visavietnam.net.vn = In Vietnam, festivals are
usually held in the spring. They each have their own characteristics and
values, but are always directed towards a sacred entity enshrined as national
heroes who fight foreign invaders, are founders of traditional trades, and who
kill wild beasts to protect the people. Here are some festivals held in the
north with a sporting spirit.
1. Thuy Linh Ball
Scrambling Festival
Time: The afternoon of the
4th, 5th, 6th days of the first lunar month
The festival is held to
commemorate Linh Lang Highest Royal, who is the fourth son of King Ly Thanh
Tong.
This unique, centuries-old
sporting event demonstrates the strength, intelligence and resilience of the
players.
People of different ages
can play the game. Four teams of two play in each game. Each team’s members
wear colored belts that match one of the colored flags planted in holes at the
four corners of the 300 square meter yard.
The teams compete to bring
the ball which is made from jack-fruit wood to their respective flag-hole.
They receive a small prize
each time they bring the ball to their flag, and a big prize for bringing it back three consecutive
times.
2. Mud Wrestling Festival
of Van Village
Location: Village of Yen
Vien, Van Ha Commune, Viet Yen District, Bac Giang Province
Time: Once every two years,
on the 12th, 13th and 14th of the fourth lunar month.
The festival was restored
in 2002 after many years of interruption.
The festival typically
lasts for three days, and the final day is always the most crowded and
exciting. Historical Chua Van Temple is the place where the festival takes
place. The wrestling field is the yard in front of the temple where the
worshiping normally occurs. The 200m² yard is filled with liquid mud. At two
ends of the yard, two holes 80cm deep and 50cm wide are dug for the goals.
Each team consists of eight
young men wearing only loincloths. The participants from both teams fight for a
wooden ball, with a diameter of 40cm, and try to score by pushing the ball into
the goal of their opponents.
The wooden ball weighs
about 20kg, bigger than a football, and is kept carefully in the back chamber
of the temple. It is taken out once every two years, only for the festival.
On the day of the final,
the temple’s yard is fully packed with villagers and tourists. The entire
audience is covered in mud but they are all happy. For them, the mud is a
symbol of good luck.
Water and liquid mud comes
up to the ankles of the wrestlers. The match starts at 2 p.m. and ends at 5
p.m.
The Mud Wrestling Festival
in Van Village has existed since the Ly dynasty, when Ly Nam De fought against
the Luong invaders (from what is present-day China). Legend has it that during
this period, four generals - Truong Hong, Truong Hat, Truong Lung and Truong
Lay- defeated devils in a wrestling match in a swamp and won the devils’ hearts
doing so.
After the four generals’
deaths, villagers built a temple to worship them. The title of Saint Tam Giang
was bestowed upon the eldest one. Every year, during the fourth or eighth month
on the Lunar Calendar, Yen Vien Village holds the Mud Wrestling festival and
parade to pay respect to Saint Tam Giang. After many years of interruptions,
the festival was brought back to life in 2002.
3. Mai Dong Wrestling
Festival
Location: Mai Dong
Village’s communal house, Hoang Mai District, Hanoi.
Time: 4th, 5th and 6th of
the first lunar month
The wrestlers mainly come
from Bac Ninh Province and Hanoi’s districts of Tu Liem and Thanh Tri.
The annual event commemorates
Nguyen Tam Trinh, the famous general who taught the village’s residents to
wrestle and encouraged young men to participate in the Trung Sisters' Uprising
in 40 AD.
4. Dong Ky Festival
Location: Dong Ky village’s
communal house, Dong Ky Ward, Bac Ninh City, Bac Ninh Province.
Time: The 4th day of the
lunar year.
Dong Ky Festival consists
of many interesting activities like wrestling, cock fighting, human chess, tug
of war and others.
The most exciting part of
the festival is the procession of Ong Dam (generals). Ong Dam is carried on the
shoulders of young boys. Ong Dam makes dance movements to encourage the spirit
of soldiers and to say goodbye to the people before going to the battlefield.
5. Phet Hien Quan Festival
Location: Hien Quan Commune
(ancient name is Song Quan) in Tam Nong District, Phu Tho Province
Time: 12th and 13th day of
the lunar year
This is a festival to give
tribute and honor the merit of Thieu Hoa, a female general and princess.
It is said that Princess
Thieu Hoa – Hien Quan came to Phuc Thanh pagoda when she was 16. Knowing that
Trung Trac raised an army to start a revolution, Thieu Hoa gathered a group of
500 soldiers practicing and playing the game of throwing harpoons and came to
Hat Mon to join the army of Hai Ba Trung. She was given the title “Dong cung
tuong quan” (General of the East Part) to lead the army to Luy Lau and fight To
Dinh. When the enemy was defeated, Trung Vuong praised the generals but Thieu
Hoa wasn’t rewarded to be the official in the court. However, she was asked to
return to the village. Trung Vuong granted the Song Quan commune (current Hien
Quan) the status of a hamlet under her rule.
A year later, Thieu Hoa
passed away, and people built the temple to worship her. Trung Vuong granted
her the title of “Princess supporting the nation” (Phu Quoc Cong Chua).
On the 12th and 13th of
first lunar month, people organize Hoi Phet to pay tribute to her merit.
In Hoi Phet Hien quan,
after the offering in Thieu Hoa temple, the phet (a red ball) is brought to the
fixed area.
On the way, the phet is
covered by a parasol and the strong women surround it to protect it. Then it is
put in a hole under the sand and thrown by a stake for people to rush to catch.
There are hundreds of
strong men trying to catch it in the hope of having luck for their family and
even village, so the competition of catching is stiff. The festival of catching
Phet in Hien Quan attracts many people.
6. Ninh Hiep Wrestling
Festival
Place: Nanh Village, Ninh
Hiep Commune, Gia Lam District, Hanoi.
Time: the 18th day of the first
lunar month.
Objects of worship: Madam
Ly Nhu Thai Lao, the founder of Vietnamese traditional medicine (based on
medicinal herbs).
Characteristics: Incense
offering ceremony. People come to the festival to worship and ask for
traditional recipes and to watch the wrestling competition.
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