Lac Long Quan
(b. 2879 BCE), mythological founder of the kingdoms of Vietnam and southernChina. Lac Long Quan is the mythological descendant of Than Nong (Shen Nong in Chinese) and the founder of the first Vietnamese kingdom, which received the name Van Lang. His name means the dragon (long) king or chief (quan) of the Lac family or clan. According to legend, Shen Nong sent his greatgreat grandson, King De Minh (De Ming in Chinese), on an inspection tour of south China. Arriving at the Wu Ling Mountains in Hunan, De Minh married an immortal woman and sired several sons. Loc Tuc, one of his younger sons, ruled over the south of China under the title of King Duong Vuong. His land was called Xich Quy.
In 2879 BCE, Loc Tuc's son, Lac Long Quan, was born. He too married an immortal woman, Au Co, who gave birth to a pouch containing one hundred eggs, producing one hundred children. Legend has it that after he succeeded his father to the throne of Xich Quy, he told his wife that their marriage could not last because he was of the dragon race and therefore belonged to the water, whereas she, an immortal, belonged to the mountains. He suggested that she take fifty of their children and establish them in the mountains, while he would live on the coastal plains with the other fifty. He then sent one of his children to rule over a southern part of his kingdom, in a country called Van Lang (Vietnam). That son's descendants were known as the Hung kings. There were eighteen in all, and they ruled from approximately 2879 BCE to 258 BCE.
Further Reading
Taylor, Keith W. (1983) The Birth of Vietnam. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
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