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[Inscribed in 2015 (10.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity] Tugging rituals and games of Vietnam have different characteristics, meanings and rules. The element is held as part of village festivals in Spring, a form for communities to pray for abundant harvests and prosperity, marking the start of a new agricultural cycle. Tugging game symbolizes the power of natural forces like the sun, water source that influence the harvests. In some localities, tugging game is associated with the legends of worshiped heroes for their merit in reclaiming the land, fighting against foreign invaders, protecting prosperous life of the people. It is usually held at the communal houses or temples after the rirual of commemoration of local guardian deities finished. The material used for tugging varies from region to region, reflecting the ecological and cultural context of each community, it can be made of bamboo, rattan stems, or ropes. The procedure for selecting teams or players is in accordance to the ritual rules, and the winning or losing team is regulated by customs to express certain religious meanings and the harmony of nature. Nowadays, tugging rituals and games are popularly known as a folk game that is entertaining, sporty and collective.

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Rattan Cord Tugging Rituals and Games festival in Huong Canh is officially held on January 3 and is a performance in Canh village festival on the full moon day of the second lunar month. The game of river towing originates from the tactics of Ngo Quyen's navy, using a rope tow to adjust the speed of the warship to match the rise and fall of the tide on the Canh River. The rattan cord tugging game is held on a large, flat land along the river. In the middle of the beach, an ironwood pole is buried firmly in the ground, with a hole about 1m above the ground to thread the rope. The twin honey line is 70m long, has no worms, no ends, and evenly long internodes. Two teams play: each team has 25 members, the 2 strongest people - standing on the river, stepping on the pole to gain momentum to pull the rope, next, each hole (the holes are about 1m apart) are pairs of players, two Stand with your feet under the hole, butt touching the edge of the hole, lean back, both hands trying to pull the rope back, the last hole has 1 pair of hands. To keep the rhythm and adjust techniques, each team also has an additional trich song (general) and an assistant (soldier). After the Priest threads the rope and makes a mark, the villages appoint two men to "pull the ritual". After that, "generals, soldiers" and each pair of soldiers enter the predetermined hole position. Each match must have 3 rounds, each round lasting about 15-20 minutes. The winning team is the team that pulls the rope 50cm beyond the painted line.

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The Bamboo Cord Tugging Rituals and Games are one of three important rituals of the Vua Bà Temple festival, which takes place on January 4. The bamboo used to make the mine is carefully selected and is 7-8m long. After cutting bamboo, you must report it to the Holy Lady and ask permission to make scissors. The mine is made from two Bánh tẻ bamboo trees, long internodes, no decay, no truncated ends, about 8m long, the bamboo segments are calculated to enter the letters Prosperous or Peace according to the cycle of Prosperous - Decline - Stuck - Peace, must count the 9th segment and 3 more segments to bend the beak back. Two long bamboo trees are connected by crushing a bamboo segment (burn number 10), then bending it into a beak and hooking it together. The lattice tied on the hook between two bamboo trees (3 lattices on each side) has great flexibility. There are 2 teams: the inside team (standing in the South) and the outside team (standing in the North). Each team has 5, 7, or 9 members depending on the year, shirtless and a captain, a technical instructor. After reporting to Thanh, the two teams stood at opposite ends of the mine. There are 3 lines: 1 center line and 2 win or lose lines, 50cm from one side to the other is a loss. The first round is called "clearing the crowd", the next two rounds are the winners and losers. The organizing committee does not declare victory or defeat, only announces the same prize, people can see and judge for themselves (if the inside team wins, they will get a rice crop; if the outside team wins, they will get a crop of white beans and a small amount of other things).

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[National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea] When holding juldarigi (tug-of-war) in Gijisi-ri, Songak-eup, Dangjin-si, Chungcheongnam-do, the village was divided into two teams, those living close to the shore and the others). It was said that the village would see a good year for the crop when the “close-to-the-shore” group won the contest. The play was performed after Dangje (village ritual) in early March of a leap year in the lunar calendar. There are two theories about the origin of the tug-of-war held in this village. One says that the village looks like a fairy weaving and the movement of pulling a cloth being woven at both sides led to the tug-of-war, the other tells us that the local topography resembles a centipede and so villagers engaged in the tug-of-war using a rope that also looked like a centipede. The straw rope used in the tug-of-war is 50 – 60m long. The diameter of the main section of the rope, which is made each year, comes to more than 1m and if you sat down on it, your legs would not touch the ground. Many thinner straw ropes are tied to the main section for people to tug. The leaders of the two teams would stand on the main section of the rope to give necessary signals while farmers’ music is played joyously to cheer on the participants. After the contest is over, people take away pieces cut off the rope, as it is said that the water heated with a rope piece is a cure for backache or infertility. The event is a rite held to pray for a good harvest and to build a spirit of collaboration among the villagers.

