Nam Dinh is not only famous for its tradition of mandarin examinations and diverse historical and cultural relics, but is also the destination of many unique folk festivals. Originating from the spirit of gratitude to ancestors, the art of drawing letters at Phu Day Festival, Kim Thai Commune (Vu Ban) and Dong Coi Communal House Traditional Festival, Nam Giang Town (Nam Truc) has become a unique form of collective performance, demonstrating the spirit of community cohesion.
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| Arrange the word "Thai" at Tien Huong Palace during Phu Day Festival. |
Flowers of gratitude
Phu Day Festival is one of the major festivals of Nam Dinh, associated with the worship of Holy Mother Lieu Hanh - one of the "Four Immortals" of Vietnamese culture, taking place in the third lunar month every year, attracting a large number of tourists from all over the world to visit and worship. In the series of activities, Hoa truong hoi (pull-out calligraphy) is the most special performance. According to the elders in Kim Thai commune, in the 17th century, in Ke Day area (now Phu Day area), the girl Ngo Thi Ngoc Dai was recruited to the Trinh Lord's palace as a concubine. At that time, due to continuous floods, laborers from many regions had to return to the capital to build dikes on Nhi Ha River (Red River), while the people of Ke Day downstream struggled to fight the floods but still paid their dues. Witnessing the miserable laborers, Princess Ngo Thi Ngoc Dai submitted a petition to Lord Trinh, asking for salaries and permission to return to their hometown to repair the dikes. Before the laborers returned home, the Princess instructed them to go to Phu Day to thank Mother Lieu Hanh. When they returned to their hometowns, they immediately brought hoes and shovels to the Phu Day yard and arranged them into the words “Thanh Cung Van Tue” to express their gratitude. From there, the custom of “pulling words” was formed - an important ritual in the Phu Day festival. Later, instead of hoes and shovels, people used sticks to tie flowers and colored strings, called “Hoa truong hoi”.
For each Hoa Truong Hoi performance, the Organizing Committee mobilizes from 240 to 280 participants. Each person wears traditional costumes: a red scarf with a yellow border on the head, a red scarf with a yellow border on the waist, white pants, and red leggings on the legs. The important props are sticks about 4 meters long, wrapped in colored paper, with chicken feathers stuck at the tip of the stick. The participants in the word-pulling performance are arranged into 4 or 8 teams, each team has a "flag master" and a "flag commander" to command, using the sound of the big drum and the small drum to give orders. When the command drum sounds, the teams move, "pull", "hide", "enter" and "exit" rhythmically, forming Chinese characters such as "Mau nghi thien ha", "Quoc thai dan an", "Thien ha thai binh"... Meritorious Artisan Tran Kim Hue, Head of the Tien Huong Palace, said: "Hoa Truong Hoi is the result of disciplined and uniform coordination, showing respect for the Holy Mother Lieu Hanh. Each movement and drum beat conveys a prayer for favorable weather and community unity. To have a successful calligraphy performance, we had to practice long before the festival, ensuring that everyone was in formation and understood the meaning of each word." Comrade Tran Khac Thieng, Chairman of the People's Committee of Kim Thai commune, affirmed: "Hoa truong hoi is the "soul" of Phu Day Festival. In recent years, before the Hoa truong hoi performance, there were also Cheo singing, Chau Van singing, and dragon dancing, creating rich and interwoven cultural activities, attracting a large number of people and tourists from all over to come and worship."
Unique Dong Coi village lettering
In Nam Truc district, the Dong Coi communal house festival in Nam Giang town takes place on the 4th and 5th of June (lunar calendar) every year to commemorate the tutelary god Quy Minh Anh Thong Dai Vuong. According to historical documents and legends, Quy Minh Anh Thong Dai Vuong once defeated the enemy, then returned to Mieu hill of Dong Coi village to teach people to reclaim and open up land. At that time, he often organized a calligraphy ceremony to wish the villagers a peaceful life. After his death, to show gratitude, Dong Coi people built a temple to worship him and at the same time maintain the calligraphy ceremony. According to custom, the calligraphy ceremony is held every two years, becoming a big festival, attracting children far from home to return to reunite and review the merits of their ancestors. The art of calligraphy at Dong Coi communal house has certain differences in formation and the way of arranging the letters. Normally, nearly 100 people participate, divided into 8 rows, the first person holds a knife, the last person holds a flag, in the middle are young men wearing military uniforms, holding colorful decorative sticks. Chinese characters such as "Thien ha thai binh", "Di dan vi ban" are arranged one after another according to the command of the "flag master". The process of pulling the characters includes 3 chapters: Chapter 1 (Worship) the group offers incense, reads the eulogy to the village god. Chapter 2 (Pulling the characters) The "flag master" leads the troops to move around the lake, into the communal house yard to arrange the characters. When the characters are finished, the head of the association (the oldest in the village) will review the characters, if they meet the requirements, he will order a reward, then the group continues to go around the lake to arrange the next character. Chapter 3 (Spiral - Ngu Nhac) all are arranged into 4 small spirals and 1 large circle in the middle, called "Ngu Nhac", symbolizing the 5 camps (front, rear, left, right, center). Each time the calligraphy is performed, it takes 3-4 hours, requiring great endurance and concentration. Comrade Cao Xuan Nghi, Chairman of Nam Giang town, said: “The art of calligraphy in Dong Coi is not only a fun performance but also an important ritual in the festival to remind descendants to always remember the gratitude of the tutelary god Quy Minh Anh Thong Dai Vuong. The local elders are making efforts to teach the art of calligraphy to the younger generation in order to preserve the traditional cultural values of their homeland.”
Solutions for preservation and dissemination
The common feature of the calligraphy art in Phu Day Festival and Dong Coi village festival is gratitude to ancestors, respect for gods, and the desire for peace. In recent times, Vu Ban and Nam Truc districts have implemented many measures to preserve and promote traditional cultural values, associated with the requirement to implement a civilized lifestyle in weddings, funerals and festivals. Thanks to that, festival management has become more and more organized, limiting commercialization, while still maintaining the originality of the heritage. In Kim Thai commune, the Phu Day Festival Organizing Committee has established subcommittees in charge of security and order, environmental sanitation, traffic safety, fire prevention, health care, etc. to ensure the festival takes place in a civilized and safe manner. Along with the above solutions, the preservation of the calligraphy art is always considered important. The Organizing Committee mobilizes a force of experienced artisans and local youth to practice together, mastering the formation, commands, and drum beats. Thanks to that, each character pulling performance in the festival still retains its solemnity, contributing to reminding people of the past, gratitude to the Holy Mother Lieu Hanh, and at the same time creating a bustling atmosphere that attracts a large number of visitors. Meanwhile, in Nam Giang town, the mobilization of human and financial resources for the Dong Coi festival is always carefully prepared, especially for the character pulling ceremony. Many months before the festival, the Organizing Committee has selected and trained the young people participating in the character pulling, ensuring that they know the process, commands and moving formation by heart.
The art of Hoa Truong Hoi calligraphy in Phu Day and the calligraphy ritual in Dong Coi village are living proof of the nation’s morality of “remembering the source of water when drinking”. Thanks to the attention and joint efforts of the government and the people, this form of performance is still maintained as a “string” connecting the past with the present, fueling the tradition for future generations, while contributing to honoring and promoting Nam Dinh’s cultural heritage far and wide.
Article and photos: Viet Du - Phuong Anh
Source: https://baonamdinh.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202502/dac-sac-nghe-thuat-keo-chu-6d84bd2/
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