| Type: | Vietnamese |
| Thần Trụ Trời | |
| Other Names: | Ông Trụ Trời, Khổng Lồ |
| Consort: | None |
| Parents: | None; self-generated |
| Siblings: | None |
| Children: | None |
Thần Trụ Trời or Ông Trụ Trời (lit. "Pillar of Heaven"), with some versions calling him Khổng Lồ (lit. "The Giant"), is the first god in some traditions of Vietnamese mythology, being the one who created the world by building pillars to separate heaven and earth.
At that time, there were no creatures on earth. Heaven and earth are merely a chaotic, dark area. Suddenly appeared a giant god, extremely tall and indescribably long legs. Every step he takes is ice from one area to another, from one mountain to another.
One day, the god stretched out his shoulders and stood up, raising his head to the sky. The god dug the earth, carried the stone, and built it into a large and tall pillar to support the sky. As high as the pillar is raised, the sky is like a vast curtain that is gradually raised. He alone dug, built, the stone pillars kept getting higher and higher and pushed the dome of the sky up to the blue clouds.
Since then, heaven and earth have split into two. The earth is flat like a square tray, the sky is round like an upside down bowl,[1] where sky and earth meet is the horizon. When the sky was high and dry, the god of sky broke the pillar and threw the earth everywhere. Every stone that was thrown turned into a mountain or an island, and the earth scattered everywhere into mounds, piles, and high hills. Therefore, the ground today is no longer flat, but has concave and convex areas. the place where god dug deep to get soil and stone to build columns, today is the immense sea.
The pillar of sky is now gone. It is said that traces of that column are in Thạch Môn mountain (or An Phụ mountain[2]), Hải Dương region. That mountain is also known as Kình Thiên Trụ, which means Cột Chống Trời (Sky-Supporting Pillar).
After the god Thần Trụ Trời divided heaven and earth, there were other gods who continued the work of building this world. There are many such gods, such as Thần Sao, Thần Sông, Thần Núi, Thần Biển... and other giant gods.Therefore, there is a folk song that is still handed down to this day:
"Ông đếm cát
Ông tát bể (biển)[3]
Ông kể sao
Ông đào sông
Ông trồng cây
Ông xây rú [4]
Ông trụ trời..."[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
Some other versions call this god Khổng Lồ and some more details. This version says that: