Central Highlands village testifies to national hero's fighting spirit

By Tran Hoa September 17, 2020 | 02:22 am PT

Stor Village in Gia Lai Province is the birthplace of national hero Dinh Nup, who spearheaded the village's struggle against the French colonists.

Nup, born in 1914, was an ethnic Ba Na. He became renowned for leading dozens of villagers in rebellions against the French starting in the 1930s when the national revolution against the colonial regime was still feeble.
The above picture shows the entrance leading to his village today in K’Bang District, 70 kilometres east of Pleiku Town, capital of Gia Lai Province.

In 1950 and 1951 the French tried to raid Stor village 10 times, but each in vain against the village’s guerrilla self-defence team lead by Nup that fought back with nothing but crude weapons like bows and arrows. His story later became the main inspiration for a famous war novel, The Rising Nation, by Nguyen Ngoc. The book was well-received, with excerpts from it featuring in Vietnamese school literature textbook.

In 1950 and 1951 the French tried to raid Stor Village 10 times, but each in vain against the village’s guerrilla self-defense team led by Nup that fought back with nothing but crude weapons like bows and arrows.

Nup, who passed away in 1999 at the age of 85, was dubbed Nup The Hero and recognized by the government as a national hero.
To commemorate his contributions, local officials have built a memorial house in Stor Village designed like a Ba Na stilt house. It also serves as a museum displaying memorial items and documents about Nup.

Built in 2011, it comprises a display area, a souvenir area and a worship place.

Nup was repeatedly honored during his life. He received "the National Army’s Hero" title in 1955, a year after he left for the north when the country was divided.

The small museum displays items used by Nup, many of which are clearly of Ba Na origin.

In the later years of his life, Nup maintained a close friendship with Nguyen Ngoc, who wrote the novel based on his life.

Nup The Hero's (left) story later became the main inspiration for a famous war novel, The Rising Nation, by Nguyen Ngoc. The book was well-received, with excerpts from it featuring in Vietnamese school literature textbooks.

Authorities have restored stilt houses used by the revolutionaries throughout the insurrection, opposite the memorial house.
Now there are five Ba Na households living in these stilt houses, partly to help with the upkeep of the memorial.

Dinh Ngoc, a 73-year-old Ba Na man, has lived in one of the stilt houses for three years. He makes traditional Ba Na handicrafts such as backpacks to sell as souvenirs to tourists.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out I could make a few hundred thousand dong (VND100,000 = $4.3) every day from selling the souvenirs, he says.

"Before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out I could make a few hundred thousand dong (VND100,000 = $4.33) every day from selling the souvenirs," he said.

Other households do traditional weaving and crafting to sell souvenirs and provide a typical Ba Na dining experience to tourists.

Stor Village and Dinh Nup have become legends that testify to the Central Highlands’ unwavering revolutionary spirit.