Ly Nam De

Every spring, peach blossoms open pink across the village fields. Warm sun lies on the bamboo hedges, and the wind carries the smell of fresh earth. A king of long ago took this very scene and made it the name of his whole country. He called it Vạn Xuân, which means ten thousand springs. No one could have thought of a gentler name for a whole land.

The man who chose it lived very long ago. His name was Lý Bí, and later generations call him Lý Nam Đế.

His home was a quiet corner of what is now Thái Nguyên Province, the village of Cổ Pháp. In the first and second months of the year, wild peach trees flower beside the house eaves. Morning dew rests on the leaves, and swallows fly back to announce the coming of spring. The boy Lý Bí grew up among springs like these. Later, spring followed him into a great name.

In those years the country was still ruled from the north and could not yet be its own master. People still planted rice, wove cloth and cared for one another. But in every heart lay a quiet wish for a long run of springs, lived in peace in villages of their own.

Out of that wish, Lý Bí became the man who gathered the villagers and called on them to protect their homeland together. He took up the cause in 542, and hearts in many parts of the countryside turned toward him.

Then, one spring, he did something very bold.

In the second month of 544, the old records say, Lý Bí took the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, under the title Lý Nam Đế. He is often described as the first king of the country to dare claim the title of emperor. He stood upright, as an equal of the great kings of the north in his time. It took great faith in his homeland to do such a thing.

Yet what people remember most is the name he gave the country. He called it Vạn Xuân. The name carried a hope that the country would be independent and lasting, like ten thousand springs following one another. Every spring would be bright and peaceful. He did not name his country after strength or victories. He named it after the gentlest picture in the world, which is spring.

When he took the throne, he also chose a reign name, Thiên Đức, just as fine as the first name. First Vạn Xuân, then Thiên Đức. The king chose only gentle names, as if he wanted to pour his whole heart into each word.

After founding the country, he had a pagoda built. It was called Khai Quốc, which means the Pagoda of the Nation's Founding, as if to mark a new beginning for the land. Tradition says the old Khai Quốc Pagoda was the forerunner of Trấn Quốc Pagoda beside West Lake, which many people still visit today. A visitor passing that calm water can quietly recall that the place was once tied to the dream of ten thousand springs.

In his homeland, people still remember the gentle king. There, a temple called Đền Mục was built to honor the service of Lý Nam Đế. It is the way the sons and daughters of his homeland show their gratitude to the man who gave the country a name full of hope.

Many springs have passed since that day. The peach trees still bloom, and the yellow blossoms still open. Children still put on new clothes and go out to enjoy Tết, the Lunar New Year festival. With each new spring, people remember an old king who wished his homeland ten thousand lovely springs. That dream is still in flower along the village roads today.