Thánh Gióng (chữ Nôm: 聖揀),ánhGió also known as Phù Đổng Thiên Vương (chữ Hán: 扶董天王, Heavenly Prince of Phù Đổng), Sóc Thiên Vương (chữ Hán: 朔天王), Ông Gióng (翁揀, sir Gióng) and Xung Thiên Thần Vương (冲天神王, Divine Prince of Heaven) is a mythical folk hero of Vietnam's history and one of The Four Immortals. According to the legend, Gióng was a boy who rode on an iron horse and won against the enemy of the state. The most well known version of the legend had him battle against the Chinese army, thus, he is considered the first anti-invasion hero of the Vietnamese. Some researchers believe he is the Vietnamese version of Vaiśravaṇa.
The folk hero was a popular subject for poets, such as Cao Bá Quát who wrote an epic poem to Thánh Gióng in the 19th century. Today Thánh Gióng features with other legendary figures such as Kinh Dương Vương, Âu Cơ, Sơn Tinh – Thủy Tinh, in elementary school texts.
Legends
There are many versions of the legend of Thánh Gióng. But they all have the same general story: In ancient time, there was a fearsome enemy, the king sent his men to seek for a talented person to defeat the enemy. In Phù Đổng village, there was a child, though being three years old, he was incapable of speech or crawl. But as soon as he heard about the king seeking for talent, he spoke. He then joined the army, asked the king for a sword and an iron horse, and defeated the enemy. After peace was restored, he flew away.
Việt điện u linh tập
In Việt Điện U Linh Tập, Thánh Gióng is known as Sóc Thiên Vương (). This version does not specify when the story was set nor who was the enemy. It says in the old days, there was an enemy in the country, the king ordered his emissaries to find someone who can defeat the enemy. The Heavenly King (, which is what Thánh Gióng is called in the story) was a baby at the time. Having heard the news, he told his mother to prepare a lot of food for him. A few months later, he grew into a big man and joined the army. The emissary brought him to the capital. The king was very happy and asked him: "What is that that you want?" to which the Heavenly King answered: "Please give me a long sword and an iron horse." The king accepted. The Heavenly King drew his sword and rode his horse into battle. Once he defeated the enemy and restored peace in the country, he rode his horse to Vệ Linh mountain, climbed onto a banyan tree and fly away. The people erected a temple to worship him. The Lý dynasty also erected a temple dedicated to him in Cảo Hương village near West Lake.
Thiền uyển tập anh has a follow-up to the story: In the Early Lê dynasty, Buddhist monk Khuông Việt travelled to Vệ Linh mountain and wanted to build a house there. That night, he dreamt of a deity who wore gold armor, carried a golden spear in his left hand and a tower in his right hand, followed by more than ten people. The deity said: "I am Vaiśravaṇa (, ), my escorts are all Yaksa. The Heavenly Emperor sent me to this country to help the people, you are blessed to be able to talk to me." The monk woke up and heard loud cries in the mountain. The next day, he found a large unusual tree in the mountains, he cut it down and built a temple. In 891, the Song dynasty invaded, emperor Lê Hoàn told Buddhist monks to pray at the temple. The Song army at Tây Kết village suddenly retreat to Chi river, they then met with a large storm and withdrew back to China. Lê Hoàn built more temple to Tì Sa Môn Thiên Vương.
Lĩnh Nam chích quái
In Hùng King's time, the country was peaceful. The king of Ân planned an invasion under the pretext of punishing Hùng King for not paying tribute. Hùng King asked his men for a way to fight back, one of them said: "Why don't we ask the dragon king to fight them for us?" The king held a large prayers, suddenly there's heavy rain and an old man appeared. The king thought the man was unusual, and asked him how to fight the invader. The old man predicted that the enemy will invade in three years, and to fight back, the king must "forge weapons, train soldiers, and find talents in the country. Those who defeat the enemy will be rewarded with land and title." The old man flew away, the king realized that he's the dragon king.