There are many ancient stories explaining the origin of handprints related to the giants at Hon Chong.
 Giant handprint on rock at Hon Chong – Photo: Nguyen Chung |
In addition to the remains that have been passed down as “giant handprints”, cultural researchers also found a series of other “traces” believed to be related to folk tales in Hon Chong – Nha Trang.
The giant “slipped”
Hon Chong is a rocky beach about 2,000 m 2 wide , with rocks stacked in rows stretching out to the sea. The highest area is a large rock, quite flat. On this rock there is a stone with a circumference of about 30 m and a height of more than 5 m, stacked up. The “highlight” of this stone is the imprint of a large hand, deeply imprinted on the eastern rock face. Legend has it that it is a mark left by a giant’s hand.
There are many ancient stories explaining the origin of handprints related to the giants at Hon Chong. According to many documents, in the past, a giant sat fishing in this area, and a giant orca bit the hook and dragged him away. The giant held the fishing rod in one hand and pulled it back, with the other hand he grabbed the rock, creating a dent in the rock, imprinting his hand print. Another story tells that in the past, a giant came to Suoi Tien area (H.Dien Khanh, Khanh Hoa), saw the beautiful scenery of this country, he stopped to admire the scenery, watched the fairies bathing by the stream and went to Love stepped on a mossy rock, slipped and fell. The giant quickly pushed his hand against a rocky cliff, but because he pushed too hard, the mountainside broke. The cliff falling down to where Hon Chong is today still bears the giant’s handprint. His feet also held strongly while slipping and falling, so his footprints remained in Suoi Tien.
Regarding the story of the giant who slipped and fell at Suoi Tien, in the book Xu Tram Huong, poet Quach Tan wrote: “Hearing the story of the giant, a tourist named Thi Nai Thi smiled and said: Did the giant slip? Not because he accidentally stepped on a mossy rock, but because of Ho Tien’s warning. That’s why there is a song that says: The giant is both fat and tall/His feet walk on rocks/His face looks at the Fairy Lake/In the water soaked in the azalea stream/Five and three natural statues/His body trembles/His soul moves/ His heart was broken/His eyes were blinded/Seven tilts and eight turns…/The rocks shook a few buildings/His steps were uneven/Freaking out/He was in a hurry/Clinging his feet to the rocks/But he still fell down/Fairy was startled and flew away gone away/He alone left a mark of love for thousands of years. The giant’s sign of love is half of his foot placed on Suoi Tien, half of his hand placed on Hon Chong.
Iron love on stone
Mr. Nguyen Van Thich, a researcher of history and folk culture, is currently Deputy Director of the Center for Management of Monuments and Scenic Landscapes of Khanh Hoa province. Traces of folk legends crystallize into stories about Hon Chong. Mr. Thich said that his search came from the story of a fisherman and his wife.
According to the documents provided by Mr. Thich, the story of “the young fisherman and his wife” is summarized as follows: Once upon a time, in a fishing village, there was a young fisherman’s family, including a husband and wife and two young children, living happily. Every time the husband boards a boat to go out to sea, the wife holds her child and stands waiting for her husband to return. One day, a storm came, the husband tried to bring the boat to shore but was hit by waves, hitting the rocks and breaking into pieces. The husband tried to swim, clinging to the rocks to climb ashore, but the harsh ocean waves hit him and pulled his hands off the rocks. The husband died but the five-fingered handprint when he clung to the cliff was still imprinted. The wife holding the child also turned into a block of stone, so not far from the giant handprint there is a block of stone named “Hon Vo”.
Mr. Thich confided that he felt like someone guided him and told him, but in addition to the well-known giant handprint, he also found many other “traces”. Opening a set of photos considered a “precious asset” of a person about to retire, Mr. Thich introduced the traces that had been found: a “broken arm” clinging to a large block of stone near the area of the giant hand print. giant makes viewers amazed at the strangeness of creation, further proving the disaster story of the husband at sea here; a skull-shaped rock ledge similar to that of the husband after his death; the image of a naked wife’s breasts on the cliffside at the rock with the five-fingered hand; The image of a man and woman lying next to each other tightly on the rock seems to demonstrate the eternal love of the young fisherman and his wife… “The traces of the husband and wife seem to be present throughout the entire area.” Hon Husband – Hon Wife, as an illustration of a touching, humane story. I took photos and then displayed them outside the Hon Chong Assembly Hall so that tourists could better understand this place,” Mr. Thich said.
Mr. Thich said that when coming to Hon Chong, you have to observe carefully and depending on the time, the traces will “reveal” clearly, like in the afternoon you can see the couple lying together; Only in the midday sun can we clearly see the image of the fairy… In addition, we must observe in many directions, because it is possible that only looking in one direction can we see the image, while the other direction is just inanimate stone fibers, or hard to imagine. imagine.
It is known that, scientifically, Hon Chong area was formed by the arrangement of nature, but stories about the vestiges in Hon Chong are still an indispensable part, creating the appeal of this scenic spot. .
