Duong Yen unique husband choosing festival
Monday, 18/03/2013 16:47 (GMT+7)
The husband choosing festival was restored in 2001 after 60 years of not being practiced, along with many accompanying rituals and folk games.
Early on the morning on March 13 (February 2 on the lunar calendar), villagers of Duong Yen, Xuan Non commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi, jubilantly gathered at the communal house and participated in the festival in memory of the female General Le Hoa, the heroine who, after serving two Trung sisters, returned home and opened the farming competition and husband choosing festival.
The husband choosing festival was restored in 2001 after 60 years out of practice, along with many rituals and folk games showing the spirit of hospitality, and the martial spirit of the nation. The exams in husband choosing ceremony reconstructed the daily work of rice farmers, sending wishes for a prosperous life and better crop.
After 4 contests between two hamlets, Bac and Ha, involving plowing, frog catching, dog poking, and eel catching in jars, a worthy husband for the female general Le Hoa was found. He’s a young man born in1991, Tran Duc Cao of the Bac hamlet.
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Quan ho songs performed by Mr & Ms “quan ho” singers before
the main festival took place |
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The courtyard of the communal house was full of people from the village
and visitors attending the festival |
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Especially the elders |
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The female General Le Hoa and her mother – the person
who plays this role is the selected most beautiful and
unmarried girl of village |
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Unique drum dancing opened the festival |
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The female General Le Hoa declared to choose husband |
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Sword dancing showed the will to win and the martial spirit of the troops |
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The "coi giap vu mo" dancing. According to legend, Ms Le Hoa created
a type of armour which, upon returning home, the soldiers could
re-use in their farming work |
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After many stages of selection, the two remaining candidates for groom
entered the final round. They competed in a plowing contest to demonstrate
farming ability. The traditional exam encouraged agricultural production |
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It is followed by the frog catching contest. Two boys were chosen
to represent the frogs for the bridegroom |
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Dog poking competion by galingale trunks. Whose dog barks louder will get the point |
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The eel catching in jars exam is always the most attractive
part. The exam showed yin-yang harmony with the desire
of all things grow lush |
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Finishing the four contests, Tran Duc Cao was the winner. A special
dance was performed to congratulate the winner and close the festival |
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The female General with her "groom" worshipped the
ancestors, the earth and the sky |