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 Home●Festivals●Spring |
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Festivals
- An Cu Temple |
| The Festival is held on August 20 to commemorate Commander-in-Chief Tran Hung
Dao. Two famous items in its agenda are 'Fish in Day River Welcome Tran Hung
Dao' and a procession escorting a Lady Official. |
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Festivals - Bach Hac Temple
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| The Festival lasts from 10th to 13th of
lunar March, and commemorate Tho Lenh Dai
Vuong. |
It involves processions and religious ceremonies, and
games such as boat race, scrambling for the flag. |
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Festivals
- Bao Loc Temple |
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| The Festival is held on
lunar August 20, to commemorate Commander-in-Chief Tran Hung
Dao, who is a native of this area. It involves, among other things, religious
ceremonies and a procession of 'Genius Tran Hung Dao'. |
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Festivals
- Bach Luu |
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| The Festival is held on
lunar December 26 and involves, among other things, a buffalo
fight.
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Festivals
- Binh Da |
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| The Festival is held from 5th to 7th of March to commemorate Lac Long Quan
(a deity who is supposed to be the ancestor of the Viętnamese people) and the
founder of the firecracker trade. It involves a display of |
various
kinds of firecrackers, various dispositions of firecrackers and the burning of
firecrackers, and such games as wrestling, duck catching contest, human chess,
flag dance, flower dance. |
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Festivals
- Bo Temple |
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| The Festival is held on March 15 and involves Buddhist' ceremonies, prayers and
folk arts performances. |
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Festivals
- Boating Contest |
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| The Festival is held once every 6 years and lasts for three days. It mainly
involves a boat race which ends with the 'buoy ceremony' in remembrance of
unlucky colleagues who lost their lives sailing or fishing. |
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Festivals
- Chem Temple |
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The Festival,
held from lunar May 14th to 16th, commemorates Ly Ong Trong, or Ly
Than, a Viętnamese hero who was sent to help the Chinese Emperor Tan Thuy Hoang
hold in check the Mongolian marauders. The celebration includes, amongst other things, the
ceremony of bathing the statue of the hero.
Chem Temple is located in Thuy Phuong Village in Ha Noi's suburban district of Tu
Liem. It is dedicated to Ly Ong Trong, also referred to as Ly Than, a legendary figure during
the reign of the Hung Kings.
A native of Chem area, he was a tall man with
unequalled physical strength and excellent in the art of war.
At the time, the Chinese Tan Dynasty desired to expand its territories in the
South. It dispatched General Do Thu and half a million soldiers to invade the
Au Lac state. With the leadership of King Thuc Phan, the Au Vięt and Lac Vięt
peoples united to stave off the invasion, thus national
independence.
Do Thu was mortally wounded and the invaders had to retreat. Ly Than contributed
greatly to this victory.
To further cement friendship with the Tan Dynasty, thereby ensuring permanent
independence, Thuc Phan sent Ly Than to China to serve China's Emperor Tan Thuy
Hoang. Having demonstrated his talents in many fields, the Chinese Emperor entrusted
Ly Than with the task of safeguarding the northern frontiers against the
Mongolian invaders, a task which he fulfilled most successfully.
His feat of arms was rewarded by the Emperor, who gave one of his
princesses, Bach Ly Cung, in marriage. As he aged, Ly Than requested
home leave and never returned to China.
The Mongolians attacked China and the Chinese Emperor requested Ly Than to fight them, but he
declined, saying that he was too old. The Chinese Emperor decided to make a
big statue of Ly Ong Trong, a statue, with movable arms and legs, which was
placed in
the entrance of the Shen-Yang fortress as deterrence against Mongolian invaders.
Believing the statue was Ly Than, the Mongolian invaders retreated.
To express admiration for Ly Than, the local villagers built a temple in his honour. The
temple, although not large, is an fine example of ancient of architecture, with many sculpted
figures. It contains, among other things, two gilded wooden statues of Ly Than
and his wife.
Every year, a festival is held from lunar May 14 to 16 in
remembrance of the hero.
The Chem Temple festival comprises a number of rituals including a general ceremony,
water procession, procession of the funeral oration, procession of the cult
implements, ceremony for washing the statues, and a ceremony in honour of Buddha,
etc.
The water procession takes place early in the morning of lunar May 15, and is a major
ceremony in which water is obtain water for bathing the statues. The participants,
dressed in
colourful costumes, carry offerings and assemble at a place, some 3 kilometres from the
communal house, where they embark in three big boats decorated with dragon
sculptures.
The boats proceed downstream until they reach |
the
entrance of the Chem
Communal house. Then, they commence the rituals to obtain water. The three boats
must uniformly circle three times, and when such movements are being executed, three people, standing on their respective boats, must use dippers to
take water from the river synchronously, pouring it into the jar and purifying it with alum.
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whole ceremony must be completed by the third encircling of the boats. A drum
sounds and a gong beats during the ceremony accompanied by, importantly, cries
of 'U oe, u oe' which reverberate across the breadth of the river.
Village elders explain the shouts of 'U oe' are associated with a legend
about Ly Than. The statue of Ly Than, made on the orders of the Chinese
Emperor and placed at the entrance of Shen-Yang fortress, was so large that 10
persons could be housed in it.
When the Mongolian marauders came, the men
hidden within the statue would shout 'U oe' striking fear into the
invaders and scaring them into withdrawing.
After drawing water, the three boats sail further downstream to Ngu Port where the
participants disembark and enter the Ma House, the house containing cult
objects made of wood, bamboo and leaves.
The procession of
cull objects comprising, among other things, men-drawn carts and chariots,
elephants, horses commences, followed by palanquins carrying dresses, hats and
ceremonial palanquins. A bowl of water is placed on one palanquin decorated in
various colours and carried by four people.
The procession, proceeding at a
pace regulated by the master of ceremony by means of drums and gongs beats, sets
for the Communal House where a ceremony is subsequently held bathing and washing the statues.
The procession of the funeral oration takes place in the evening where the oration is
carried on a royal palanquin from the house of the Chief Preserver to the
Communal House, with rituals similar to the procession of cult implements.
The
road, where the procession passes through, has small incense burners neatly
arranged both sides, adding to the solemnity of the occasion.
A grand ceremony follows the procession at the Communal House, and is
performed by twelve people clad in long blue dress, wearing hats and bells of
Court Officials. After washing their hands, two of them carry food, drinks and
lighted candles into the back chamber, while the whole group comes in, marching
through two lines of village elders who hold round blue and rose
pennants.
When all is ready and in position, the leader of the ceremony reads the funeral oration
whilst the audience maintains a
deep silence with the fragrance of burning incense sticks and sandalwood.
The oration states, in part:
'Your fame as a hero resounds throughout North and South... Your talent is
all-sided, political and military, and your posture most dignified... Your
ethical behavior towards our nation is above blame'.
Upon the completion of the oration, the festival proceeds with such games as duck catching, releasing
doves, kite flying, etc. |
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