the mountain (Fire lands) belonging to her paternal Fire side while Water sun Lord Lạc Long Quân took the other 50 sons down to the sea to rule over the wet lands (Water lands). Hùng King, the oldest son of Lạc Long Quân came to the Red River delta and was the first ruler of the kingdom Văn Lang.

 
-Viêm Đế (Yen Ti)

The Sun god Yen Ti had a last name Khương (Horn, pointed object, symbol of the yang, yang principle). In the Upper World, his bird totem was a hornbill. In the Middle World (Earthly World), the bird which carries the  gene of the hornbill is the rooster (cock). The rooster is a bird but lives most of its life on the ground, so it is considered as a male, fire, yang symbol of the Earthly World. The English term “cock” is related to the Vietnamese term “cọc” (stake, pointed object), Latin cornu, English horn.  Thus, the rooster is a progeniture of the hornbill.
The Rooster in the Bau Cua Ca Coc game is the offspring of the Hornbill Yen Ti in the Middle World. Therefore, in this game, the Rooster appears as a rooster standing on the ground, not on the tree and is not a flying bird.  The Rooster is a symbol of the yang, yang principle, yang limb (Fire, yang earth, fire-mountain, peaked mountain) in the Middle World.
In an aspect, Âu-Cơ, is a fire or tai yang Sun Goddess (see Khai Quật Kho Tàng Cổ Sử Hừng Việt) belonged to this Fire Rooster branch.

-Thần Nông (Shen-Nung).

Space god Shen Nung was an opposite entity of Sub god Yen Ti. The Vietnamese Space god Shen Nung was totally different from the Chinese Agriculture god Shen Nung. The Vietnamese Shen Nung was a prawn-headed god while the Chinese Shen Nung was an oxen-headed god (more about this in Khai Quật Kho Tàng Cổ Sử Hừng Việt). According to a legend, the Shen Nung clan was a prawn-headed people.  The prawn is a creature living in the water. Based on the rule of historical sound change, t equals n in the Vietnamese language, Vietnamese term tơm (shrimp, prawn) = nơm, nam (water). Thailand term nam also means water (nam pla = nước mắm, fish sauce). Tôm = nôm = nam = water. Thus, in general, the Prawn is a symbol of water, female, yin, female principle, yin limb (Water, wet lands).
Lạc Long Quân (Water Sun Lord) belonged to this Water Prawn Shen Nung branch.
The red Prawn in this  Bầu Cua Cá Cọc game has two big pincers, symbols of two “males” or double yang or tai yang. It portrays the tai yang Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Quân.

In short, the Prawn and the Rooster were the symbols of female and male principles, yin yang, Two Poles (Liang I). As we know, the interaction of yin and yang generated Four Elements or Four Great Primary Forces: Cosmic Fire (Kien); Earthly Fire (Li); Yang Water (Chen) and Yang Air or Wind (Tui). Similarly, the yang Rooster Yen Ti interacted with the yin Prawn Shen Nung to generate the following:

Four Vietnamese legendary Sun rulers Đế Minh (Sunlight Emperor), Kì Dương Vương (Earth Sun King), Lạc Long Quân (Water Sun Lord), Hùng Vương (Wind Sun King) corresponded to these Four Elements. These four Vietnamese male ancestors  coupled with four female ancestors to form a pa-kua (eight trigrams) of I Ching (Khai Quật Kho Tàng Cổ Sử Hừng Việt).

-Đế Minh (Sunlight Emperor).

Sunlight Emperor Đế Minh, the third generation of the Sun god Yen Ti, corresponded to the Yen, Cosmic Fire (Kien). His wife Vụ Tin (Immortal Teal) represented yin Cosmic Water (Kun). In this game, Vụ Tiên was delineated  as a Bottle Gourd and Đế Minh as a red color of the gourd, color of fire. Husband, cosmic Fire coupled with wife, cosmic Water.

-Kì Dương Vương (Earth Sun King).

Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vươngs birth name was Lộc Tục (Male Deer, Hart). His  quadruped  totem on the ground was a male deer (horned deer or hart). He received this horn gene from the last name Khương (Horn) of Yen Ti. The Sino-vietnamse term Việt in the current name Việt Nam (Vietnam) was written with a set (or radical) tẩu (to run, running). Running is a specific character of the deer as depicted in this Vietnamese proverb “CHỈ ĐƯỜNG CHO HƯƠU CHẬY” (“showing the way for the deer to run”). Thus, the term Việt written with set tẩu is “running Việt”, “Deer Việt”, “Hart Vit”, “Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương-Việt”, Việt-People of the Sun (Xích Quỉ), The Bright Tai Yang Sun Việt (Khai Quật Kho Tàng Cổ Sử Hừng Việt).
In this Bầu Cua Cá Cọc game, Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương was delineated as the Male Deer or fire Hart figure in the game board. Thần Long (Female Water Dragon), wife of Kì Dương Vương represented yin celestial Water or rain water (Kan). Husband, earthly yang Fire coupled with wife, celestial yin Water.

-Lạc Long Quân (Water Sun Lord).

Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Quân was the sunset king and thus was called Qun (Lord) instead of Vương (King). Quân means dark purple, color of the sun-down sky. He received the gene Long (Dragon) from his mother Thần Long (Female Water Dragon), so he was a male Water Dragon, Fire Water Dragon,  Yang Water Dragon, Yang Water Chen. This explains why he took 50 sons down to the Sea.
Lạc Long Quân had at least two features. In the Upper Word, he represented Fire-(in)-Water in the sky or Rain Thunder god. Under this cosmic aspect, Lạc Long Quân is depicted as a Water Bottle Gourd in this game.
In the Middle World, the Yang Water Dragon Lord Lạc Long Quân is represented by a Carp in this game [according to the legend of Dragon-Carp, any carp which was able to leap over the cascade at the Dragon-Gate (Long Mơn) or Rain-Gate (Vũ Mơn) would be transformed into a dragon]. According to the legend of the  Mol people, who were closely related to the ancient Vietnamese, the carp was a totem (symbol) of Lạc Long Quân.
Âu Cơ, wife of Lạc Long Quân, as we know, belonged to the yang or Fire branch Yen Ti (Đế Minh-Kì Dương Vương) on the yang side. Since she is a woman, she has a yin Fire aspect. Husband, yang Water coupled with wife, yin Fire.  On the yin side, she had a yin wind gene (trigram Sun) which was derived from the gene of the cosmic water “bottle gourd” Vụ Tiên (Immortal Teal). This explains why she gave birth to a sac of 100 eggs (gourd is a kind of sac, pouch, bag, Vietnamese term bầu stands for gourd, bag and pregnancy, to have “bầu” = to be pregnant).

-Tổ Hùng Vương (Ancestors of Hng Kings).

