The Legend of Man Nuong

Before dawn had fully broken over the Dâu area, a bamboo broom was already sweeping steadily across the brick floor of a small pagoda courtyard by the river. The one sweeping was a girl named Man Nương. She was young and hardworking. Every morning she rose before the birds sang. She gathered the fallen leaves, carried water on a shoulder pole, and wiped each step until the pagoda shone.

People in the Dâu area of Bắc Ninh have told this story for a very long time. Legend says it happened around the 2nd century, when the land of Luy Lâu by the river was one of the first places in Giao Châu that Buddhism reached. Giao Châu was an old name for a region that included northern Vietnam. One of the monks who came from far away was named Khâu Đà La. Man Nương asked to serve at the pagoda. Day after day she swept, cleaned and listened to the monk teach the ways of goodness.

The girl who swept the courtyard had a heart as clear as well water. She asked for nothing for herself. She only wished that the pagoda would always be clean and fragrant with incense.

Then one day, a blessing came to her. Man Nương did not fully understand it. She only felt light and warm inside, as if early sunlight had settled in her chest. She gave birth to a baby girl 14 months later. The room held a strange, gentle fragrance, and no one knew where it came from.

The monk Khâu Đà La looked at the baby and knew she was no ordinary child. He told Man Nương to entrust the baby to a great old tree that grew beside the pagoda. It was a dung thụ tree, and its wide crown shaded a whole stretch of the riverbank. There, the baby returned to the tree and became the soul of its sacred wood. From then on, the old tree seemed to have a life of its own, standing silent beside the water, its green leaves rustling whenever the wind passed.

Man Nương still swept the courtyard every day. But each morning she stopped for a long time at the foot of the tree. She laid her hand on its rough bark, as if she were laying it on the cheek of her child.

Many years passed. Then a season of violent rain swept in. The wind roared in gusts, the river rose in churning waves, and muddy water spilled over both banks. That night the storm brought down the old tree beside the pagoda. It was torn up by the roots and swept downstream. Man Nương ran to the riverbank in the rain. She could only watch the trunk disappear into the curtain of water.

The log drifted on and on, all the way down to the landing at Luy Lâu. At the landing, the log stopped and lay still in the middle of the stream.

People came out to look. Everyone wanted to bring the strange log ashore. They tied ropes to it, they brought water buffalo, and they gathered crowds to pull. Still the trunk lay there, as heavy as a whole mountain, and would not budge.

At last, word reached Man Nương. She made the long, hard trip to the landing, and she knew at once that this was the tree from her pagoda. Gently, she untied the sash of her bodice. She tied it to the trunk and pulled softly. To everyone's wonder, the enormously heavy log drifted obediently after her to the shore. It came as gently as a child who knows the scent of its mother.

At that time, the official who governed the Luy Lâu region was Sĩ Nhiếp. Hearing of the sacred log in the river, he had it carried ashore with great ceremony. Then he invited the most skilled craftsmen in the region. From that sacred wood, they carved four Buddha statues, seated and majestic. So the tree beside the pagoda that Man Nương swept became four Buddhas.

The four were named for the four things farmers watch for most when they look up at the sky. Pháp Vân is the Buddha of Clouds. Pháp Vũ is the Buddha of Rain. Pháp Lôi is the Buddha of Thunder. Pháp Điện is the Buddha of Lightning. When the clouds gather, the rain falls. When the rain falls, the fields grow green and full. And thunder and lightning give warning of a coming storm. People in the Dâu area call these four Buddhas together the Tứ Pháp.

Deep inside the old block of wood, there was also a hard, solid part that sparkled like a precious stone. People kept it with care. They called it Thạch Quang Phật, which means the Buddha of light hidden in stone.

From then on, whenever drought came, people of the Dâu area went back to the pagoda. When the fields cracked and the young rice wilted, they stood before the four Buddhas of Clouds, Rain, Thunder and Lightning. With sincere hearts they offered incense and prayed for rain and wind to come in their proper season. And in the faith of many generations, the rain came back and fell, cooling the dry fields.

This story does not live only in words. Today the Dâu area lies in Bắc Ninh province. Dâu Pagoda still stands here, and its formal name is Diên Ứng tự. It is where Pháp Vân, the first among the four, is worshipped. Not far away is the Tổ Pagoda, also called Phúc Nghiêm tự. Tradition says it was built on the very ground where the family of Man Nương once had their home.

Inside the Tổ Pagoda, a statue of Man Nương sits quietly on a lotus throne. Together with the throne, it is about 1 meter 70 centimeters tall, and her face is kind and gentle, as if she were still watching over the pagoda. The pagoda also keeps a stone stele carved in 1873. It records the whole story: Man Nương, the old tree by the river, and the four Buddhas of Clouds, Rain, Thunder and Lightning.

People of the Dâu area still come here to pray for rain, as their grandparents did for generations. Early in the morning, in the courtyard of Dâu Pagoda, a bamboo broom may still be heard somewhere, sweeping steadily across the old brick floor. Perhaps the sound comes from a morning long ago, when a hardworking girl swept the pagoda courtyard, never knowing that her sincere heart would one day become clouds and rain, cooling a whole region.