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palanquin
ICH Elements 11
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The Worship of Hùng Kings in Phú Thọ
The Việt people in Phú Thọ province have been practicing and trasmitting the worship of Hùng Kings whose father named Lạc Long Quân and mother named Âu Cơ for a very long time. The legend has become a strong belief of the country’s origin in the Việt people’s mentality for centuries. Dynasties of Great Việt attached great importance to the worship of Hùng Kings and offerred imperial conferments to villages worshiping Hùng Kings in temples and shrines. The worship of Hùng Kings has created many legends of wharves, rivers, fields, rice plants, land and other unique cultural creativity. Part of cultural creativity is reenacted in annual worship performed at communal houses, temples and shrines in villages. Communities make offerings of rice – based delicacies such as square cakes and glutinous cakes dedicated to Hùng Kings. Legend has it that, Lang Liêu who later became the seventh Hùng King made these two types of cakes by himself. They represent the heaven and the earth as well as the filial piety of the children for the parents. These two offerings are indispensable in the worship of Hùng Kings. Offerings dedicated to Hùng Kings at temples and shrines by villagers usually last for a few days: offerings by families first and then by the whole community. The tablets of Hùng Kings are proccessed throughout the villages and the rice fields, which implies that Hùng Kings may witness today’s lives of villagers and offer good weather, abundant harvests, good luck and good health to villagers, plants and animals. Offerings conducted by villagers at temples, communal houses, and shrines is supposed to be the most sacred moments when the respect and gratitude of communities dedicated to Hùng Kings are expressed.
Viet Nam 2012 -
Xoan singing of Phú Thọ province, Viet Nam
As a form of performing arts, Xoan singing includes singing, dancing, drumming and clapper beating. It is closely attached to the Worship of the Hùng Kings, founders of the country. Phú Thọ people created Xoan singing and performed it at the village communal houses, temples and shrines worshipping the Hùng Kings in springs. “Xoan” means “spring”. Bearers and practitioners form four guilds, in which the male and female Trum play the most important role; they preserve the songs, select students, transmit the singing styles and repertoires and organize practices. They are also active in introducing and teaching Xoan singing at the four Xoan guilds, and in clubs and guilds. A full Xoan performance cycle includes 3 phases: Worship singing (Hát thờ) with songs praising the virtues of the Hùng Kings and the village guardian deities; Invocation for good health and fortune (Quả cách) with 14 repertoires praising nature, humankind, and the daily life of the community; Festive singing (hát Hội) with songs featuring the couple love. The special characteristic of Xoan is the modulation between singers and instrumentalists at the perfect fourth interval, and it has a simple structure with few ornamental notes. Xoan dance's movements have a sense of imitativeness, illustrating people's daily life activities. After singing at their communal houses from the 2nd - 5th day of the Lunar New Year, the Xoan guilds travel to other communities venerating Hùng Kings to take part in convivial cultural exchanges. Xoan practitioners are organized into music guilds called Phường. The Leader of each guild is called “Trùm”. In the past, only men could be “Trùm”, but nowadays women could also be leaders. The Leaders are in charge of transmission and organization of activities of the guilds. At present, each guild comprises of 30 - 100 members. Men are called “kép”, women are “đào”. As a community performing art, Xoan singing fosters cultural understanding, community cohesion and mutual respect. The Vietnamese Institute for Musicology has collected 31 Xoan songs, and thanks to the efforts of several Xoan artists four guilds have been established. 33 dedicated clubs also exist, and seminars are held to expand knowledge of Xoan.
Viet Nam 2017 -
Whale Worship Festival in Khánh Hòa
Taking place during in the 2nd to 3rd lunar month, the festival derives from the cult of worshipping whale, also known as Ông Nam Hải (Mr. Nam Hải). Whale worship is a longstanding tradition of maritime communities along the Central coast. According legend and local belief, whales are savior of fishermen in the sea and bring about good fisheries. In Khanh Hoa Province, the festival begins with a Nghinh Ông (Whale Procession) Ceremony in the sea. To invite the whale spirit, the local fishermen make an offering ceremony on the sea. After that, 15 fishing boats, lining up in a V shape, make a parade on the sea, processing the whale’s spirit to his temple on shore. The festival subsequently continues with the royal decree procession ceremony. This is followed by a ritual inviting the spirit enter the temple. Lion and dragon dances, bá trạo singing and tuồng opera performances add a more joyful atmosphere into the festival.
Viet Nam -
Thổ Hà Festival
The Thổ Hà Village Festival came into being in 1685 but later endured a long period of suspension. It was revived in 1992, taking place yearly from the 20th to 22nd of the first lunar month. The four hamlets in the village take turn to play main role in the ritual procession throughout the village, which is located on a tip of land surrounded by Cầu River, bordering Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang provinces. The festival is organized in commemoration of Mr. Đào Trí Tiến, the village’s patriarch of pottery making. The procession starts from 10:00am, beginning from Hamlet 1 and ending at noon at the Communal House. The procession is formed by many delegations dressed ornate costumes, resembling mythical and symbolic figures such as Tam Đa (three abudances) and Tiên Đồng – Ngọc Nữ fairies, or performing troupes such sên tiền dancers, Flag Master, Sword Master, Gong Master, so on. Although distance for the procession is quite short, it took two hours for the procession of the Saint’s palanquin to reach the communal house due to many activities taking place in the same narrow village road. The last ritual taking place at the communal in honoring the saint is the most solemn and sacred ceremony in the festival.