One hundred Hùng Princes were  born from a sac of eggs,  a picture of Cosmic Egg. So, the ancestors of Hùng Kings had a cosmic aspect of the Creator.
In this game Bau Cua Ca Coc,  Hùng Kings  were depicted as a Crab. Why?
A crab is an equivalence of a box turtle because both of them have a dome-shaped shell which portrays the universe and they are associated with I Ching (Fu Hsi was always seen with a box turtle next to him). The people of King Hùng living on the wet lands had selected the crab, a creature familiar to them, instead of a box turtle.
In short

The game Bầu Cua Cá Cọc portrays a kind of I Ching depicting the Vietnamese tradition and remote history. I name it, the Vietnamse I Ching Bầu Cua Cá Cọc.
The Game Bầu Cua Cá Cọc Designed By Nguyễn Xuân Quang.
The design of all current games was incorrect because the makers did not know that this game reflects the Vietnamese I Ching. So, I design a game that portrays the core of the Vietnamese tradition and legends in order to help players to understand and to learn Vietnamse tradition and legends in an easy, fascinating and enjoyable way. 
I fashion this game in two yin and yang sides according to yin and yang branches: the yang, Fire Yen Ti branch (Đế Minh-Kì Dương Vương) and the yang Water  Shen Nung branch (Lạc Long Qun-An Dương Vương) (An Dương Vương
was an opposite clan to Kì Dương Vương clan).
Because four yin Elements and four yang Elements form a pa-kua, therefore each depiction in this game has two figures except Hùng kings have three. The first figure of Hùng kings is a cosmic Crab representing a cosmic aspect of Hùng kings ancestors corresponded to Cosmic Egg. The second Crab represents Húng kings on the yang, Fire branch and the third one represents Hùng kings on the yin, Water branch (see below).

1. YIN YANG and TWO POLES (Liang I): PRAWN- ROOSTER.

-Prawn  

As we know, the Prawn, symbol of yin (water, female, female principle, Kun, etc.) corresponds to Shen Nung, the prawn-head people. The upper part of the prawn has a light blue color, color of cosmic air and the lower part has a dark blue color, color of cosmic water.

                                                                                                         Shen Nung Prawn (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

The upper part of the prawn corresponded to Nung representing the yang part of yin universe or yang air or yang Wind, Tui. The curve head portrays the dome or the vault of the universe (sky) and the wind-blown “hairs” or “beards” portrayed the wind. The head has 11 “hairs” or “beards”. Based on I Ching, number 11 is an earthly yang Wind Tui number. The lower part of the Prawn corresponds to Shen representing the yin part of the yin universe or cosmic water or yang water, Chen. The hooked tail symbolized rolling wave (yang water). The tail has 9 fringes. Number 9 is earthly Chen number. Thus, the Prawn Shen Nung portrayed yang water Chen-yang wind Tui.

This Shen Nung Prawn divides into two offsprings: Nung Prawn and Shen Prawn.

.Nung Prawn

This Nung Prawn derives from the yang upper part of the Shen Nung Prawn and  portrays  yang air or yang wind or cosmic Tui. 

                                                                                                                                            Nung Prawn represents yang Wind or Tui (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

The curve body of this prawn portrays the dome or vault of the universe or sky. The “hairs” or “beards” portray the yang Wind Tui. The head has 11 “hairs” or “beards” and the tail has 11 fringes instead of 9 fringes (number 11 is earthly Tui number). This Nung Prawn has light blue color, color of the wind. Because of its yang character (the head has yang character), this prawn is placed at the top of all  three Prawns in the game board.
In the Earthly World, the gene Nung of Nung Prawn was transmitted down to the Nung Crab or Tui Crab (symbol of Hùng Kings, see below).

.Shen Prawn

This Shen Prawn derives from the yin lower part of the Shen Nung Prawn and portrays yin cosmic water or Chen.  
The hooked tail symbolizes rolling wave and represents Chen. The head has 9 “hairs” or “beards” and the tail has 9 fringes (number 9 is earthly Chen number). This Shen Prawn has dark blue color, color of sea water. Because of its yin character (the tail has yin character), this prawn is placed at the bottom of all  three Prawns in the game board.
In the Earthly World, the gene Shen of Shen Prawn was transmitted down to the Shen (or Chen) Dragon-Carp (Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Quân).

 

                                                                                    Shen Prawn represents yang Water or Chen (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

  These three Prawns, symbols of yin, are placed on the same yin row as the Crab and Carp in the game board.
-Rooster

As we know, the Rooster, symbol of yang (fire, male, male principle, Kien, etc.) relates to Yen Ti. The Upper part of the Rooster has a red color, color of cosmic fire and the lower part has an orange color, color of earthly fire.

                                                                                                                                                Yen Ti Rooster (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

The yang upper part of the Yen Ti Rooster is a symbol of cosmic fire Kien. The trident-shaped cockscomb portrays three pointed stakes or triple yang or Kien.  So, the upper part of the  Yen Ti Rooster portrays cosmic fire or Kien. The lower part having yin character, yin of yang or young yang, is a symbol of earthly fire or Li. The tail has 5 feathers. Number 5 is Li number. The rooster standing on the ground and head turning to the left or yin direction, portrays young yang, Li or earthly fire. So, the Yen Ti Rooter portrays Kien-Li.
The Yen Ti Rooster divides into two offsprings: Yen Rooster and Ti Rooster.

.Yen Rooster

Yen Rooster derives from the upper part (Kien) of the Yen Ti Rooster.

                                                                                                             Yen Rooster represents Kien (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

Its trident-shaped cockscomb portrays Kien and its 7-feathered tail portrays Kien. Number 7 is Kien number. This Yen Rooster has a Red color, color of cosmic fire. Because of its cosmic character, this Rooster is delineated as a flying rooster and is placed at the top of all three Roosters in the game board.
In the Earthly World, the Yen gene of Yen Rooster was transmitted down to the Kien Red Bottle Gourd (Sunlight Emperor Đế Minh).

.Ti Rooster

Ti Rooster derives from the lower part  of the Yen Ti Rooster.

                                                                                                                                         Ti Rooster represents Li (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

Its 5-peaked cockscomb and 5-feathered tail portray Li (number 5 is Li number). This Ti Rooster has an orange color, color of earthly fire. Because of its earthly character, this Rooster is delineated as a standing rooster on the ground with the head turning to the left and is placed at the bottom of all three Roosters in the game board.
In the Earthly World, the Ti gene (supporting pillar) of Ti Rooster was transmitted down to the Li Hart (Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương) represented by a fire Mountain (Sky-Supporting-Mountain or Pillar-shaped Mountain or World Mountain).
These three Roosters, symbols of yang, are placed on the same yang row as the Red Bottle Gourd and fire Hart in the game board.

- FOUR ELEMENTS: BOTTLE GOURD, CRAB, FISH, HART.

ON THE YANG BRANCH OR YANG I CHING.

On the yang or Fire side of  Sun god Yen Ti, Sunlight Emperor Đế Minh (a progeniture of Sun god Yen Ti, an image of Sun god Yen Ti), played a role as the Mundane Creator. On this yang branch, in the game board, we have to read the four figures Bottle Gourd Kien, Carp  Chen, Hart Li and Crab Tui which correspond to yang Four Elements in a yang direction or a counterclockwise direction. We have this yang order: Bầu Cọc Cá Cua. 
Based on the yang I Ching,  Kien coupled with Kun, Li coupled with Kan, Chen coupled with Kun and Tui coupled with Sun. Thus, on the yang side, we have four couples in the following yang order Bau Coc Ca Cua in the game board Kien/ Kun  (Bottle Gourd), Li/ Kan (Hart), Chen/Kun (Fish) and Tui/Sun (Crab).

+ Kien/Kun Bottle Gourd or Cosmic Fire/Cosmic Water Bottle Gourd.

