This festival is celebrated in Da (Stone) Communal house in An Mong hamlet, Tien Phong commune, Duy Tien district, Ha Nam province.
Da Communal House worships Princess Nguyet Nga, a talented general of the Trung sisters. The festival is celebrated not only on the birthday (at the seventh full moon) and the death date (12th of the tenth lunar month) with sacrifice ceremony, and joss-stick presenting, but also on the 6th, 7th, 8th of the first lunar month called spring festival. Spring festival includes worshiping ceremony, palanquin procession, Agriculture Genie worshiping ceremony and games such as wrestling and rowing.
In Agriculture Genie worshiping ceremony, after presenting joss-sticks, wines, reading written prayer wishing for the peace for local residents, successful crops, the master of the ceremony and his assistants continue to control incense-table procession to a ploughed field near the communal house. A lot of people follow the procession carrying a variety of things such as a sheaf of young rice, several reeds, holding a bamboo branches, a knife and a bunch of mulberries. Some carry all of those. When reaching the field, the procession put the incense-table in the rice-field edge, other residents stand around them. On behalf of local residents, the master of the ceremony and his assistants step down the field and plant several lines of rice and mulberry. The laughter and shouting of residents blend with gong and drumbeats sounds showing the aspiration and desire for a new successful crop. Villagers also splash the water to the people who are planting rice, carrying young rice, carrying mulberry, sticking bamboo branches and reeds in the field. They wish favorable weather for rice and mulberries to be as strong as reeds, as hard as bamboo so that they will have a successful crop and a well-off and comfortable life. An Mong villagers have a saying:
We wish for a good crop of cereals
Mulberries and silkworms are well growing
Boat rowing in Chau River is held at the river junction to the east of Tien Phong Commune (currently Quang Trung dam), where, according to the legend, Nguyet Nga Princess committed a suicide and a dragon boat appeared to take her down to river palace. In the competition, there are two big boats with a dragon-shaped head and shrimp-shaped tail. Each beat has one driver, one person wearing a red shirt, a scarf on his head, beating a wooden bell to encourage the group of rowers. There are two large oars in two sides to instruct the rowers, each side has 12 rowers. Therefore, each boat contains 28 well washed people in uniform who have already taken part in sacrifice ceremony. Each giap has one boat. The racing track is two or three rounds of a river section of more than one kilometer. The first boat getting a branch of tree in the Finish will win. The winner boat will be rewarded with a prize and the whole giap celebrate a winning party. They then believe that they will be lucky in that year with the support of genies.
Wrestling game is also held to commemorate Nguyet Nga’s cause of training the troops. Legend has it that she often held this game to enhance the strength of soldiers. The wrestling game here is quite similar to that in Gua village, Liem Thuan commune, Thanh Liem district. But here, there is a wrestling game for old men of more than 50 years old. The impressive meaning of ceremonies and festivities in this game helps to create the excited atmosphere of the spring festival and show the high spiritual demand of participants.
Source: asiantrailtours
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