Reenactment of the king plowing the field at the 2014 Tich Dien Festival.

On the morning of February 6th (the 7th day of the Lunar New Year, Year of the Horse), the 2014 Doi Son Tich Dien Festival took place in the fields of Doi Son commune, Duy Tien district, Ha Nam province. This is a traditional festival of plowing the fields, praying for a year of favorable weather and a bountiful harvest.

This year's Doi Son Tich Dien Festival was held in conjunction with the New Rural Development Program in Ha Nam province. Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, leaders from several central ministries and agencies, and a large number of local people attended the festival.

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan (second from the right) and other Party, State, and Ha Nam provincial leaders offer incense to inaugurate the Tich Dien festival in Doi Son commune, Duy Tien district, Ha Nam province. Photo: KT

At the ceremony, the leaders of Ha Nam province presented certificates recognizing six communes as achieving new rural standards and the excellent emulation flag of the Provincial People's Committee to six communes that met the new rural standards.

Following the procession of the ancestral tablet of King Le Dai Hanh from Doi Pagoda to the ceremonial area, the Tich Dien festival was solemnly celebrated in sequence with dragon dances, reading of ceremonial texts, respectful announcements to ancestors seeking permission to begin the festival, and a solemn incense offering ceremony.

According to historical records, in the spring of the year Dinh Hoi, the 7th year of the Thien Phuc era (i.e., 987 AD), King Le Dai Hanh went to the foot of Doi Mountain to perform the first Tich Dien ceremony (plowing the fields) in Vietnamese history, opening a new chapter for Vietnamese agriculture. Since then, the Tich Dien ceremony has become a beautiful custom, respectfully and solemnly observed by subsequent dynasties.

Throughout thousands of years of history, the Tich Dien Festival has become an important cultural and spiritual event, a cultural heritage of the nation. In recent years, Ha Nam province has successfully restored and recreated the tradition of "Agriculture as the foundation" to encourage agriculture, organizing solemn rituals of the festival on a large scale, attracting the attention of a large number of people.

The organization of the Tich Dien Festival embodies many beautiful customs of the Vietnamese people, reviving and educating future generations about the nation's cultural traditions, recalling the fine traditions of our ancestors, from kings to farmers, all of whom loved labor and worked diligently on their beloved land.

Recreating the image of King Le Dai Hanh going down to the fields to plow. Photo: TNO

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, a resident of Ha Nam province, said: "The Tich Dien Festival is a tradition of our homeland. We are very excited and hope that this festival will be maintained regularly, thereby promoting the construction of a more developed new rural homeland."

At the end of the festival, an elder in the village, clad in a dragon robe imbued with the spirit of a king, gracefully plowed the first furrow. Following him were the furrows of representatives from central ministries and departments, leaders of Ha Nam province and Duy Tien district, turning over layers of loose, brown soil, promising bountiful harvests and a prosperous, happy life.

According to VOV