The shell of this cosmic water Bottle Gourd has a dark purple color,  color of tai yin cosmic water or yin Kun and it is ornated with clouds (symbols of cosmic water). The gourd contains red liquid, symbol of cosmic fire.

                                                                                           Cosmic Fire-Cosmic Water Bottle Gourd represents Sunlight Emperor Đế Minh/Immortal Teal Vụ Tiên (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

The Cosmic Egg symbol on the shell portrays the cosmic aspect of  Đế Minh/Vụ Tiên.

+ Li/Kan Hart  or  Fire Hart.

The skin of this fire hart has a flame color with solar spots. Its 2-tined antlers (number 2, a Kan number coupled with number 5 Li) represent two fire drill sticks. This fire hart portrays Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương. 

                                                                                                               Fire Hart represents Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

+ Chen/Kun Carp or Fire Water Carp.

As we know, the dragon-carp is a symbol of yang Water Dragon Lạc Long Qun. This fish, a carp of fire branch, is a  fire Water Carp.

                                                                                                    Fire Water-Carp represents Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Quân (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

Its body has a yellow-purple color (yellow is the color of the sun and purple is the color of the sunset sky) and its belly has a light brown color, color of yin fire earth (Kun). This fire Water Carp portrays Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Quân/ Âu-Cơ or Chen/Kun. Its head turns to the right or yang direction. This carp is placed on the top of the two carps in the game board.

+ Tui/Sun Crab.

As mentioned above, Hùng Kings were depicted as a crab. So, in the Upper World, one hundred Hùng Princes or Ancestors of Hùng Kings were depicted as a Cosmic crab which carried a Cosmic Egg  on its shell.

                                                                                                          One Hundred Hùng Princes depicted as Cosmic Crab with magic square 3/18 on the shell (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

This yang Cosmic Crab  portrays the yang Cosmos or cosmic Tui/Sun (yang  Wind Tui). Number 3 is Tui number, therefore, this crab also bears a magic square 3/18 on its shell (number 3 is the center  number and 18 is the sum of the 3 numbers on each ramification) (It should be noted that in this 3/18 magic square, number 1 is also considered to be number 10 and number 2 is also considered to be number 11). This Cosmic Crab has a light blue color, color of the cosmos or sky.

ON THE YIN BRANCH OR YIN I CHING.  

On the yin or Water side of  Shen Nung, Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Qun (Chen) (a progeniture of Space god Shen Nung, an image of Space god Shen Nung), played a role as the Mundane Creator of the yin side. Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Qun of the Water branch had a cosmic aspect similar to Sunlight Emperor Đế Minh of the Fire branch. Therefore, both of them were delineated as gourds. On this yin branch, in the game board, we have to read the four figures Bottle Gourd, Carp, Hart and Crab in  a yin direction or a clockwise direction. We have this yin order: Bau Cua Ca Coc. 
Based on the yin I Ching, Kien coupled with Kun, Li coupled with Kan, Chen coupled with Sun and Tui coupled with Kun. Thus, on the yin side, we have four couples in the following yin order Bau Cua Ca Coc in the game board Chen/Sun  (Bottle Gourd), Tui/ Kun (Crab), Li/Kan (Fish) and Kien/Kun (Hart).

+ Chen/Sun Bottle Gourd  or Yang Water/yin Wind Bottle Gourd.

This gourd portrays yin Wind Sun (trigram Sun). This Âu Cơ’s gourd gene derived from cosmic water bottle gourd Immortal Teal (Vụ Tiên). In the game board, the yin Wind Gourd is delineated as a blue gourd and ornated with a pink wind-blown ribbon.

                                                                                                     Yang Water/Yin Wind Bottle Gourd portrays Lạc Long Quân Chen/Âu Cơ Sun (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

According to yin I Ching, Sun u Cơ coupled with Chen Lạc Long Quân. So, the yellow liquid in the gourd represents yang water Chen. The hook-like symbols on the gourd skin portray yang water (rolling wave), fire-(in)-clouds or thunder.
+ Tui/Kun Crab.

As we know, on the yin direction, the Crab is Tui/Kun Crab. Kun is yin fire Earth (yin mountain, fire lower lands or square water field). (It should be noted that a square is a yang form of a yin circle). So, on the u Cơ side, this crab is a square-shelled Rice Field Crab.
On the other hand, on the yang side of the Fire branch of Kì Dương Vương in the Middle World or in a patriarch society,  u Cơ  was  replaced by a male representative, in another word, by Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương. Thus, under this point of view, Tui/Kun Crab had a fire earth (fire stone) aspect. The 50 princes who followed  u Cơ  up to the Mountain are delineated as a  fire Stone Crab. This fire Stone Crab has a brick-color.

                                                                                                                       Hùng Princes on Âu-Cơ side depicted as fire Stone Crab with magic square 6/18 on the shell (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

Number 6 is Sun number, therefore, this crab bears a magic square 6/18 on its shell (It should be noted that in this 6/18 magic square, number 1 is also considered to be number 10 and number 2 is considered to be number 11).
Since it belongs to the yang, Fire branch, this fire Stone Crab is placed at the top of all three crabs in the game board.
These 50 Hùng Princes belong to the yang, fire branch or to the u-Cơ side.
But on the Lạc Long Quân side (in one aspect, Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Qun is a Sea god), this crab is a Blue Crab (a kind of sea crab). This blue crab has a yellow purple color, the color of the Water Sun  or sunset Sun Lạc Long Qun and a magic square 9/18 on its shell (number 9 is earthly Chen number), (It should be noted that in this 9/18 magic square, number 1 is also considered to be number 10 and number 2 is considered to be number 11).

 

Hùng Princes on father side  depicted as Blue Crab with magic square 9/18 on the shell (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

Because of its yin character, this Blue Crab is placed at the bottom of all three crabs in the game board.
+ Li/Kan Carp or Water Fire Carp.

As we know, on the yin direction, the fish is Li/Kan fish or water Fire Carp. This  fire carp has a red color. This Fire Carp of the Water branch portrays yin aspect of Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương or yin Earth Sun King  An Dương Vương. 

                                                                                                                           Water Fire Carp portrays yin Earth Sun King An Dương Vương  (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

So, the Water Fire Carp represents the offsprings of the Hng Kings on the water side or Lạc Long Qun/An Dương Vương side.

+  Kien/Kun  Water Muntjac

As we know, on the yin direction, the deer is Kien/Kun deer. This deer is a  muntjac. The term muntjac derived from the Vietnamese term muơng gạc or mang gạc (horned animal). Because it belongs to the Water side, this muntjac can be called  water muntjac. Indeed, there is a specie of deer named Chinese water deer (Khai Quật Kho Tng Cổ Sử Hừng Việt). 

                                                                                                                         Kien/Kun Water Muntjac portrays Sunlight Emperor Đế Minh on the yin side (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

In the Middle World, SunIight Emperor Đế Minh is represented by Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương. On the female side, the tai yang Sun goddess (yin tai yang Fire) Âu-Cơ is a yin feature of the yang tai yang Fire Đế Minh. In other words, the male Water muntjac Đế Minh is a presentative of the Âu-Cơ doe on the Water branch
(According to the Mols legend, the spotted doe was a totem of u-Cơ). So, this muntjac in the Middle World represents the offsprings of the Hùng Kings on the Fire branch (Đế Minh/Kì Dương Vương/ u-Cơ).
This muntjac with its head turning to the right, dark orange skin and 3-tined antlers  portrays cosmic fire Kien Sunlight Emperor Đế Minh.

