Khu mộ cổ Đống Thếch
Through the sharing of Mr. Bui Van Hung, Deputy Secretary of Vinh Dong Commune and Mr. Bui Minh Loi, Head of the Commune Cultural Committee that: "That is a whole legend about the Dinh family - the richest family of the Muong people in the past, it is the inviolable "holy land" of the Muong Dong family. The legends about it have not been fully discovered to this day".
We feel the mystery as soon as we hear the name “Dong Thech”. “Dong” is understood as places with graves, or remote, deserted places with few people passing by. “Thech” is a place name that has existed for a long time. This is a place name unique to the Muong people. Coming to “Dong Thech” is coming to a small valley, both flat and high. Inside there are hundreds of high and low graves that have stood the test of time. The land has a rather narrow terrain and is convenient for transportation. The three sides surrounding this land are low hills that create a small basin in a large valley. The north of Dong Thech borders the old Chua Mountain, the west is Ong Noi hill, the south borders Na Thech, Thech Stream, and finally the east borders Pang Dong Field.
The ancient tombs were used to bury the bodies of the Dinh family. In addition, there are some rumors that these tombs were also used to bury the bodies of the servants of the mandarins. The tombs have many stone slabs engraved with Chinese characters. On these stone slabs are often recorded the name, age, and rank of the person in the grave, the date of the tomb's construction, or even animals. The translation of a large stone slab has the following content: Mr. Dinh Cong Ky, title Uy Loc Marquis, local chief and governor of Muong Dong region. He was born in 1592 and died at the hour of the Ox, on October 13, 1647. When he died, he was awarded the title of Commander of the Guard, Uy Quan Cong. On February 22, 1650, he was taken to the grave on the mountain by 15 hearses, 7 elephants, 5 horses...". These stones have different shapes, sizes and lengths, they were taken from Ngoc Lac - Thanh Hoa. The large stone slabs weigh tons and they often protrude about 3m above the ground, while the small stone slabs only protrude about 0.5m. Each size of each stone slab implies its own meaning. It is the place to mark the power of the Dinh family. Today, the stone slabs have been lying with the traces of time, the images of the animals have also faded and are no longer clearly visible. For these tombs, each tomb has three high stone slabs in the front, and three small stone slabs below, and the two sides of the tomb are buried with tombstones. These tombstones have different heights, low sizes and different quantities. Looking from afar, we will see that the whole area has hundreds of stone slabs, shaped like figures resembling people in standing and sitting positions.
The tomb covers an area of tens of thousands of square meters, surrounded by a natural forest landscape, with lush and dense trees. That is why this place always feels deserted and has little light, and of course that makes few people dare to think of coming here. According to legend, this tomb has been here and existed for more than 400 years. However, there is a sad truth that the stone slabs inside the tomb are gradually decreasing, the main cause is the encroachment of humans, especially those who specialize in grave robbers. The locals whisper to each other the legends surrounding this ancient tomb. Folklore has it that the third wife of King Hung, because she was angry with her husband, left this place to reclaim land and live with her two children. Later, this area became more and more prosperous and densely populated. When they died, the mother and her three children turned into three "dragon-shaped" mountains facing the capital. The land has the terrain and shape of a dragon's mouth - According to ancient feng shui concepts, this is an extremely beautiful land. Therefore, the Muong Dong mandarin family has long monopolized this place as a cemetery, the final resting place of their family.
To this day, the Dong Thech ancient tomb is still a mystery to many people. This place will still hold an irresistible attraction for archaeology enthusiasts.