Spring Festival: Beauty of village culture
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| Con Temple Festival (Quynh Luu) |
Although the village festival may not fully reflect all aspects of the life of a village or a locality, there are some notable features here: The village festival is the embodiment of contemporary culture (according to many historical records, it was most strongly developed during the Ly Dynasty). The village festival has a particularly important position in the life of the villagers. Since ancient times, the village festival has become a folk cultural activity, an indispensable spiritual food for people in every countryside!
After a year of hard work in the fields, spring comes, the village festival is an opportunity for everyone to rest and reunite with their families. From the children born in the beloved village who have grown up and gone to work all over the country, to those living far away in foreign lands... the village festival also yearns to return to their roots, standing in the middle of the village hall, respectfully lighting a stick of incense in memory!
The spring festival of each village is now usually held for 3 days. The first day is the naturalization ceremony (opening the communal house), the second day (main festival) includes rituals such as: palanquin procession, sacrifices, incense offering and entertainment... The third day: wild sacrifice ceremony, or re-procession (end of the festival). During the "big events" of the village, the main content is divided into two distinct parts: the ceremony and the festival.
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| Cuong Temple Festival (Dien Chau) |
In the ritual part, the procession is of the “largest and most magnificent” nature. The procession customs of the villages are similar. This can be called the “show of force” of the village! The large procession can have up to three or four hundred people, divided into many sub-committees, each sub-committee takes on an important responsibility. The palanquin sub-committee: Carrying the throne, gongs, drums, incense table, dragon pavilion... The escort sub-committee: Following the incense table, the worshiping objects include the banner flag, the five-element flag and national protection objects such as bronze clubs, red staffs, and Vietnamese flags, followed by the majestic umbrella and the “flowing water” ancient music band playing cheerfully.
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| Ca Temple Festival (Yen Thanh) | King Mai Temple Festival (Nam Dan) |
In the bustling sound of spring festival drums, the whole village burst into a bustling joy. People crowded to the communal house, temple, pagoda to pay their respects. With the spirit of remembering the ancestors, with the morality of "remembering the source of water when drinking", everyone standing in front of the communal house wanted to express their sincere respect. Although it is a spiritual and religious life, the "ceremony" in the village festival has a high educational meaning! It makes people put aside all evil and turn to good. It dispels worries, sadness, anxiety, and calculations in daily life to have a peaceful and carefree heart, at the same time reminding themselves and teaching their descendants to remember and respect the saints and ancestors who have contributed to the country and the people. It is also the pride of their family, clan, hometown and village. All rituals, processions, sacrifices, incense offerings, etc. express the villagers' respect and gratitude to the ancients.
The ceremony in the communal house (temple, pagoda) is solemn and dignified, on the contrary, outside the festival is really fun and exciting. Since ancient times, village festivals have had many fun games such as: Swinging, wrestling, capturing the flag, cockfighting, badminton, table tennis, volleyball, chess... attracting many people to participate and cheer. In addition, there are performances such as: Hat Dao, Hat Trong Quan, Hat Doi on the communal house, temple, pagoda and on the boat, in the evening there is "Chieu Cheo" or cultural exchange, poetry... In general, there are many forms of cultural activities with traditional folk colors. The young men and women of the countryside, who are usually strong and capable plowmen and planters, at the village festival night transform into majestic and splendid kings and queens or become Lien Anh, Lien Chi Quan who sing well, dance flexibly, and are very good at farming.
During the festival season, how can villagers and visitors clearly understand the meaning of the village festival, what anniversary it is, who is worshiped at the local relics, communal houses, temples, and pagodas, and what contributions that person has made to the people and the country... From there, we can arouse people's pride in their homeland, increase the solemnity of the festival, and at the same time, make the younger generation aware of the need to protect, preserve, and promote the fine traditions that our ancestors have left behind from ancient times.
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Article: Tran Hai; Photos: Sy Minh - Linh Chieu
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