Traditional festival of Thuong Lao village (An Thuong communal house)

The festival dates from ancient times; according to the village elders, during the resistance wars against the French and the Americans, the festival was not held, but on these days the villagers still burned incense and made offerings. From 1975-1976, the festival was restored and has continued to this day. According to the village convention, amended and supplemented in 1993 and 2024, the festival is held once every 3-5 years; in other years, the village holds an incense-offering ceremony at the communal house. The festival takes place over three days, the 8th, 9th, and 10th days of the third lunar month.

The festival organizing committee consists of the Hamlet Chief, the Secretary, the Head of the Front Work Committee, and other departments and mass organizations in the hamlet. The Elderly Association branch and the village elders play the main roles in the festival.

Thuong Lao village festival is held to commemorate the Four Great Kings: Hien Cong Dai Vuong, Sy Cong Dai Vuong, Lan Cong Dai Vuong, and Duc Vuong Mau, i.e. Princess Bao Hoa. The village tutelary deity is Hien Cong Dai Vuong, while the other three deities are worshipped in three different places but are all jointly worshipped here, because their thrones and memorial tablets are all placed in the communal house.

In addition to the main festival on the 8th, 9th, and 10th days of the third lunar month, the village communal house also holds various ritual ceremonies: the full moon of the second lunar month (a purification and opening ceremony); the 6th day of the sixth lunar month (field-entry ceremony); the 12th day of the eighth lunar month (village affairs); and the 12th day of the twelfth lunar month (the day of His passing).

An Thuong village communal house: the venue for the festival worshipping the Holy Sage Hien Ung Linh Thong Dai Vuong;

Ham Rong shrine: worship of Quang Minh Sy Thinh Ho Quoc Dai Vuong (worship of the Second Holy One);

Kieu shrine: worship of Lan Cau An Sat Hung Tai Dai Luoc Dai Vuong (worship of the Third Holy One);

Ba Temple (shrine): worship of Lady Bao Hoa Nuong Chinh Thuc Cong Chua Dai Vuong.

Deity genealogy: 01 volume; 25 imperial edicts, including:

- Imperial edicts worshipping Duc Vuong Mau Bao Hoa Nuong Chinh Thuc Cong Chua Dai Vuong at Ba Shrine, comprising 10 edicts as follows: Canh Hung 4th year (1795); Quang Trung 5th year (1792); Canh Hung 44th year (1783); Khai Dinh 9th year (1924); Tu Duc 33rd year (1879); Duy Tan 3rd year (1909); Thieu Tri 6th year (1846); Dong Khanh 2nd year (1886); Thieu Tri 6th year (1846); Tu Duc 3rd year (1849).

- Imperial edicts worshipping Duc Thanh Ca, Thanh Hien Hien Ung Linh Thong Dai Vuong, at the village communal house, comprising 5 edicts as follows: Canh Thinh 4th year (1795); Quang Trung 5th year (1792); Canh Hung 44th year (1783); Thanh Thai first year (1889); Khai Dinh 9th year (1924).

- Imperial edicts worshipping Duc Thanh Hai, Quang Minh Sy Thinh Ho Quoc Dai Vuong, at Ham Rong Temple, now called Cho Rong Shrine, comprising 6 edicts as follows: Duy Tan 3rd year (1909); Khai Dinh 9th year (1924); Canh Thinh 4th year (1795); Quang Trung 5th year (1792); Thanh Thai first year (1889); Canh Hung 44th year (1783).

- Imperial edicts worshipping Duc Thanh Ba, Lan Cau An Sat Hung Tai Dai Luoc Dai Vuong, at Ha Son Kieu, i.e. Kieu Shrine today, comprising 4 edicts as follows: Canh Thinh 4th year (1795); Thanh Thai first year (1889); Quang Trung 5th year (1792); Khai Dinh 9th year (1924).

At present, the imperial edicts are very well preserved and protected and are spiritually meaningful to the villagers.

The festival has taboos and prohibitions such as: people participating in the palanquin procession must be unmarried men and unmarried women. Families in mourning may not take part in the communal house’s affairs or go to the communal house to perform rituals.

The village taboo is not to give children names that coincide with the taboo names of the village tutelary deities.

- Festival preparation: around the full moon of the second lunar month, local authorities hold a meeting of military, civilian, and government representatives, including heads of village departments and sections and the Monument Management Board. On the 1st day of the third lunar month, a meeting is held to assign specific tasks to each responsible individual.

- 4th day of the third lunar month: palanquin bearers, flag bearers, and the sinh tien team rehearse in the communal house yard.

- 5th day of the third lunar month: the elders of the Monument Management Board perform a ceremony to clean the altar objects, ask to assemble the palanquins, and bring them out for washing. The palanquins are wiped with well water mixed with five spices. In addition to the elderly men, elderly women (the chu gia) who have bathed and cleaned themselves may also go to the communal house to clean the altar objects, and young men and women are assigned to sweep and clean the communal house, the shrines, and the roads where the festival is held, so that the procession of the deities on their inspection tour is cleaner and more solemn.

- 8th day of the third lunar month:

+ Morning: the palanquin team rehearses the procession in preparation for the real procession in the afternoon.

+ Afternoon: the 'nghiem' procession ceremony is held. The procession starts from the communal house; at the front is the palanquin carrying Uncle Ho’s portrait, followed by a flower palanquin carrying vegetarian offerings, then a bat cong palanquin carrying the throne of Duc Vuong Mau down to Ba Temple to report. After that, the procession goes down to Duc Thanh Ba Temple and returns to the communal house. At those places, the elders only perform offerings, not rituals.

- 9th day of the third lunar month:

+ Morning: a palanquin procession is held; the procession starts from the communal house and goes to Duc Thanh Hai Temple. At the front is the palanquin carrying Uncle Ho’s portrait, followed by a flower palanquin carrying offerings, then a bat cong palanquin carrying the imperial edicts. There the elderly men perform the rituals.

+ Afternoon: the elderly women perform a farewell ceremony, after which the procession returns to the communal house.

The male ritual team consists of 17 people (aged 60 and over): 01 chief celebrant, 01 east chanter, 01 west chanter, 03 assistant celebrants, 01 phu mich (opener of the altar), 06 ritual attendants, 02 auditors, and 02 reception attendants.

The incense-offering team consists of 24 elderly women aged 50 to 60 and over.

The palanquin procession team: the bat cong palanquin has 16 people, who are young men of the village; the palanquin carrying Uncle Ho’s portrait, the offering palanquin, and the tu palanquin have 16 people, who are unmarried women.

Ritual objects: altar, throne and memorial tablet, incense burner, candles.

Offerings: pig’s head, sticky rice and chicken, oan fruit, flowers and incense, betel and areca, wine.

Sacrificial offerings: sticky rice and chicken, oan fruit, incense and lamps.

Procession objects: long dinh palanquin, mau palanquin, bat cong palanquin, bat buu, bat tien.

Costumes: the chief celebrant wears a red hat, red robe, and red boots. The east chanter, west chanter, and assistant celebrants wear blue hats, blue robes, white trousers, and blue boots.

Musical instruments: drums, horns, thanh la, conch horns, etc.

Folk games during the festival include: duck catching, phao can, pot smashing, cockfighting, and human chess.

In the past, the festival was mainly discussed and organized by the ly truong, tien chi, and village elders. Today, the village festival is discussed and agreed upon by the village head and all villagers, with a plan, program content, time schedule, and commitment to ensure the festival is organized in accordance with village regulations and the law.

The offerings at today’s festival are simpler and less elaborate than before.

There has also appeared an incense-offering ceremony by the elderly women.