Ancient wells over 600 years have never run out of water

About a kilometer from the coast, two ancient wells are the source of drinking water for many generations of Thuan An villagers (Quang Nam) and no matter how severe the drought is.

The ancient 600-year-old well never ran out

One day at the end of October, eating a lunch as usual, Mrs. Le Thi Hong (66 years old) left to go to the old well located at the end of Thuan An village, Tam Hai commune (Nui Thanh, Quang Nam) to wait for the money to be collected. sell water. She was entrusted with the sale of water in these two ancient wells, each month handed over to the village one million dong to pay into the fund for road construction, restoration of the old well .

People in the village come to take water and use it without losing money, outsiders want 30 liters of water to pay 1,000 VND. Every day, Mrs. Hong sold 50,000 VND on average, they mainly took water to drink and still had drilled wells. In the commune, there are 4 women who specialize in taking old well water and then transporting it to the villages to sell it at 10 times the price, the hot day is more expensive.

Water in two old wells is so delicious that other villagers have to spend money to buy.(Photo: Tien Hung).

Talking about the quality of ancient wells, Mr. Le Thi Lanh (86 years) is proud: 'Ancient wells use tea to make fragrant tea, cooked rice, flexible rice. People here who are aware of ancient wells are the privilege that the ancients left so precious. ' In winter, the well water evaporates, the cooler the weather, the warmer the water becomes. Although banned from bathing and washing along the well, children still stealthily bounced on a few dandruff and ran back.

"Some people left the village of Tam Hai still often ask relatives to take water from the old wells and send them to the boats. The water from the well is so good that many people in the village still think that they can treat the disease," Hong said. The families in the island commune have a sea-going boat to catch and prepare some ancient well water for drinking. They believe that the source of fresh water between the four saline water surfaces will help the seafarer be healthier. Currently, two-thirds of islanders use ancient well water for their daily diet.

Mr. Huynh Than's house (64 years old) is about 40 meters away from the old well, also has a well dug more than ten meters deep. However, like any well in the island commune, water from Ong Than's well cannot be compared to old well water.'It is possible that people who dig ancient wells are very sophisticated in geography, about the principles of groundwater. Anyone who has tried drinking well water has a different taste, not infected with alum but very sweet, clear blue water, drinking it feels very refreshing , 'Than said.

According to the villagers, the ancient well water mixed with aromatic tea and cooked rice.(Photo: Tien Hung).

The two ancient archaeological wells are about 500 meters apart, about a kilometer from the coast and separated by a clay hill. The well mouth is about 2m wide, more than ten meters deep, the wall is covered with laterite. In the dry season, the whole village together slaps the water to clean the well, at this time, the bottom of the well is visible.

At the bottom of the well there are rock niches that can go deep into, like a small cave. Due to these waterfalls, there is still water, the dry season wants to get water to drop the dandruff so that it rolls into the inside of the cave, submerges into the puddle and slowly pulls up rather than dropping down to have water immediately.

The grandparents told them that, in 1964, when they heard the sound of sweet wells, the American troops stationed in Tam Hai tried to dig more of the neighboring wells, but not as expected. By 1970, a division of the Republic of Vietnam also dug a similar well but could not catch the water like an old well. From 1934 until now, the ancient well was restored by the villagers of Thuan An 4 times.

'In the summer, hundreds of people lined up for kilometers to get water, there are those who have to wake up from the middle of the night to expect only a few dozen liters of water to drink. Because of the amount of water used by the wells, the government is also very concerned, must have the responsibility to protect, ' said Nguyen Huu Khoa, Secretary of the Branch of Thuan An village.

To protect the old well, villagers banned the bathing and washing here, from 1934 until now, the ancient well has undergone 4 times of restoration.(Photo: Tien Hung).

Talking about the origin of ancient wells, the elders in Thuan An village said that in 1403 Vietnamese people moved into this land. At that time, two old wells were available, people still had the habit of taking well water to drink from then on. Some people say that both wells are dug at the same time by the Cham people but the architecture is not like other Cham wells.

"When I was a child, I also heard people say that wells were dug by people from other lands. They came here to build sheds to go to the sea to fishing, staying temporarily for a while, but not knowing exactly who in the area because In the past, this land belonged to the Champa kingdom, "said Le Thi Lan (78 years old), living beside the ancient well.

Deputy director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam province, Mr. Ho Xuan Tinh said that Champa ancient wells are usually square or round, flat and have a layer of wood, but these two wells are tilted, not Made of wood which is natural stone."Until now, it has not been confirmed that the well was made by anyone and it has been ever since. It is also possible that when the Vietnamese came to the new land, they learned how to dig a well of Cham people and dug these two wells" , Mr. Tinh said.

The Deputy Director affirmed that no matter what time it was formed, it is not important for Tam Hai people to be as important as the two old wells to become 'milk gourd' . Therefore, people in the village are always conscious of protecting that sacred water always clean.