The sacred stream in Thanh Hoa ferries the descendants of the blessed water snake to and fro. Simple fishermen of Ham Ninh set out to sea, spilling sheets of colour upon the water from their hand-woven nets. Dawn breaks out on the Mekong River, and the town of Phu Quoc is set into motion as merchants and trawlers set out in basket boats. But fish are only a gateway to the keystone of Vietnam’s folklore- the dragon.
Vietnamese lore carries the tale of the carp fish, which jumped over three gates of rain and earned its transformation into a dragon- the symbol for yang, success and power. And Hội An, a teeming fishing village where prayer lanterns dot the dark night river, is home of the Dragon.
In Hội An’s harmonious town, where land and water embrace as softly as the petals of Hoa Sen flowers open at dawn, the Dragon rides on his sputtering bike with clear bags of fish on his back. The fish, his ancestors, attract wide-eyed schoolchildren and they stare back through the clear plastic with the same large gaze. His bike- red hot rear lights and a grunting engine- travels along the riverside, the Dragon and his fish crossing through the streets where culture means trade and a blend of grand architecture sits squat by the beaming river.
The dwellers of Hội An are no strangers to the Dragon or his presence. But to them, in the town built upon the creature’s sanctity, he is known simply as the Fish Seller.
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This piece is inspired by a picture I came across on Pinterest- ‘Fish Seller’. On further research, I discovered it was by photographer Jon Enoch as part of his collection called ‘Bikes of Hanoi’ and won the Smithsonian’s annual photo contest in 2020.
