Lunar New Year (Tet Nguyen Dan)
Tet
falls on a time when the old year is over and the New Year comes by lunar
calendar. This is also the time when the cycle of the universe finishes: winter
ends and spring, the season of birth of all living things, comes.
Tet
is an occasion for pilgrims and family reunions. It is a time when one pays
respect to his/her ancestors and grandparents who have brought up him/her. It
is an occasion when everyone sends each other best wishes for a new year, stops
thinking about unhappy things and says good things about each other.
On
the 23rd day of the twelfth month by lunar calendar, there is a rite to see Tao
Quan (Kitchen God) off. The rite to say goodbye to the old year is held on the
30th or 29th day (if that month has only 29 days) of the twelfth month by lunar
calendar. The rite to welcome the New Year is held at midnight that day. The
rite to see off ancestral souls to return to the other world is often held on
the 3rd day of the first month by lunar calendar when the Tet holidays finish
and everybody goes back to work.
There
are various customs practiced during Tet such as ancestral worshipping,
visiting a person’s house on the first day of the new year, wishing Tet wishes,
giving lucky money to young children and old people, wishing longevity to the
oldest people, opening rice paddies or opening a shop.
Lim Festival
Quan
Ho" is a special folk song of Kinh Bac Province, now called Bac Ninh
Province. The festival takes place on Lim Hill where the Lim Pagoda is located.
This pagoda is where Mr. Hieu Trung Hau, the man who invented Quan Ho, is
worshipped. The Lim Festival takes place every year on 13th day of the first
lunar month. Visitors come to enjoy the festival and see the performances of
"lien anh" and "lien chi". These are male and female
farmers who sing different types of songs in the pagodas, on the hills, and in
the boats.
Besides
this, visitors can come to the Lim Festival to enjoy the weaving competition of
the Noi Due girls. They weave and sing Quan Ho songs at the same time. Like
other religious festivals, the Lim Festival goes through all the ritual stages,
from the procession to the worshipping ceremony, and includes other activities.
The Lim Festival is a special cultural activity in the North. The festival
celebrates the "Quan Ho" folk song which has become a part of the
national culture and a typical folk song that is well loved in the Red River
Delta region.
Hung Temple Festival
The
festival begins with a palanquin procession performed by three villages of Co
Tich, Vi Cuong and Trieu Phu. The procession carries bamboo elephants and
wooden horses symbolizing the submission of animals to the Kings Hung and the
wedding of the Mountain Genie and Princess Ngoc Hoa. Banh chung (square sticky
rice cake) and banh giay (round sticky rice cake) are indispensable offerings
in the procession in order to honour the merit of the Kings Hung who taught
people to plant rice and to remind people of Lang Lieu who invented these
cakes.
The
worship service is held on the 10th day of the 3rd lunar month and commences
with a flower ceremony with the participation of state representatives. Held in
Thuong Temple, where the Kings Hung used to worship deities with full rituals,
the ceremony is conducted with the traditional rituals representing the whole
nation. During that time, the nha to Do Ngai guild performs singing and dancing
to welcome visitors.
The
children of the Kings Hung throughout the country converge on the temple to
offer incense. The procession includes the state representatives, one hundred
young men and women in traditional costumes symbolizing “children of the Dragon
and Fairy” and pilgrims.
The
procession marches are followed by a Xoan singing performance (a kind of folk
song of Vinh - Phu region) in Thuong Temple, ca tru (a kind of classical opera)
in Ha Temple, and other activities including bamboo swings, nem con (throwing a
sacred ball through the ring), cham thau (beating bronze drum), dam duong
(pounding rice).
Hung
Temple Festival not only attracts visitors from all over the country because of
its special traditional cultural activities, but it is also a sacred trip back
in time to the origins of the Vietnamese nation. People usually show their love
and pride of their homeland and ancestral land. This religious belief deeply
imbedded in the minds of every Vietnamese citizen, regardless of where they
originate.
Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival
The
Buffalo Fight in Do Son (Haiphong City) is officially held every year on the
9th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar. There are, in fact, two
rounds of elimination before the middle of the fifth month and 8th day of the
sixth lunar month.
The
preparation for this festival is very elaborate. Fighting buffaloes must be
carefully selected, well fed, and trained. These buffaloes must be between 4
and 5 years old, with a good appearance, a wide chest, a big groin, a long
neck, an acute bottom, and bow shaped horns. The fighting buffaloes are fed in
separate cages to keep them from contact with common buffaloes.
The
beginning of the worshipping ceremony lasts until lunch time. A typical
procession begins with an octet and a big procession chair, carried by six
strong young men. The six clean buffaloes that are part of the ceremony are
covered with red cloths and bound with reddish bands on their horns. There are
24 young men who dance and wave flags as two teams of troops start fighting.
After this event, a pair of buffaloes are led to opposite sides of the festival
grounds and are made to stand near two flags called Ngu Phung. When the right
signal is released, the two buffaloes are moved to within 20m of each other. At
the next signal, the two leaders release the ropes that are attached to the
noses of the buffaloes. The two buffaloes then rush into each other with well
practiced movements. The spectators then shout and urge the fighting along.
At
the completion of the fight, the spectacle of "receiving the
buffaloes" is very interesting as the leaders must then catch the winning
buffalo to grant it its reward.
The
Buffalo Fight in Do Son is a traditional festival that is attached to a Water
God worshipping ceremony and the "Hien Sinh" custom. The most typical
reason for the ceremony is to express the martial spirit of the local people in
Do Son, Haiphong.
Elephant Race Festival
The
Elephant Race Festival takes place in springtime, normally in the third lunar
month. In preparation for the festive day, people take their elephants to
places where they can eat their fill. Apart from grass their food also includes
bananas, papayas, sugar canes, corns, sweet potatoes. The elephants are free
from hard work to preserve their strength.
On
the big day, elephants from different villages gather at Don Village. People
from near and far in their best and colourful costumes flock to the festival.
The racing ground is 500m long and wide enough for ten elephants to stand
simultaneously.
After
a salvo of tu va (horns made into musical instruments), the elephant handlers
called nai take their elephants to the ground, standing in a row at the
starting point. The leading elephant stands in front, whirling his trunk and
nodding his head in greeting the spectators. Atop each elephant there are two
handlers in traditional costumes for generals. The tu va signals the start of
the race and the elephants rush forwards amidst the resounding cry of the
spectators.
The
first handler uses an iron stick called kreo in M'Nong language to speed the
elephant. The second handler beats the elephant with a wooden hammer called koc
to ensure its speed and to keep it in the right line. Upon seeing the first
elephant dashing to the destination the spectators shout boisterously amidst
the echoing sound of drums and gongs.
The
winning elephant is given a laurel wreath. Like its owner, the elephant
expresses its happiness and enjoy the sugar canes and bananas from the
festivalgoers. After this race, the elephants participate in the competition of
swimming across the Serepok River, of tug-of-wars, or throwing balls and
playing football.
Coming
to this Elephant Race Festival , tourists have a chance to indulge in the
boisterous atmosphere of the festival, of the echo of gongs and the spectacular
performances of the elephants from the Central Highlands forest.
When
the race comes to an end, the competing elephants bring back the atmosphere of
the festival to their villages. Upon returning to their village, they receive
warm welcome from the villagers. Very often the elephants from Don Village win
the prizes as the village has a tradition of training and tending elephants.
The
elephant race constitutes a big festival in the Central Highlands. It reflects
the martial spirit of the M'Nong people, an ethnic group famous for their
bravery in wild elephant hunting. The magnificent landscape of the Central
Highlands further stresses the grandiose characters of this traditional
festival.
This
article written by Lanh Nguyen from Vietnam Heritage Travel
For
original article, please visit:
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