Phuong Hanh Village Communal House Festival, Phuong Hanh Hamlet, Xuan Mai Commune, Hanoi City.

Phuong Village Communal House
Hanh, in the early years of the 19th century, when the French colonialists colonized our country, they demolished
destroy the communal house, forcing the villagers to fill in the river so that they could move their officials to
the designated fort area; at that time they built a church and brought Catholicism into the fort in order to
disguise themselves as religion to cover up their dark invasion schemes. Our country has gone
through many ups and downs and upheavals, through many wars caused by invading imperialists.
In the time of the Van Lang state, the Thuc army invaded; later came formidable imperialists
such as the French colonialists and the American imperialists. Under the leadership of the Hung Kings' dynasties until
there was the Party and Uncle Ho leading the glorious resistance wars, the country
won victory, bringing our country back to independence and national unification. The people restored
the relics; by 1999, Tien Tien Communal House was recognized by the Ha Tay Department of Culture, now Hanoi
decided to recognize it as a historical and cultural relic under Decision No. 1210/QĐ-UBND
dated November 9, 1999.

Phuong Village Communal House
Hanh worships the Village Tutelary God (Tan Vien Son). Specifically: the 18th Hung King, now the local
people call him Saint Duc Thuong Dang “Saint Tan Vien Son.” Legend says that Hung King
led troops to fight the enemy and guard the borders of Van Lang; after winning the battle and returning, the King
let his soldiers rest in the area along the Bui River of today. The King saw that this place had
a safe and magnificent strategic position; to the southwest was the Thoong Mountain range surrounding it.
To the northeast, the Bui River wound its way through; this was a favorable land, with
spiritual terrain and talented people. The villagers saw the generals and soldiers of the King's three armies resting
after returning victorious. With sincerity, the people brought offerings of pigs, chickens, buffalo
and cows to present. But the King accepted only provisions for living, while offerings of buffalo, cows,
pigs, and chickens the King did not accept and did not allow to be slaughtered. The King granted the people 08
royal edicts to teach the people to live in solidarity, raise high the spirit of struggle
to protect the nation, while focusing on labor and production to improve a warm and prosperous life
and happiness among the people. Deeply imbued with that teaching, the people of the two villages
namely Tien Tien Village and Phuong Hanh Village, built communal houses to worship him. The people of the two
villages regularly exchanged work experience, united as elder brother and younger brother, yielding
to each other, sharing rice and clothes, sharing blessings and disasters, striving together
to build the homeland and country and protect the Vietnamese Fatherland intact today. Later
on, the people often respectfully called each other “Elder Brother - Little Brother” whenever
organizing ceremonies and feasts, or gatherings, or festivals…

 * Taboos in the festival: chief celebrant: if
the family is in mourning for the four parents, one must wait until the mourning period ends before continuing to serve.  The person selected by the villagers to be Chief Celebrant must
have offerings of a tray of glutinous rice and a pig's head to present to the Saint. If resigning, one must also go and ask the Saint
for permission to step down. From the past until now, local leaders upon taking
office must also go to present themselves to the Saint. Offerings are usually simple and voluntary (an areca nut, a package
of cakes). If one no longer holds the position, one must also perform a ceremony to report to the Saint's house.

* Before the festival: The local government holds a joint meeting
including the Party Secretary, the Village Head, and the heads of departments
and mass organizations. After that, a festival steering committee is established and tasks are assigned to each
member of the steering committee. The meeting takes place at the village communal house or the cultural house
of the village.

* 14th day of the first lunar month:

- Morning: The
elderly men in the village go to the communal house to perform the ceremony of cleaning the worship objects and assembling and washing the palanquins. The
elders wipe them with water three times, first with clean well water, then with ginger water
and then wipe again with alcohol. After that, the temple caretaker and some respected elders in the village dress the
village tutelary god. The elderly women go to sweep and clean the communal house.

- Afternoon:
the elderly men organize the yết offering ceremony at the communal house to report to the tutelary god that the following day
the festival will be held.

* 15th day of the first lunar month: The festival is held in 1 day.

Palanquin procession.
The procession starts from the village communal house. Before setting off, the palanquin team must make
the octagonal palanquin turn three times in front of the communal house gate. Leading the procession is a flower palanquin carrying a portrait
of Uncle Ho, followed by the procession of the eight precious objects, and then the octagonal palanquin. The octagonal palanquin carries
banh, along with offerings of flowers and fruit. The procession consists of 16 people, going from the village communal house to the communal house
Tien Tien, then walk around the village and carry the palanquin back to the communal house. Everyone stays at the communal house
to receive blessings and attend the feast.

* Afternoon of the 15th day of the first lunar month: The elders perform the closing ceremony and end the festival.