Viet Nam -
Phủ Dầy Festival
Phu Day festival is organized by the community in Kim Thai, Nam Dinh province to honor Mother Lieu Hanh - one of the Four Immortals in Vietnamese folk beliefs. People believe that Phu Day is the place where the Mother of God was born. According to folk legend, the Holy Mother Lieu Hanh is Princess Lieu Hanh - who is honored as Mother Nghi Thien Ha. Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh is also considered the main deity of Vietnamese mother worship. There is a saying "August Father's death anniversary, Mother's death March" with the meaning of honoring saints like father and mother. The festival takes place from the 1st to the 10th day of the third lunar month. The Phu Day festival is known for its rites of passage to the fields and singing of chau van. The procession of Mother Goddess’s palanquin is one of the important rituals of the festival. There are also other activities such as dragon, unicorn, quartet dance, and a very special word-drawing festival.
Viet Nam -
Trần Thương Temple Festival, Hà Nam Province
Trần Thương Temple Festival commemorates the death anniversary of Saint Trần Hưng Đạo, a national hero.This is a cultural event held in the community to verenate and honor sacred and real figures in the national history like Saint Trần Hưng Đạo. He is a national hero who defeated foreign invaders then was considered as a Saint to support communities to have a prosperous and happy life. Trần Thương Temple Festival is famous for its typical ceremonies like water procession, palanquin procession, food delivery. Especially, there are performances of spirit mediumship with some shamanism practices in Trần Thương Temple Festival.
Viet Nam -
Yeomjang (Bamboo Blind Making)
National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Yeomjang is the term for a craftsman who makes blinds out of various materials such as reeds and hemp stalks, especially bamboo. Blinds were necessary for life in Korean traditional houses called hanok. They were used in summer to block the strong sunlight and keep the people inside cool; they also served to prevent people from looking inside. They were made in various sizes, ranging from small ones to block palanquin doors and large ones to cover doorways. Bamboo blinds in particular took a lot of time and effort to make, so much so that the hands were said to have had to accomplish 10,000 steps. In Korea, blinds had been used since the Three Kingdoms Period; with the gradual disappearance of hanok, however, they had fallen out of use, with demand rapidly declining from the 1970s. As a result, there are few people left who make them. Today, blinds are made only in a few places such as Damyang in Jeollanam-do Province and Tongyeong in Gyeongsangnam-do Province.
South Korea -
Kỳ yên (Peace Begging) Festival at Gia Lộc Communal House
Held from March 14-16, since 1926 to commemorate the merits of the village czar Đặng Văn Trước. On the morning of the 14th, they invited the deity from Ong Elder temple to Gia Loc family. After the head of the ceremonial committee asked for the seal, the Chief of the ceremony took the deity out, wrapped it in a new towel, and placed it on the palanquin. After offering Tien Vang is the ceremony of Tuc Yet. Items include: roast pig, live pig, sticky rice, tea cake, flowers, wine. After the drum is poured 'sacred reception', on the background of music, the components according to regulations make offerings to the Citadel. Next is the ritual of blessing and prosperity. The ceremony of building adoration - great boi is an important ceremony. It is indispensable to build adoration drums. The adoration builder is an elderly person who knows the etiquette. The adoration drum must be placed in the right direction to avoid taboos with the celebrant.
Viet Nam -
Yên Thế Festival
At its inception, this festival takes place on the 5th of first lunar month in commemoration of Hoàng Hoa Thám, also known as Đề Thám (Commander Thám), the farmer leader in the Yên Thế uprising against the French colonists. Since 1984, the festival has taken place in the third week of March. Main ceremonies of the festival include the palanquin procession ritual by Phồn Xương and Cầu Gỗ villages. An important ritual is the requiem of lost insurgent soldiers with traditional offerings. There are also strict rules on costumes for those who participate in the rituals. A flag salute ceremonies is re-enacted as it was conducted by the insurgent army in the past. Today, in order to make the festival more joyful, villagers incorporate a horse procession ritual and an exchange performance “Young men from Cầu Vồng and Yên Thế villages meet with young ladies from Nội Duệ and Cầu Lim”. Entertainment activities of the festival include such folk performances as martial art performance, gun shooting and archery contests, wrestling and quiz game about the Yên Thế Uprising.
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Whale Worship Festival
Held from August 15 to 17 at Ong Thuy General's mausoleum to commemorate the merits of "Mr" fish - the god who patronizes fisheries and marine occupations in general. On the 16th, at Lang Ong, a procession was held to process the South Sea General's palanquin onto the dragon boat to the sea. Along with the dragon boat carrying the water general, there were hundreds of large and small boats, splendidly decorated, with colorful flags and flowers accompanying him to the sea to welcome him. In front of the boat are incense and offering trays. On these large and small boats, there are thousands of tourists and relatives participating in the procession. When the Spirit is brought into the mausoleum, the ceremonies of praying for peace, building adoration of the great boi, and singing boi take place at the mausoleum of Mr. Thuy General. On the 17th, there was a ceremony to honor the king of Thuy Prime by ordination. The worshiping ceremony includes singing.
Viet Nam -
Kiếp Bạc Festival
The festival takes place in Kiếp Bạc Temple in the autumn from the 15th to 20th of the eighth lunar month in honoring the legendary General Trần Hưng Đạo, also known as Saint Trần, who defeated the Mongol invaders three times back in the 13th century. To many, Saint Trần is also worshipped as Father, serving as their protective spirit. In feudal society, the festival was part of an annually national ceremony and officiated by a mandarin dispatched by the King. The most important ritual of the festival is the procession of offerings on boat along Lục Đầu River. It is an honor for anyone in the commune to be selected to prepare for and row boats. The boats are decorated with red fabric strips on the sides and with followers and lanterns on board. Especially, the dragon palanquin boat is decorated with yellow fabric strips and flowers. The ritual starts with Saint Trần’s tablet being processed onto the golden-gilded palanquin, from the main temple building passing through the Tam Quan Gate towards the river. The procession takes about two hours along the river.
Viet Nam