The God Giong: An Epic of Vietnam

By Jia Wei Low

Photos courtesy Google and Vietnam Tourism

Writer’s Disclaimer: This story was told to me by one of our student guides, so advance apologies for any discrepancies that might occur in this recounting of the tale.

Just as most, if not all Malaysians are familiar with fantastical tales of the mouse deer outsmarting all manner of beasts in Sang Kancil, or a Sultan trying to win the heart of the beautiful princess of Ledang Mountain in Puteri Gunung Ledang, or how the blood of a woman proved her purity in Mahsuri, the Vietnamese too have their own story of God Giong.

As every other story begins, once upon a time in Vietnam, a woman was walking in her padi field tending to her crops when she chanced upon a giant footprint. Surprised by the enormity of the footprint, she stepped closer eventually stepping into the giant footprint. As she did, she felt a strange sensation overcome her body, and some sort of an immaculate conception take place. Nine months later, she gave birth to a boy whom she named ‘Giong’.

For the first three years of his life, Giong could not walk, talk or even move. This was at a time when invaders from China begun attacking the kingdom. So the King sent out a herald to every village in his kingdom in search of a hero to defeat the army of invaders and save his kingdom.

When a messenger arrive in Giong’s village, much to his mother’s amazement, Giong sat up and told his mother to bring the messenger to him (keep in mind that Giong was three years old at the time). So his mother, though confused and amazed, did so.

When the messenger saw Giong, he too was amazed at how a child of three years could talk. Giong commanded the messenger to tell the King to craft him an armor of iron, a helmet of iron, a staff of iron and a horse of iron.

The messenger, feeling the command in Giong’s voice rode off to do so. The King ordered that Giong’s command be fulfilled. And so a staff, a suit of armour and a helmet- all made of iron were crafted and borne by the horse made out of iron, which breathed fire.

Giong upon his fire breathing iron horse

Giong was however, still a small child, but he asked his mother for food and as Giong ate, he grew bigger. Giong could not be satiated and asked for more and as he ate, he grew until there was no more food left in his mother’s home. So the villagers brought him more food until he was roughly the size of a small giant.

Then Giong donned the helm and armor, bore the staff of iron and rode the iron horse to fight off the invaders. Giong fought fiercely with his iron staff and ferocious iron horse, but in the midst of fighting his staff broke. So Giong pulled out bamboo from the ground to continue the fight and eventually emerged victorious, thus saving the kingdom.

In the epilogue of this story, Giong returned to his village to wish his mother farewell and then guided his horse to the Soc Son mountain where he ascended to the sky (or as my Vietnamese friend put it, “flew to the sky”) and was immortalized as a god.

In every culture there are tales of great heroes. In Scandinavia there is Beowulf. In Malaysia we have the story of Hang Tuah- in Vietnam it is the tale of the God Giong. I have always had a soft spot for epic tales of heroes and Vietnam certainly does not disappoint in this department. Still, Vietnam’s folklore is unique in itself, reflective of its own culture and history. Also, a fun little tidbit- the Giong Festival is celebrated annually to commemorate the defeat of the An invaders in Hanoi.

 The Giong Festival in Hanoi (picture courtesy of Vietnam Tourism)

Being an enthusiast of folklore as I am, I one day hope to be able to visit the Giong Festival. If nothing else, I hope to come back to Vietnam to learn so much more about the many legends which I know for a fact I haven’t been able to cover within such a short period of time.

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LowJia Wei, 23 is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Writing and suffers from chronic Internet addiction.