In Summary

The Vietnamese I Ching Bầu Cua Cá Cọc game is depicted in the following illustration:

                                                                                                 

.Upper Row

Fire Hart/Earth Sun King Fire BottleGourd/ Sunlight Emperor Yen Rooster/Fire, K’ien

.Middle Row Yen Ti Rooster/Sun God

of the yang branch (Fire-Earth).

.Lower Row

Water Muntjac Water Bottle Gourd/ Water Sun Lord Ti Rooster/Earth, Li

Huøng Vöông’s offsprings on the (as Water Creator)

Fire branch, Kì Dương Vương/Âu Cơ.

                                                                                                  

.Upper Row

Fire Water Carp/Water Sun Lord Fire Stone Crab/ Hùng Kings Nung Prawn/Air, Tui on the Fire branch.

.Middle Row

Cosmic Crab Prawn/Space Goddess of the Yin

Ancestors of Hùng Kings branch (Air-Water).

Shen Nung

.Lower Row

Water Fire Carp/ Yin Earth Sun King Blue Crab/Hùng Kings Shen Prawn/Water, Chen

An Dương Vương. on the Water branch.

(Hùng Vương’s offsprings

on the Water branch,

An Dương Vương/Lạc Long Quân)

                                                                                      Vietnamese I Ching Bầu Cua Cá Cọc Designed by Nguyễn Xuân Quang (illustrated by Khánh Trường).

In yang direction, from left to right or in a counterclockwise direction, starting from the upper row:
-The Rooster portrays Fire Yen Ti branch in the Middle World: Yen Rooster is at the top, Yen Ti Rooster is in the middle  and Ti Rooster is at the bottom.
Tai yang Sun goddess Âu-Cơ  belonged to this Fire side.
-The Bottle Gourd: Fire Bottle Gourd (Sunlight Emperor  Đế Minh) is at the top and Water Bottle Gourd (cosmic Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Quân) is at the bottom.
-The Hart: terrestrial Fire Hart (Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương) is at the top and cosmic water muntjac (Đế Minh) is at the bottom.
-The Carp: Fire Water  Carp (Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Quân) is at the top and Water Fire Carp (yin Earth Sun King An Dương Vương) is at the bottom.
-The Crab: Fire Stone Crab (Hng kings of the Fire branch or Âu-Cơ side)  is at the top, Cosmic Egg Crab (Ancestors of Hng kings) is  in the middle and Blue Crab (Hùng kings of the Water branch or Lạc Long Quân side) is at the bottom.
-The Prawn portrays Water Shen Nung branch in the Middle World. Nung Prawn is at the top, Shen Nung Prawn is in the middle and Shen Prawn is at the bottom. Water Sun Lord Lạc Long Quân belonged to this Water side.
Furthermore, our four male Sun rulers Đế Minh, Kì Dương Vương, Lạc Long Quân, and Hùng Vương  are symbolized as rayed suns (male suns). The number of sun rays and the color of the suns varied with the yin yang character of each male sun ruler.
Sunlight Emperor Đế Minh is symbolized as a red 8-rayed sun; Earth Sun King Kì Dương Vương, yellow 10-rayed sun; Water Sun lord Lạc Long Quân, yellow–purple 12-rayed sun and  Yang Wind Sun Hng king, orange 14 rayed sun (see Decipherment of SouthEasth Asian Yin Yang Bronze Drums). Our four female sun rulers Vụ Tiên, Thần Long, Âu-Cơ and Wife of the first Hng King are delineated as four solar discs without rays (female suns) placed underneath the corresponding male suns. The thickness of the rims of the solar discs and the color of the female suns varied with the yin yang character of each female sun ruler. The appropriated rayed suns or solar discs envelope the corresponding features of the game.
How To Play This Game

The game has 3 dice and a game board. Each die has 6 faces. Each face portrays the features of each Vietnamese creator or sun ruler. The dealer either shakes three dice in a coved bowl or casts the dice. The game comprises of one dealer and unlimited players.
-In a simple way, each player picks one, two or three figures in the game board as he wants. When the dealer opens the cover of the bowl or after the dealer casts  the dice, any player who picks the same figure (or figures) in the game board  as the one (or ones) that appears (or appear) on the top of the die (or dice) is the winner. If two of the same chosen figures appear on the dice, he will get double reward, if three of the same chosen figures appear on the dice, he will get triple reward.

-In a more complicated way, the player can make a complex choice  following the Vietnamese tradition and legends in order to get a higher reward:
.He can choose 3 figures which portray the three Vietnamese Creators (or rulers) of the Triple World: Yen Ti Rooster (Creator of Upper World), Đế Minh Fire Bottle Gourd (Creator of Middle World) and Hng king cosmic Crab (supreme Ancestors of Vietnamese historical kings). When these three figures appear on the dice, he will get a reward equal to 5 or10 times of what he waged (the reward depends on the agreement between the dealer and players).
.He can choose 3 figures which portray the Fire branch (or Âu-Cơ side): if any set of  three yang or Fire figures among 6 figures on the yang side appears on the dice, he will be the winner, for example:  a set of Fire Bottle Gourd (Đế Minh), Fire Hart (Kì Dương Vương), Fire Water Carp (Lạc Long Quân) or  a set of Fire Bottle Gourd (Đế Minh), Fire Water Carp (Lạc Long Quân), Fire Stone Crab (Hùng kings on the Fire branch)  or  a set of Fire Hart (Kì Dương Vương), Fire Water Carp (Lạc Long Quân), Fire Stone Crab (Hùng kings on the Fire branch), etc.    
.He can choose three figures which portray the Water branch (or Lạc Long Quân side): if any set of  three figures among 6 figures on the yin side appears on the dice, he will be the winner, for example: a set of Water Bottle Gourd (Lạc Long Quân), Blue Crab (Hùng kings on the Water branch), Water Fire Carp (An Dương Vương) or a set of Water Fire Carp (An Dương Vương), Water Bottle Gourd (Lạc Long Quân), Blue Crab (Hùng king on the Water branch), etc.    
.He can choose three figures which portray the three Vietnamese dynasties belonging to the Vietnamese mundane Hồng Bàng Family (mundane Red Family, Sun Family): Hart (Kì Dương Vương),  Carp (Lạc Long Quân) and  Crab (Hùng kings), etc.
. . . . . . .

Conclusion

In short, this game portrays a kind of I Ching that the author named the Vietnamese I Ching Bầu Cua Cá Cọc or Vietnamese  Crab I Ching or Hng King I Ching.  This game delineates the entire scope of the Vietnamese tradition, legends and remote history. The core of the Vietnamese culture is the Cosmological religion, Sun worshipping religion. The doctrine of these religions was based on the Vietnamese Nịng Nọc (yin-yang) I Ching. Therefore, in order to understand throughtly, the Vietnamese culture  must be viewed under the prism or the scope of the Vietnamese Nịng Nọc I Ching delineated in this game Bầu Cua Cá Cọc. 
Lets learn and teach the Vietnamese  tradition, legends, remote  history and I Ching in an easy way by enjoying this fascinating game.
References

.Nguyễn Xuân Quang

-Khai Quật Kho Tàng Cổ Sử Hừng Việt (Y Học Thường Thức, 1999).
-Ca Dao Tục Ngữ, Tinh Hoa Dân Việt (Y Học Thường Thức, 2002).
-Tiếng Việt Huyền Diệu (Hừng Việt, 2004).
-Giải Đọc Trống Đồng Đông Nam  Á (đang in).
.Joseph Murphy, Secrets of the I Ching, Reward Books, 2000.
.Vũ Quỳnh, Kiều Phú, Lĩnh Nam chích quái (NXB Văn Học, 1960).

NXQ’CV in ENGLISH

 

        FEW WORDS ABOUT AUTHOR

       NGUYỄN XUÂN QUANG

.Born in Da Nang in 1941, family origination: Phượng Lâu, Kim Động, Hưng Yên.
.Graduated from Saigon Medical School in 1969.
.Migrated to  the USA in 1975.
.Graduated from the Kidney and Hypertension Fellowship Program at University of Irvine, California, Orange County, California, USA in1986.
.Assistant Clinical Professor at University of Irvine, California in 1986.
.Private medical practice  in Little Saigon, Orange County and employed by the State of California in 1978.
-Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of  bi-monthly Y Học Thường Thức Health Care Magazine in  Little Saigon, Orange County, USA in 1995.
.Literature Works:

-Before 1975: Thần Tượng  (Poems,Tao Đàn Publisher); Chiếc Mặt Nạ Da Người, (Short stories, Trí Đăng Publisher).
-After 1975 in USA: Tình Thù, (Short stories, Mai An Publisher); Nay Tôi Mai Ai? (Novel on Saigon Weekly, Orange County); Người Căm Thù Ruồi (Short stories,  Người Việt Publisher); Những Mảnh Đời Tị Nạn (Short stories, Xuân Thu Publisher); Đi, (Travel Memoir, Á Mỹ Publisher), Khai Quật Kho Tàng Cổ Sử Hừng Việt (Excavation of the Treasure of the Vietnamese Remote History, in Vietnamese, Y Học Thường Thức Publisher, 1999), Ca Dao Tục Ngữ, Tinh Hoa Dân Việt (Folk Poems and Proverbs, the Quintessence of the Vietnamese People, in Vietnamese, Y Học Thường Thức Publisher, 2002); Tiếng Việt Huyền Diệu (The Wonderful Vietnamese Language, in Vietnamese, Hừng Việt Publisher, 2004).
-Works to be published in: Việt Dịch Bầu Cua Cá Cọc (Vietnamese I Ching Bau Cua Ca Coc, An Easy Way to Understand and to Learn the Vietnamese Legends, Tradition and Remote History, bilingual in Vietnamese and English, book and game set); Giải Đọc Trống Đồng Âm Dương Đông Nam Á (The Deciphering of the Southeast Asian Yin Yang Bronze Drums, in Vietnamese).

Short Story: Tiếng Khóc Trong Nhà Xác, English Version.

THE CRY IN THE MORGUE (*)

Nguyen Xuan Quang

-“Paternal Grand Father”! Paternal Grand Father”! (1) You have a phone call.

I hear the medical student calling. I’m still awake but I try to stay in bed to get as much rest as I can.

-Can you answer the phone for me?

-The emergency room’s mid-wife insists on talking to you personally. She doesn’t want to talk to me.

With a sigh, I get out of bed and drag my feet to the phone. I know there is an emergency. The mid-wife on call when faced with a life threatening emergencies usually wants to bypass the inexperienced medical students and talk directly to the on-ground residents in order to save time and save lives.

-What time is it now?

I don’t know if I was asking the medical student or myself? It is murderous, if a serious case arrives at this time. What’s a hectic on-call day! I worked all day and night without a real break.

-Hello, this is resident on-call speaking.

-Hi, “Master” (2), did you take a short nap?

-How can I shut my eyes and “rest in peace” for a while when pairing up with such a beautiful, sexy and gorgeous mid-wife like you tonight? Every time I start to fall asleep, you wake me up and order me to carry out a duty!

There is a sweet, warm laugh on the other end of the phone line.

-I will make you “exhausted” tonight!

In the medical field, it is a well known fact that the mid-wives have the most spicy and wild language.

-It’s a bad luck to be paired up with you tonight! There have been three cases of surgery so far and now comes another one, right?

-“Retention de la tete”! (**).

- Head retention? Really? Another case from the “Square-Circle” maternity clinic? (3)

-Who else?

-Send her immediately to the O.R., give me a call when she is ready for me.

Mad, I slam down the phone. We would usually call that maternity clinic a “Black Triangle” instead of “Square-Circle”. I’ve heard a lot of rumors about that maternity clinic. It is the busiest maternity clinic in Saigon. Its parking lot always looks like a Grand Central Station, it is congested with all means of transportation. The owner of that maternity clinic is a crook. At present time, Saigon is in curfew from dusk to dawn. All pregnant women in labor holding a storm-lantern walking to the public maternity hospitals for free deliveries are picked up by the police and delivered to that private maternity clinic for costly deliveries. She has a tight connection with the authority of the government and of course, with the director of this public maternity hospital where I have training in OB-GYN program. Some residents and physicians of this public maternity-hospital are the staff members of her maternity clinic. All difficult cases or medically mismanaged cases are dumped here. One rumor states that, one night, a burglar stuffed the stolen goods under his coat to disguise himself as a pregnant woman in labor, holding a lantern, walking back to his den. He was picked up by police and brought to the Square-Circle maternity clinic for a “square and circle” delivery. He gave birth to a bunch of stolen objects in the rest room and then vanished.

-An emergency case? Grand-pa!

The medical student asks me. I “wake up” and come back to the reality.

-Maternal Grand Father and you find something to eat in order to get some energy. You go to O.R. to assist me with surgery. The Maternal Grand Father covers the “outside ring” while I do the surgery.

-Why does the patient have to undergo the surgery?

-The fetus is in an abnormal position, the head is stuck inside the uterus, a case of “retention de la tete”.

-?…

-A breech presentation.

The off-ground resident explains.

-Yes, a breech presentation. The butt is delivered first instead of the head. His lower extremities, body and shoulders already came out but his head is still stuck inside the uterus. That’s why we call it “head retention”.

-Is he still alive?

I look straight in the eyes of the medical student.

-Let put your head in a tightly sealed bag and see how long you can survive. It takes only five minutes without oxygen to cause severe brain damage. If the newborn survives and grows up, he or she will be a heavy burden for the family and to society. He or she becomes a vegetative being or a gangster or a tyrant leader, etc. If he or she is dead, it’s a blessing for him or her and for society.

After gulping a cup of milk down to the alimentary tract, I call the attending physician on call to notify and discuss the case. With a sleepy voice, she wants me to takecare this case for her. I try to get off the hook. I know this case is beyond my responsibility.

