THE CUSTOM OF OFFERING ROOSTERS
About the person who twice served as governor of Gia Dinh citadel.
Le Van Duyet (1763-1832), was born in Cai Be, Tien Giang today. In 1781, at the age of 18, he followed Lord Nguyen Anh to defeat the Tay Son army, travelling from the mainland to the islands, through Siam, a foreign land.
Participating in many great battles, countless times of birth and death, his first feat was participating in and winning the Thi Nai naval battle in 1801, considered the "First Martial Artist" of the Nguyen Dynasty. pushed Tay Son's house to the brink of judgment. Then in the summer of May 1802, the Nguyen Phuc family owned the country, from the North to the South, from Thang Long to Gia Dinh, with the head who took the imperial title from the names of these two places, King Gia Long. Nguyen house. At the same time, the founder of the country, Le Van Duyet was also conferred as: "Kham sent lord of the left army of Binh Tay general" and was twice appointed as the General Tran of Gia Dinh citadel under the two dynasties of King Gia Long and King Minh Mang.
The pastime with "Chicken" and the explanation made everyone surprised.
As a child, he did not study well, but only liked to catch birds and fish, especially raising chickens and cockfighting. He used to gather children in the village, divided into factions to fight the enemy. He believed that cockfighting was a practice of battling against invaders and fostering chivalry. Because the chicken has all the qualities of a General leading the army to battle.
According to folklore, in his house, he raised hundreds to thousands of chickens. He even wrote books recounting the characteristics and shapes that helped create a champion fighting cock.
During a visit to the king, due to an illness, he arrived at the meeting place a little later than the mandarins. The king asked seriously:
- Were you busy watching cockfights?
- Your Majesty, my body simply feels unwell today.
- People told me that you have been addicted to cockfighting. Is it true?
- Your Majesty, it is. However, I think that it is not a sin to be enthusiastic about fighting cocks. Instead, it is a very encouraging, meaningful activity. If applied in real life, perhaps it will be effective.
The mandarins in the room were all surprised; meanwhile, the king was also curious. He asked:
"Is cockfighting so helpful?"
"My lord, any big or small matters that I have contributed in the army were all thanks to cockfighting. Your Majesty forgives the sin of speaking frankly, I would like to say, the chicken is a beast consisting of all 5 great virtues.
The head has a beautiful hat-like crest that represents CHARM.
The leg with the sharp spur is its MIGHT.
The fighting spirit when it rushes into the enemy stands for BRAVENESS.
Its habit of calling for fellows when seeing food is very HUMANE.
And finally, the action of waking us up early every morning makes it TRUST-WORTHY.
Those are the 5 great virtues that a person should have as a general or mandarin. Only when having these 5 virtues, you will gain the trust of the higher-ups and the respect of the subordinates.
Today, because of these characteristics, on every occasion of worship, opening ceremony, housewarming, etc., people boil chickens (roosters) as an offering. In addition to chicken meat being affordable, it also represents the owner's desire to have all of the 5 qualities above, from which he can be successful and gain the trust of colleagues, family and partners.
This has been passed down from generation to generation, originating from the unique pleasures of the high mandarin, the throneless king of the old Saigon-Gia Dinh land, General Le Van Duyet.