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Traditional games are held during the field festival in early spring. Players are male and female in good health. The game involves a large group of individuals, and teams are formed out of them. Each team has 8 - 20 people depending on conditions. You can mix male and female or play male vs. male or female vs. female. Tugging Rituals and Games in Tuyen Quang include two types: ropeless tug of war and roped tug of war. Ropeless tug of war requires participants to use their hands to wrap their arms around the abdomen of the person in front to form the links of the whole team. The leader of each team must clasp their hands together and the whole team begins to pull. During the pulling process, if any team is pulled across its boundary, or the formation is broken, broken, or falls, it will lose. Wireless tug of war is often organized by children to play and compete with each other at the foot of hills, lawns, large fields, school yards, cultural grounds, etc. Tug-of-war games with ropes are usually for adults to play and compete in. It is not only a sports game but also a harvest ritual of many ethnic groups in Tuyen Quang. Before the festival, the villages will have to choose an outstanding young man, whose age matches the year of the festival, to go into the forest to find a rope to braid to make a tug-of-war rope. Forest wire must ensure length and toughness such as rattan wire, hook wire, etc. Each village must also select members of the tug-of-war team to prepare for practice and competition. If any team wins the tug-of-war competition, it is a sign that the village will have a good harvest that year, and all luck will be safe. Tugging Rituals and Games skills focus on coordination between members, how to use hand strength and foot position. The competition format includes three rounds. In the middle of the zipper, a red silk string is tied as a marker. After the command sounds, the team that pulls the marker to their side is the winner.

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Tugging is both a game and a harvest ritual in Thai agricultural beliefs. Tug of war is held on the occasion of July Tet, “Sên bản, Sên Mường”, Nàng Han festival. The places where tugging is held are dry fields, vacant lots, courtyards in the middle of villages, and lands along streams. The zipper is made from rattan, with a red cloth string tied in the middle. Before the game takes place, the priest calls on the boys to place rattan strings and rattan in front of the Then altar, with the roots facing West and the tops facing East. If the venue is near a stream, the base is at the end of the stream and the top is at the beginning of the stream. After the ceremony, the village chief chooses two couples of men and women to pull first with the meaning of good luck. When pulling, four people divide into two sides, one male side, and one female side. Men stand at the base, women stand at the top of the rope. The shaman acts as a referee. After the shaman gave the signal, the team of drums and gongs beat continuously, the men pulled first, the women pulled behind, and both sides pulled and struggled, without deciding the winner or loser. Pull three times, and in the end, the victory must belong to the female team. Because they think that if the female side wins, the village will be lucky that year. At the end of the tug-of-war ritual, everyone poured wine for the two teams. After that, everyone in the village divided into teams to compete with each other. Teams can be divided by gender, age, or neighborhood.

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The game is associated with the village festival on the 4th day of Tet. The community uses bamboo stalks as zippers. The selection of bamboo is extremely meticulous. Zipper made from bamboo stalks - long, straight, no worms, no broken ends, and an odd number of segments. On the morning of the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year, "Mr. Hóa" instructed people to make a zipper: use a piece of ceramic to scrape off the outer layer, revealing the white part; Punch two holes in each bamboo root, and connect them with two shoulder poles; Take the rattan and wrap it tightly in two connected places to form three spiders (one large in the middle, two smaller at the ends). Once the zipper is finished, the ceremony to report to the Tutelary God will take place. Participating in the tug-of-war competition are the young men of the four villages in the village, divided into two factions: the East and the West. Each side has 37 men. Four of "Mr. Hóa" hold the flag and four of "Mr. Vè" control the game. The ceremony ends, and the rope hanging on the temple is lowered. Three drum beats rang out then four men waved flags and led two teams to greet the villagers. All the young men were shirtless, wearing white pants, red belts, and silk scarves on their heads, clinging to the bamboo trunk, the four strongest men stood in the connecting beam position. When the flag flies three times around the rope, the competition begins. Both sides must pull 3 glues. The first two matches are inconclusive. On the third day, the villagers joined in to help the East side, because people believed that if the East side won, the dream rice would have a good harvest.

