Happy, remember the work of the people who built the village and established the village...

The Nine-room Temple Festival (Chau Kim Commune, Que Phong District) this year will take place for 3 days, from March 31 to April 2, 2007 (ie February 13, 14 and 15 of the lunar calendar). For the Thai people in Quy Chau, Quy Hop and Que Phong districts, this land of Muong Ton (Muong Goc) is always a place to turn to in their minds to remember the time when their ancestors built villages and established villages...

Legend has it that, long ago, Tao Muong in Luong - Pha - Bang (ie Luong Phra in Laos) gave birth to two sons, the older brother was Lo - Y, the younger brother was Lo - Ai.

Both were handsome and strong. Lo-Yi was both intelligent and virtuous, and was chosen by Tao-Cha to later take over the throne and rule the country. Lo-Ai was as wise as his brother, but he was greedy and jealous. Angry when he saw that his father intended to give the throne to him, Lo-Ai found a way to kill Lo-Yi and threw his body into the Ma River. Lo-Yi's body drifted downstream and washed ashore at a narrow riverbank. Thanks to a pair of crows who accidentally gave him a dose of elixir, Lo-Yi came back to life and went to a nearby place to beg for food. This area had long been without a ruler, so the people were always in turmoil. Seeing Lo-Yi was strong, intelligent, and of noble descent, the people here honored him as Tao. From then on, the life of the village returned to order and prosperity. Remembering the crow that saved Tao Lo Y's life, the people named their village Muong Ca Gia (meaning Muong Ca Cuu) - now Hoi Xuan commune, Quan Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province. After a few years, Lo Y missed his parents so much that he handed over his power to someone else and said goodbye to the villagers and returned to his hometown. However, not knowing the way, Lo Y got lost in another land - where Thai people had already lived but it had not yet become a village or a muong because Tao had not yet existed. Everyone asked Lo Y to stay and help the people establish a village and become the first Lord of the land there. Gradually, the land under Tao Lo Y's management became cramped, so Tao immediately led the people to reclaim and establish a new village. From then on, the first village built under Tao Lo Y's direct management was called Muong Ton, meaning Muong Chu or Muong Co - now Chau Kim commune, Que Phong district.

Thanks to the talent and virtue of Lo Y, people's lives became more and more prosperous, but natural disasters and floods still occurred frequently. The people of the Muongs asked Tao to build a temple (Ten Xo) in Muong Ton, as a place to offer buffaloes to the sky, pray for favorable weather and good crops, so the temple was called Ten Xo Quai, meaning buffalo offering temple and had another name, Ten cau hong - Nine-room Temple (the temple consists of nine rooms). The temple is also the place to worship Tao Lo Y. Every year, on the 18th day of the 8th lunar month, the Thai people of Phu Quy area all turn to the place considered their origin, together making a pilgrimage to the ancestral land to hold a festival to worship the sky, worship their ancestors and pray for blessings for the nine villages and ten Muongs at the Nine-room Temple.

Through the ups and downs of history and the vicissitudes of time, the Nine-chamber Temple became ruins and it was not until 2004 that it was restored (including a nine-chamber temple; a house with two worship rooms, one worshiping Uncle Ho, one worshiping Buddha; a house for the temple management board and other auxiliary works). In 2006, the Nine-chamber Temple festival was held again, meeting the spiritual and cultural needs of the Thai people in Phu Quy area to remember their ancestors and roots. And starting from 2007, the Nine-chamber Temple festival will be held in the middle of the second lunar month every year.

Coming to the Nine-Chamber Temple Festival, each person will feel its own unique features. According to the Thai people's concept, the temple is the home of their ancestors, so the procession only carries sacrificial products including buffalo, pigs, chickens, fish, rice, potatoes, cassava, fruits, rice wine..., in which buffalo is the main sacrificial offering. Therefore, the folk song has the saying: "Quai raog lo a tau/ Khau raog lo a ma"; meaning: "Which village brought buffalo/Which village brought rice". The sacrificial ceremony is solemnly organized, clearly showing the nuances of the Thai people's religious worship activities. The space of the festival is expanded with many cultural activities typical of the festival such as bamboo jumping, hoop dancing, throwing con, gong beating, carving rows, drinking rice wine, lam vong dancing; crossbow shooting, stick pushing, volleyball exchange; folk performances; Mass art festival and beauty contest of nine Muong from 14 communes and towns in the district. In particular, in the camp, in addition to agencies, units and schools, there are also 14 camps of 14 communes and towns made into quite sturdy stilt houses, inside are decorated according to the lifestyle of the ethnic people along with many products made by the ethnic people are introduced so that visitors can enjoy right in the camp. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Yen - Chairman of the District People's Committee, head of the organizing committee of the Nine-Chamber Temple Festival in 2007 said: "The festival is organized to satisfy the spiritual and cultural needs, as well as to meet the cultural and artistic activities of the Thai ethnic people. Through the activities of the festival, it contributes to arousing the good tradition of "drinking water, remembering the source" to be grateful to those who have contributed to building villages and muongs, while contributing to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values ​​of the Thai ethnic people in the Northwest of Nghe An. Organizing the Nine-Chamber Temple Festival is an opportunity for Que Phong to exchange culture, connect with other districts in the region to strengthen solidarity among ethnic groups in the homeland of Nghe An. At the same time, through coming to the festival, visitors will be able to visit the famous relics of Que Phong, thereby contributing to introducing and promoting the tourism potential, promoting the socio-economic development of the district".

Mai Hoa, Phu Huong

Photo: Sy Minh