Protection

Stories with the Protection theme:

• The Story of the Banyan Tree Spirit Jul 12, 2025

  

  In the heart of the Red River Delta, where fertile rice paddies stretch toward distant mountains and water buffalo wade through peaceful streams, stood the village of Dong Xuan. It was a prosperous community known throughout the region for its harmony, wisdom, and the unusual longevity of its residents.

  At the center of the village grew an enormous banyan tree, so ancient that no one could remember when it had first taken root. Its massive trunk required twenty people holding hands to encircle it, and its branches spread so wide they provided shade for the entire village square. The aerial roots that dropped from its branches had grown thick as smaller trees themselves, creating natural pillars that formed a living temple around the great trunk.

• The Legend of the Dragon King Jul 5, 2025

  

  In the deepest trenches of the South China Sea, where sunlight never penetrates and the water pressure would crush any mortal being, there lies a magnificent palace built from living coral and adorned with pearls the size of human heads. This is the underwater kingdom of Long Vuong—the Dragon King—the most powerful supernatural being in all of Vietnamese mythology.

  Long Vuong was not always a dragon. Centuries ago, he had been a mortal prince named Thuy Long, ruler of a coastal kingdom that prospered through fishing and sea trade. Prince Thuy Long was known throughout the land for his wisdom in governing, his skill as a warrior, and most importantly, his deep compassion for his people.