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[National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea] For the event, the village is divided into two teams: the East Team (symbolizing males) and the West Team (symbolizing females). The village will reportedly enjoy better harvest in the year if the West Team (females giving birth to children) wins. The tug-of-war is also called galjeon, which is associated with the use of arrowroot vines for the rope. The event had been handed down as a rite held in farming provinces south of the central area of the country. At present, it is performed as part of the March 1 Cultural Festival. The rope used for the event is 40 - 50m long. The diameter of the main section of the straw rope made in a year comes to larger than 1m; if you sit down on it, your legs do not touch the ground. Many thinner straw ropes are tied to the main section for people to tug. Each team makes its own rope, with the two ropes connected right before the event. The leaders of the two teams stand on the main section of the rope to give the necessary signals. Farmers’ music is played joyously to cheer for the people. The event is a rite held to pray for good harvest and build a spirit of collaboration among villagers based on the belief associated with dragon and snake.

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Ritual game played at the Down to the Field festival, linked to the notion of praying for abundant crops. Regarding the Tay people: Usually arranged on a level area, with a stream passing through the bottom. Teams of men in the West and women in the East. The tow rope is a rattan rope, chosen according to certain taboos (choose a healthy tree, with shiny bark, no pests, no dead ends, go during the Dragon hour (from 7 a.m to 9 a.m), must be secret, do not let women and children pass through). The rope splits into two equal sections when pulled, with red cloth wrapped around the middle. While the female pulls at the top of the rope, the male pulls at the base. The Tày people believe that the pulling rope represents the dragon, and that the outermost portion of the rope represents the dragon's mouth and eyes. Therefore, when pulling, avoid grabbing the outermost section of the rope. In every tugging game, the younger side must yield to the older side to win. If so, the whole year will have good weather and good harvests. For the Giáy people: After the shuttlecock tossing ceremony, the village owner chooses participants, usually the elderly, and then divides them into male and female teams, each team has 15 members. There are 3 ways to arrange a tug-of-war formation: if the sun is used as the criterion, the direction of the rising sun is female, the direction of sunset is male; If in the direction of the yard, the tug-of-war is held by the stream, then the men are at the head of the stream and the women are at the bottom; According to terrain, men are at the top and women are at the bottom. Before pulling, Master Mo read the prayer and performed a spell.

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Seated Tugging Rituals and Games are held on the 3rd day of the third lunar month at Trấn Vũ temple. The tradition of sitting tug-of-war is recounted that in the past, there were five years of drought in Ngọc Trì village, only the well of Đìa hamlet had water left. Therefore, men from Đường and Chợ villages came there to get water for use. The men of Đìa village were afraid of running out of water, so they stopped them from getting it. One side struggled, and the other held back, and were afraid of losing the water, so both sides sat down and hugged the water bucket. Seated Tugging Rituals and Games are held on clay courts or fields. The ironwood pillar is painted red, and buried firmly in the ground, and the body of the pillar is punched with a round hole at the height of an adult's knee to pass the rope. The 40m long rope is rolled up, tied with a red cloth, and kept in the temple. On each festival occasion, the organizing committee and representatives of the three sides of Đường, Chợ, and Đìa make offerings to the Saints and ask for the rope to be used. Before pulling, the rope is wedged tightly at the pole. Each team has 15, 17, or 19 shirtless people wearing red pants and a red scarf and a chess leader wearing a red shirt, red pants, and a red scarf. When pulling, the players have a sitting shape, legs bent and legs stretched out, one person facing one side, the other side of the pulling rope, one arm stretched out, the other hand bent in front of the chest, and the rope clamped under the armpit. When given an order, the referee raises the flag and shouts "Hey, pull", runs up and down, and wipes the command flag on his face, at the beginning of the pulling stages to signal when to pull and when to stop. The unique point is that the villagers all hope that Đường village will win because they believe that the harvest will be bountiful and the villagers will be healthy and prosperous.