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 Home●Festivals●Spring |
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Festivals
in ViętNam |
Traditional festivals are considered the
traditional cultural activities of all countries, including the Viętnamese people. They
cut across all social classes, urban and rural alike, and have become a necessary part of people's lives for many
centuries.
As in other countries, in the context of an agricultural economy, traditional festivals of the
Viętnamese people are usually linked to the cycle of crops.
In the of
northern plains ViętNam, where two crops are gathered in a year, spring (early February to
March) and autumn (August and September) are periods when paddy plants have
already been transplanted and the farmers are waiting for growing weather to do
its work.
The festivals held in spring and autumn reflect the peasants' hope for a bumper
crop and prosperity. Festivals have a cyclical calendar which is seasonal in character.
Festivals are a time to enjoy and learn about the people's unique crafts. From
the puppet shows of the Master Pagoda Festival (HaTay) to the 'Xoan' folk songs
of the Hung Temple Festival
(Vinh Phu) or the Phu Giay Festival 'Chau Van' folk
songs as does the Lim Festival with its 'Quan Ho' folk songs. The drum beats
used
with traditional musical songs and dances create a driving energy during
the festivals. |
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Spring Festivals - the Serious Aspects |
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The third moon is for the celebration of festivals.
Tęt officially lasts
three days, giving rise to the expression of 'The three days of Tęt.' In
actuality, the
sprit of Tęt extends long beyond that.
The beneficial effects of Tęt are renewal of close and intimate family gatherings to the
larger family reunions that extend out to the neighbourhood and village
communities in the
form of festivals.
The Viętnamese word for festival comprises two words, Le Hoi meaning
prayer-gathering. The Le aspect is the ritual or spiritual aspect of the event
and consists of praying and sacrificing whilst the Hoi means gathering and represents
the secular aspect. Hoi is fun and an occasion for the whole community to come
together and celebrate.
Ancestor worship is a strongly retained belief in the wet-rice farming areas. The village,
or more precisely ,the rice field itself, is the locus of ancestors' graves. This
strong attachment to the village and earth of one's birth and the recognition
that they all descend from the same ancestral line creates strong bonds among
villagers.
Festivals are the time to bring out the best elements of everything, be it skill, of food, or of animals. The
best is offered to the
God. For example, at the post-Tęt Lang Pagoda festival, the rice cooking
competition takes on elements of sacrament in that the winning pot of rice is
always offered to the local deities.
Another important activity in the Le aspect of the festival is the procession.
The religious parade aspect is a reaching out from a temple or a communal
house, an encircling followed by a return, the coming back to the starting place somehow
transformed or drawn together.
The villagers carry the statue of the Holy Guardian on a palanquin
from its usual place inside the temple or communal house to another nearby
temple where it is washed, dressed, or blessed. That is an expression of
renewal.
Viętnamese village festivals are visually dramatically and profoundly moving
experiences. They combine ancient religious rituals, lively performances of
music and dance, games, and colourful images based in mythology.
Festivals combine
the solemn aspects of high mass of Easter, the competitions of county fairs and
rodeos, the bonding of a block party and the uninhibited mass entertainment
frenzy of a rave or rock concert.
Martial arts and wrestling are popular sports at village festival celebrations,
and so are such team games as Viętnamese rugby and tug of war. The Lieu Doi
festival in Ha Nam on the 10th of the first lunar month is famed for its
wrestling and martial arts competitions.
As a combination of Le and Hoi, the festival reflects both spiritual and material
aspects of the deaily life and bears a deep philosophy. They achieve the
complementation of opposites, of the yin and yang, male and female forces of the
universe.
Games of pushing and pulling, the swing, and tug-of-war represent the
movement of the seasons of the universe, the fertile coupling of opposites.
An
example of this type of Spring festival occurring in Gia Lam district of Ha Noi,
and in Bich Dai, Vinh Phu Province, takes place on the fourth day of the lunar
year.
An elder in ceremonial dress leads a buffalo drawing a plow into the
field. The plow is guided by a young man in an elegant turban. The man plows and
a girl in flowing dress follows sowing seeds. The village stands to the side,
shouting encouragement to the couple. The pair stops for a break. Then he
takes off his turban and we discover he is a girl, and the girl
removes her scarf and is metamorphosed into a young man, demonstrating all life is interconnected
and Tęt is a magic time of such transformations.
Viętnamese Spring festivals reflect ordinary life which has been transformed to
a higher plane in performance. Ordinary life, solemnised by festivals, helps
farm people escape the mundane reality of the visible to reach a spiritual
world.
Ordinary actions liken catching fish, killing a pig or a chicken, or
cooking rice, when performed at a festival within the confines of a ritual, then
become sacred. |
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Spring Festivals - the Social Aspects |
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Festivals feature interesting games and in some,
contests are organised in which many people scramble for a sacred artifact which
is perceived to bring luck to its winner.
All villagers
compete on an equal basis, in such contests, hustling and edging out anyone and everyone in order
to seize the coveted article.
There are many contests such as
chess playing, rice cooking, rope climbing, rope pulling, rowing, and wrestling.
Other competitions involve trained animals such as buffalo fights, cock fights, and pigeon races.
Festivals are occasions on which to remember national heroes, religious freedom and religious ceremonies
as well as being places where
different people can practice their own customs and habits.
Festival days are
where one can make social encounters, build relationships, and even love. Many
relationships originated from competitions, tournaments or joining in a chorus of singing.
Since the Festivals are organised at the level of villages, which are the cells
of Viętnamese society, they are also called village festivals. Nevertheless,
since villages result from the splitting up of a big village or the merger of
several smaller ones, some festivals involve many villages, and sometimes an
even larger area. |
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Spring Festivals - Village and Commune
Life |
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Village festivals are usually held in and around the communal house, where the Protector
Spirit of each village is worshipped. In some areas, the festivals are held
in the village pagodas, such as the Huong Pagoda Festival, the Thay Pagoda
Festival (Ha Tay Province), and the Keo Pagoda Festival (Thai Binh Province).
A festival comprises two parts: the ceremonial and festivity, and festivity can
be found in the ceremonial part of the programme, and vice versa.
Rural festivals usually involve dancing, singing and play acting in the communal
house, usually in front of the altar of the village genie. The procession
of palanquins also includes the game of overturning the palanquins,
thereby linking a sacred religious rite with merrymaking.
The games held outside the limit of the sacred communal house are also governed
by mystic rules reflecting the aspirations and hopes of human beings with
respect to supernatural powers.
Social change has gradually changed the nature of the festivals losing their
initial significance. In recent time, the revolution in the countryside has
brought about many changes in customs and habits; as a result, traditional
festivals have been discarded in some places whilst new festivals have evolved
with a wider community involvement.
Recently, however, the restoration of traditional festivals in many places
signals the revival and strengthening of the village community spirit of
Viętnamese peasants.
In this ViętNam is not alone, as it is a phenomenon occurring world-wide. |
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