The medical student and I go to the O.R. to take care of the pre-op. The patient looks pale. Dry lips. Sunken eyes. Labored breathing. She is lying with her legs spread open as if she is afraid of crushing her unborn child’s head and that makes him dead of asphyxia. It is obvious that the fetus has already died for asphyxia. But in her mind, he is still alive. The unborn fetus is a chubby, big male. His birth weight is estimated to be more than four kilograms (8.8 lbs). His ankles, thighs, neck are bruised. The mid-wife at that maternity clinic attempted to pull him out with all her force and left the bruised marks on his body. Does he refuse to join the human world? In fact, he is a stubborn unborn baby. He chose the reverse way to enter life. Does he make a mistake? Or does the mid-wife make a mistake? A Vietnamese proverb says: “Big head is stupid, big testicle is smart”. Obviously, in front of my eyes, his testes are small. Evidently he is not smart. He is stupid to have turned the wrong way. So, his head may be big. It is true, when the head is big, it is unable to engage to the pelvic ring, the bottom end usually has to come out first. Therefore the big head is frequently associated with the breech presentation. He may have a big head due to macrocephalia or hydrocephalia or tumors, etc. It is no doubt that the mid-wife is stupid too. She made a mistake because of her stupidity due to her “big head” and her negligence. Despite what happens, the child is dead, the goal now is to save the mother’s life.

-Master, let try to pull his head out one more time before “soaking your hands in the blood”!

The O.R. mid-wife suggests. She is a middle age mid-wife. She is experienced and also lazy. She wants to avoid the surgery if possible. In many cases of head retention, the uterine cervix acts like a coil of the constrictor boa. The cervix squeezes tightly the neck of the unborn baby when it is stimulated by the pulling. The constrictor boa acts the same way. It squeezes violently when the prey keeps trying to escape. If let the cervix to rest for a while, it relaxes, dilates and allows the head to come out easily. The surgery is avoided.

Before agreeing with the O.R. mid-wife’s recommendation, I examine the patient’s abdomen. I shake my head.

-Is the uterus ruptured?

-I am not sure. But the uterus is asymmetric and firmer on the right side.

-To avoid trouble, my favorite Mater, it’s better to wait for the attending physician’s decision.

I agree with her. I write the emergency orders. When the attending physician on call arrives, everything is ready.

-Did you try to pull him out?

-Not yet, Doc.

-So, what do you think?

-We’ll have to crush his head to take him out.

-Craniothripsy? It‘s a horrible procedure!

Craniothripsy is a procedure of crushing the fetal head with a special instrument like crushing of a nut with a nut cracker.

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

I act as if I don’t hear the attending physician.

-The mother is exhausted, we have to act fast. We are running out of time. There is no other choice. We have to save the mother.

The physician rolls up her scrub gown’s sleeves. She locks her fingers around the neck of the fetus and pulls it out with all her force. His neck is stretching and cracking. It looks like a goose’s neck. The neck is strangulated by the cervix. In the quiet O.R., only the moaning voice of the mother is heard.

Tiredly, the physician looks at me:

-Do you think a shot of Buscopan will help?

-I don’t think that antispasmodics will help.

The cervix is already extremely edematous and can not dilate anymore. Hesitantly, the physician looks at the surgical team present in the O.R. She hopes to get suggestions to help her find a good solution.

-You are a general in the battle field now. We have to choose a “bloody way” to save lives.

-Let me cut off his neck.

I want to take off my gloves and scrubs and walk away. But I have to “swallow down” the anger. I know if I do that, my name will be put on the black list. The O.R. mid-wife puts a big stainless steel bowl underneath the baby’s body. With two sweet cuts done by a sheer-like pair of surgical scissors, the neck is cracking like a dried tree branch. His headless body falls into the bowl. The mother gives a sign of relief. She is happily moaning. The pressure is relieved with the weight of the baby removed. The physician inserts her hand in the uterus and tries to remove the head. .

-He has short hair. It’s hard to hold on.

-It’s better to find his mouth and grab firmly his lower jaw, Doctor.

The O.R, mid-wife suggests. I know that clearly there is no way to get the head out. The head now, is like a marble in a bottle. The marble is bigger than the orifice of the bottle neck. While the head was still attached to the body, it is easier to pull it out by grabbing the neck. Now the head is freely rolling inside the uterus like a slippery soccer ball. It is impossible to get the head out. Impossible. Impossible. Impossible. The physician, soaked in sweat, gives up:

-Do you want to try?

The edematous cervical sphincter is already retracted. I use my finger tips to dilate the cervix in order to pass my hand into the uterus. Instead of finding the head first, I do a “revision uterine”. I carefully examine the inside surface of the uterus. A crack is found at the right upper corner of the uterus. The head is moderately big. I feel a big tongue protruded out of his mouth.

- I think, I found a crack at the right upper corner of the uterus.

My finding gives the physician a way to get out of the dilemma. She orders to do Ceasarian-section. It is a heartbreaking surgery. A C-section is performed to remove a fetus’ head! When the uterus is exposed under the light, a big bruise appears on the right side of the uterus. The head pops out when the uterus is opened. His swollen, dark blue face looks like a giant blue berry. His black tongue is stuck out. His face is similar to that of someone who has been hung or strangulated. The uterus is already ruptured by trauma. A hysterectomy in order to remove the damaged uterus and save the life of the mother is a must. After two hours of surgery, the physician leaves the closing phase of the abdomen for both of us in order to go home to get some sleep. A busy day is awaiting her at the office tomorrow. I show the medical student how to close the abdominal incision.

-To close the abdomen, we must suture layer by layer from the peritoneal layer, muscular layer, fascia and finally the skin. If you suture only one or two layers, the patient will eventually develop an “eventration” or abdominal hernia.

Totally exhausted, I leave the O.R. and let the medical student take care the ill-fate “mort-ne’ “, a newborn dead at birth.

-Can you do me a favor, my Young brother, suture the head onto the baby’s body before sending him to the morgue.

-?

-I don’t want him to become a headless ghost. Our country already has too many misshaped spirits. More than that, it is our duty. We are studding and making a living through the use of the cadavers and on the living being as well. Keep in mind that both of them are our real teachers. We have to respect them as long as we practice medicine.

In a moment, I recognize that my voice is filled with emotion. Back in the room, I throw my exhausted body onto the mattress. I sleep like a log. A chilling air stream brings a sickening smell into my room and wakes me up. Nauseate. I hear the papers shuffling on the floor. Putting another pillow under my neck to lift up my head, I rub my eyes. Two pieces of paper are shuffling on the floor. There is an invisible person standing on these two pieces of paper, using them to skate across the floor. It may be a young child, a mischievous child. Is he just playing with the papers or is he trying to disturb my sleep? Silently, I watch two pieces of papers skating, dancing across the floor in the hall way.

A noise is heard from the stairway. Two pieces of papers scatter and take off, flying over the balcony, down onto the court yard below.

Lazily, I crawl out of bed and go to the window for a breath of fresh air. Now, I recognize that the two pieces of paper are two Under world money bills which usually are called “hell money” by the Vietnamese. The hell-money is offered by the living people to the deaths to use in the netherworld. Two hell-money bills rest peacefully on the grass. Few tiny fire spots on the tops of the joss-sticks planted on a rice cake are flashing in the wind. I remember the patient with breech presentation. Deep inside my heart, I don’t think she can make it. The Death Lord will win. She had a difficult labor and underwent a long operation. She is like a gas lamp which is running out of gas. The off-ground resident and medical student may be busy in the Delivery room. At this maternity-hospital affiliated to the Saigon Medical School, we have more than one hundred deliveries each day. The phone rings. I lift up the receiver and expect an emergency call.

-Hello, resident on call speaking…

-Master… Come to my ward…

A soft voice murmurs in my ear.

