The mystifying rocks of Xin Man

      Visitors to the Xin Man Ancient Rock Yard in northwestern Ha Giang Province will find an area of wild, natural beauty, full of hidden secrets of an ancient culture.
Located on a rambling mountainside in Nam Dan Commune around 1,350 meters above sea level, the trail to Xin Man crosses over a picturesque, babbling stream and opens into a mossy 15-hectare field.
The Xin Man Ancient Rock Yard is filled with rocks of odd shapes and sizes thought to have been inscribed by an ancient ethnic civilization.
The first stone to be encountered in the area is called Cu Thach. The large, elliptical-shaped boulder tilts precariously on an angle, supported by two smaller rocks underneath it.
It is said that Cu Thach resembles an altar, so local residents have even placed an incense burner below it to complete the look.
The rock formation that arouses people’s curiosity the most, however, and which made Xin Man a recognized national historical and cultural relic last February, is the one inscribed with mystifying pictures.
Referred to as “na phau lai su” in the local ethnic Nung language, the stone’s surface area spans around 20 square meters and resembles a rounded cake. There are nearly 80 drawings including about 40 circular images, two rectangular ones, one square, four human figures, and five images of triangles.
The ancient symbols are thought to represent celestial themes, fertility figures, and the day-to-day activities of the ancient peoples who carved them, though researchers say there is still much to be learned about the peculiar rocks.