Asco Legend

The legend of the name ASCO

askew, a-shkol, asco

When, in may 334 b.C., the army of Alexander the Great passed the Dardanelle streits and started its march towards the heart of Asia, a young man coming from the cold valleys of the Great North was following that army, amongst the moltitudes of merchants, artisans, prostitutes, wine keepers and wagon builders. He wasn’t a man of war and although he was following that army he never grasped a weapon, but he became an expert craftsman, he learnt to ride horses and lead wagons, and the art of commerce, as well as revealing great culinary  and canteen management capabilities. While Alexander’s army marched till the heart of Asia, in the camps his reputation grew as a man capable of many trades. There was no job he couldn’t do with great mastery, to the extent that the princes following Alexander turned to him to organize feasts and banquets, the transport of the concubines or of their own treasures, and to  build large luxuriously furnished tents, to stock up with refined wines, to get hold of comfortable porters or fast horses. There was so much talk of his ability that the general  Parmenione wanted to meet him. The old warrior, seeing him so young, asked him «what secret abilities has the god Hermes conceded you, so much so that you are able to execute  with such mastery every task you are assigned?».  The young barbarian, slightly taken aback, managed to answer only with one of the few greek words he had learnt, and said: «askew», meaning “ I work with care and diligence”. Parmenione liked his reply and said «from today you will be my First Intendant and since your barbarian name is unpronounceable for us Greeks, I would call you Askew, Askeo, and this will be the name of all your descendants». Askeo followed  the army to the valley of the Indo and settled in the beautiful city of Taxila. He had a great descendance and all male first borns carried his name,  Ascheo, and continued the activities of their ancestor. Much later, one of the descendants felt the call of the rich southern reigns, whole legends of cities overflowing with gold and wonderful artworks were told. Fascinated by all this he left Taxila and moved South towards Amaravati.  He discovered a world not less refined than that in which his ancestors had proven their abilities and he got busy opening a laboratory for the carving of ivory and the ciselling of gold and silver, while he also travelled in the interior in search of rare and precious materials. The richest traders and the most refined court princes turned to him and his fame grew to the extent of reaching the ears of Maharaja Addicavan, who assigned him many delicate tasks –all of which, even the most complex, were accomplished with great care. Quite satisfied, the Maharaja convened Ascheo and so he spoke: « I am told, stranger, that your name Ascheo means, in the barbarian language of your ancestors,“he who works with care and diligence”. The name is apt: you have not failed in any of your assignements. In our noble and ancient language, sanscrit, we say a-shkol, meaning “not to fail”. I therefore decree from today your name and that of all your family to be Ascheo Ascol, or "he who works with care and does not fail”. Be sure to never deny yourself!» Ascheo Ascol made sure not to disappoint the King, and so did his children and his children’s children; when even the splendid Amaravati appared to be too small for their ambitions, one of them took to the sea on board a vessel of merchants  heading for the East. He reached the Siam Gulf and landed  in the port city of Oc-eo. For Ascheo Ascol it was not difficult to find a big house where he could settle with his young wife, and he started the trades and activities that had already determined the fortune of his ancestors. He became Great Court Intendent of the king of Fu-nan and his descendants later settled in the cities that were capitals of those reigns: Ba Phnom, Angkor Borei and Isanapura. Lastly, the grandchildren’s grandchildren settled by the shores of the  Great Lake were the marvellous Angkor had been founded. From there one of them, in 1350, left to follow the laotian prince Fa Ngum, who travelled carrying out war along the Mekong, all the way up to Zieng Tong,  later to become Luang Prabang, where he founded Lane Xang, the Reign of a Million Elephants. It was Ascheo Askol’s honour to organize the sumptuous coronation ceremony and the grand banquet, which lasted seven days, during which the sovereign distributed honours and favours to all his loyals. Another member of his family, who stayed behind in Angkor, apparently had a less lucky fate - initially. Fallen to the Siamese when they conquered Angkor a first time in 1353, he was enslaved and conducted to Ayutthaya, but he made himself known for his virtues and capabilities and the prince who had him in his service did not hesitate to make him free, on condition that he reserve to him his most refined works of craftmanship and the most precious materials that he could manage to  find amongst the savage tribes of the mountains, and that he be at his service to organize the great celebrations that every year were held at the end of  the rainy season. The honour and prestige received everywhere had not extinguished in the Ascheo Askol stock the disire for new adventures and one of them left on a vessel for the Southern China Sea, to the rich coastal city of Hoi An, where he conquered the appreciation of the Japanese merchants. He was received like one of them in the powerful community of Chinese merchants and craftsmen, who wrote for him reference letters addressed to their brothers of Thang-long, today Hanoi. This is how, many years later, one of his descendants reached the limits of the Celestial Empire. He created a base in the gulf of an island called Hong Kong, from where he conducted long explorations of the coasts and became a famous and virtous man, and like him his children’s children. One amongst them, one day in 1644, saw a fleet enter the bay, which carried the imperial coat of arms of the Ming. He climbed on board the main ship and bowed to an old mandarin, who though asked him to stand and asked for his help. The Manchu had taken China and had beaten down the legitimate dinasty. On board the ships were many princes, literates and dignitaries with all their families, who were fleeing the barbarians from the North. They asked his help to conduct them to a safe haven where they could conserve the traditions and culture of the ancient empire. It was a new and marvellous challenge for this last of the descendants of the Ascheo Askol. He armed a powerful vessel and in honour of his very ancient stock he called it “Asco”. He guided the imperial fleet towards South and landed by the mouth of the river Saigon; having asked permission to the governor who was made the chief of that place by the Nguyen, he settled on the shores of the kinh Tau Hu where he started his commerces from a market  called Tay Ngon, the “Enbankment on the River”; this was later named Cho Lon, “the Great Market”.
This is how the name ASCO was born.

This is the legend of the name "Asco", that wisely our Claudio Bussolino could bring to the light after years of studies. If you have any historical news that allow us to know other stories of Ascheo Ascol family's descendants or if you simply have any comment to report you are kindly invited to contact webmaster@ascointernational.com.