-Oh! Ma belle! Give me “a word of peace”!

-Master… There is something very strange thing in the morgue!

-I’m not a mortician.

-Please come down here, Master.

-I’m tired tonight…

-You will feel better I have some sweet thing for you! Hurry up…

I hung up the phone, and flung the white coat over my shoulder to keep my chest warm. On an instant spirit altar in a corner across the court yard, there are a “dead” candle, few candies and cookies, a stack of multicolor Under world paper diapers. It is the summer time, so the paper diapers are fashioned in “bain de soleil” mode. It is no doubt that these offerings are sent to the newborn spirits. I usually add a few bottles of formula, given as samples from the pharmaceutical sale representatives, to these offerings.

The taste of the baby formula is terrible for an adult like me. I hate to drink baby formula. I’d rather die of starvation than drink baby formula. In no time, my offering of baby formula is gone. Only the candies and cookies are left untouched and become stale. Surely the toothless newborn spirits can not eat candies or cookies. Of course, they like baby formula. But, later, I found out that a few bottles of baby formula are life-saving meals for a hungry baby born to a poor family. Two hell-money bills are stuck to the wet grass. Two tiny wet foot imprints are clearly seen on the papers. The Gynecology ward of the mid-wife who just called me is separated from the morgue by a low brick wall. A crowd of frightened patients are gathered in front of the nurse station. I know immediately that the mid-wife told me the truth.

-There is a cry in the morgue!

A frightened voice from the crowd hastily informs me. I try to keep stone faced. The crowd moves apart to make way for me.

-The cry in the morgue!

The mid-wife repeats with a gasp.

-Nothing’s wrong. It’s normal to have ghosts in the morgue. Do you hear the cry yourself?

-First, the patients told me but then I heard the cry for myself.

I look into the eyes of the crowd. Terrified eyes. Frightened eyes. Horrified eyes. Panic stricken eyes. Stupefied eyes. Stunned eyes. Angry eyes, etc.

Under the dim yellow light, the morgue appears behind a row of hibiscus.

-The cry of a newborn, right?

-How do you know, Master?

The mid-wife with a sleepy face looks at me, amazed. The most beautiful moment of a woman is at the time post mid-night when without make-up she has a sleepy but lustful face.

-A child just came to my room and awakened me!

-Really?

-The cry…

A horrified voice exclaims. Everyone holds their breath. I hear my heart galloping. A cry. A cry of a newborn. An urgent cry. A begging cry. A cry for help.

-Tell the orderly to open the door of the morgue for me.

I dash out in the dark and rush into the morgue. The cry stops. Certainly, the headless fetus cannot cry. In fact, he was not born yet, he is not a “real” human being.

The orderly has chronic bloodshot eyes due to lack of sleep. He shakes the key chain to make squeaky noise.

-What’s the problem? Master.

-There is a cry in the morgue.

-A cry?

-How many people are died today?”

-About four or five babies.

Both of us climb up the veranda of the morgue. The orderly looks for the key. A cry for help is repeated. This time I hear it very clear. Certainly, it is the cry of a newborn infant. The orderly’s hands are shaking. The key chain is squeaking. He cannot put the key into the keyhole. An urgent cry. I grab the key from the hands of the orderly:

-Let me open it.

The cheap, rusty, cold lock freezes my hands. The cry makes me nervous. I try several times. Finally the door, like a pair of wings flies open with my light push. The cold, stagnant air in the morgue rushes out onto my face. Nauseate. I rush inside. The orderly hesitantly follows behind me. The blinding, yellow light in the morgue hurts my eyes. I am astonished. The long hall way is used to store the deformed fetuses and dead newborns. A museum displays the congenital human malformations. There are fetuses without brains called anencephalia. Their faces look like the Chinese or Japanese opera masks. Some have two heads. Some have big heads called hydrocephalia. Some have multiple limbs that look like crawling creatures. Some have undeveloped or partial limbs resembling seal’s limbs which are called phocomelia. Some are twins with their bodies fused together called Siamese twins. Some have only with one eye called Cyclops. Some have elderly faces called progeria. Some have witches’ faces… In a very short time, the microorganisms, the mildew flourishing in the morgue stick on my moist, warm nasal mucosa and start germinating, growing, “flowering”, “fruiting”. Achoo! Achoo! Achoo! I sneeze to uproot that microscopic forest and blow it out. The orderly follows quietly. Walking into the cadaver storeroom, the sound of our footsteps scares the rats, makes them run for life. The rats live in some maternity clinics steal and eat the placenta. This makes them very big and strong. Some of them weight as much as a few kilograms. These rats are the proof to confirm that the human placenta is a tonic medication. The extract of the human placenta termed in French “extrait placentaire” is widely used in Europe. The Russian doctor Filatov is the author of the Filatov’s placenta graft therapy. The communists praise the human placenta as a cure-all medication. At night, in the mating season, the male rats fight each other in order to gain the control of the harem. The fierce, bloody fight in the ghetto areas of the hospital terrifies patients and staffs. The further I go into the morgue, the more chilling it is. A crash. Stunned, I turn my back. The orderly drops the key chain. A small bundle wrapped with a white sheet is moving. I hold my breath. A cold, chill runs up my spine. A big rat under the white sheet runs violently to find a way out. It runs from under the sheet, dashes onto the floor and disappears. A head rolls out from under the sheet and drops to the floor and continue to roll. The orderly is screaming. It’s the head of the fetus from the breech presentation. It rolls across the floor and rests on a pot hole. His widely opened eyes stare at me. The black tongue is wiggling and looks longer than before. I feel lightheaded. I try to stand steadily on my feet. Is this head crying? If it is the case, it must be a ghostly thing. “Troi dat qui than oi”! Oh my heaven! Oh my earth! Oh my devils! Oh my gods!

-I am throwing up.

The orderly holding his mouth with his hands turns his back and flees through the door. There is a drawing force, I turn my back and want to follow after him. My eyes are blurred, everything looks fuzzy. Several white sheet-wrapped bundles are moving, squirming. A cry near by is heard. A warm, lively cry of a newborn. The cry saluting life. The cry of birth. The cry of the grand opening of life that is heard thousand of times when I help a baby entering the human world. The cry makes me feel that I am alive. I look around, searching. Within seconds, I see a moving bundle. I am unaware of anything else around me. I grab bundle and unwrap the sheet. A male newborn is squirming and screaming. He wants tender loving care. I hold him tightly against my chest so he can get the warmth of my heart. I feel his heartbeats respond to mine. The fire ants fall in all directions. His face, body and extremities are covered with a papular rash caused by fire ant bites. I dash out and run to the nurse station. The crowd disperses.

-What is it, Master?

-A newborn is still alive!

- Is he crying?

-Yes, he is crying. Immediately start right away the resuscitation for him.

-An alive baby is “threw” in the morgue!

The exciting news spreads by word of mouth, in all directions, as fast as a lightning.

Now I feel the stinging in both arms. The fire ants are now attacking me. I take off the white coat and shake off the fire ants. After a long period of resuscitation, the newborn’s cry is unchanged. Finally, I decide to put him in the incubator and send him to the Nursery room. The crowd gathers back and discusses the event.

-Doctor, the baby is still alive. Why did the mid-wives send him in the morgue?

Looking at the excited crowd, I know that I have to explain the event to calm them down.

-Be calm. In fact, the newborn was brain dead at birth. He was really dead. Now he is crying but not a living cry. He cries by spinal reflex.

The crowd is listening to me with astonishment. I recognize that they do not understand a word I am saying. Again I try to explain it in a simple way.

-The ants bite him, by spinal reflex, he cries. It’s the same as if the head of a duck is chopped off. The duck is dead. But in some cases, the headless duck is still able to run and finds its way to the pond. That’s due to the spinal reflex.

-Can we save him, Doctor?

-Not much hope. We tried but he is not responding well to treatment. Everyone go back to bed and get some sleep.

I want to say good bye to the mid-wife.

-I need some rest too.

-Master, stay here for a while, I have some sweet thing for you as I promised.

-Every man likes sweet thing!

-Don’t push your luck too far!

The Vietnamese language has the terms “hao ngot” (“like sweet”) meaning “sexual craving”. She gives me a cup of “che hot sen”, a sweet drink made of cooked lotus seeds in syrup.

-Let me take care that rash caused by the ant bites.

-I need some Hydrocortisone cream.

This beautiful mid-wife is still single. Rumor has it that, she once loved a medical student, but they had a bitter love and she decided to stay single to take care of herself. She is still not so old as to be labeled as an “old maid”. The phone rings. I hold a lotus seed in my mouth and wait.

-Master, Big Sister in the Delivery room wants to talk to you.

I hurriedly chew and swallow the lotus seed. It is nearly stuck in my throat.

-Master, I heard that a “mort-ne’“ was crying in the morgue.

-Yes, it’s true. I witnessed it with my own eyes and ears.

-Really? You must be kidding?

-No, I am not kidding. It is like a ghostly story but it’s true. Now, you can go and see him in the Nursery.

-Oh, my heaven! He was really dead at birth. He did not cry. We tried to resuscitate him for hours but he did not cry at all.

Teasingly I say:

-I don’t believe that your team resuscitated him for hours. It’s too long! May be just a few seconds!

-Master, don’t say that. We really did a complete resuscitation.

She then bursts into tears.

-Ok! Ok! Ok! just kidding! Was there a doctor there when your team performed the resuscitation?

-Yes, Maternal Grand Father was here. At that time you were tied up in the O.R.

-Perhaps, he was dead at that time. But now he changes his mind. He wants to join the life time human game. Maybe he was rejected from hell and heaven. He is too innocent to be sent to the hell. He has not yet been baptized so he could not be sent to the heaven. Our wicked world is the only suitable place for him.

-If he survives, I will die…

-You’re not the only one, me too, the whole nation and even mankind will too! Let silent your conscience. I will see you soon.

I pass the phone to the mid-wife. The phone rings immediately after it is hung up.

-The post-op woman is agonizing…

I spring up onto my feet. I know she cannot survive. The woman with two lifeless eyes, is moaning: “Doc… save me… my husband … in the battle front… for months … haven’t heard from him… my children… young… hungry… Doc… save me… save me…, I beg you…”

I am petrified and become a stone statue.

“Doc… save my newborn… raise my baby for me…sav. . “ I close her widely open eyes. Resuscitation is attempted routinely although in vain.

I drag my feet back to the on-call room like a defeated soldier. The medical student who assisted me in the surgery is sipping coffee at the dining table. Angrily, I yell at him.

-I told you to suture the head of the fetus to his body before sending him to the morgue. You didn’t do it. The rats used the head as a soccer ball to play with in the morgue…

-No, Big Brother, that’s not true, I did suture… I swear…

-How many layers did you suture? I told you to suture layer by layer. If you suture only skin to skin, it is not possible for the neck to hold the head in place. If you do not believe me, you can go to the morgue and see what’s going on in there.

After exploding with anger, with a soft voice, I pamper the medical student.

-I am exhausted. I need to close my eyes for a while. Both of you take care of minor things for me.

I slept like a comatose man until awakened by the medical student. In a guarded voice, he tells me:

-The mid-wife in the Nursery room insists on talking to you…

-That’s Ok. I was expecting this call.

The mid-wife on the other end of the phone line informs me that the newborn cried in the morgue is now having difficult breathing. I go quickly but calmly in the early morning. The baby is in respiratory distress. After giving him a “cocktail” of life saving medications, I decide to go to the Delivery room to get a suture kit, and then go to the morgue to suture the head of the baby back to his body before eight o’ clock. It is then that I have to report to the oncoming on-ground medical resident on call. At the turn of a hallway, I step aside to give way to an orderly who is pushing a gurney carrying the cadaver of the women who had died from complications of her breech delivery. I don’t know why, but I lack the courage to look at the cadaver. On her body are many sutures that I had done. I recall her condensed tear drops oozing out from her sunken eyes… her begging voice… I talk to the orderly:

-Tell Mr Ba to leave the door of the morgue open for me.

-He threw up and became ill. I am now replacing him. I will leave the door open for you, Master.

I sit and chat in the Delivery room until the dawn appears on the horizon. With the suture kit tucked under my right armpit, I walk slowly to the morgue. Although I am on the same path that I walked last night, it is different. It is different because my heart feels different now. I also feel my steps different. The door of the morgue is open wide enough for me to walk inside. I walk with my head down. I don’t want to see the collection of the deformed fetuses again. I feel uneasy. When getting in the cadaver storeroom, I direct my eyes to the pot hole on the floor where the head rests. What happened? The head is not there anymore. The rats mauled it? And ate it? I am certain the orderly did not dare return to put the head back into the bundle. A wet choking cough. Goosebumps cover my body. Numb. Dizzy. My unsteady feet are peeling off the ground. I think I am going to fall down as a rotten dead tree. The woman with breech delivery is sitting on the floor, with her back towards me, as if hiding her face. The headless body of the baby is lying on her lap. His head keeps moving as if he is in distress. She tenderly taps the head calm him and keep him still. One stitch after another, with love, she sutures the head back to the body. Each stitch is followed by a deep sigh. A cry of a newborn. Is the head crying? I close my eyes tightly. My tears are smearing my face.

A huge dome is falling down on me. Nothing else but darkness.

———————

. (*) Translated by author  from Tieng Khoc Trong Nha Xac in the short story book titled Nguoi Cam Thu Ruoi (The Man Who Hates Flies).

. (**): italic words: French words.

. (1) In the French medical system, in the last two years of training, medical students are divided into “interns des hopitaux”, or on-ground residents and “externs des hopitaux” or off-ground residents. The Vietnamese “interns” are termed “noi tru” and “externs’, “ngoai tru”. ‘Noi” also means “paternal line”. Therefore, the on-ground residents “noi tru”, in slang language are called “ong noi”, “Paternal Grand Father”. “Ngoai” also means “maternal line”, just like the off-ground residents they are called “ong ngoai”, “Maternal Grand Father”. The term “Paternal Grand Father” shows respect and at the same time hints some teasing.

. (2) In Vietnamese tradition, the members of the medical teaching body are called “ong thay” Masters.

. (3) According to the Oriental cosmogony, the Square symbolizes the Earth and Circle, the Sky or Heaven. When a pregnant woman is in labor, everyone wishes her a safe and sound delivery or a “Square-Circle” delivery. A Vietnamese proverb states “Mother Circle, Sibling Square” which means perfect birth for both mother and sibling.