"The fourth day is the Tug of War festival.
On the fifth day of the festival, the Eagles did not let each other go home.
The sixth day of the Bodhi festival
Return to Dong Cao festival on the seventh day.
The Tug of War Festival in Huu Chap village (now Huu Chap area, Hoa Long ward, Bac Ninh city) is a beautiful cultural activity of the community. The festival is held to pray for favorable weather, good crops, a prosperous and happy life for the people. The Huu Chap Tug of War Festival has existed for nearly 400 years and was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2015.
The Huu Chap Tug of War Festival is held every two years, according to tradition, it will not take place in 2024. However, because this is a vibrant, beneficial cultural activity with many good meanings, attracting the participation of a large number of people and tourists, Huu Chap people are looking forward to the festival being held annually.
After the ceremony, the East and West teams performed the tree-lowering ceremony.
Unlike tug of war in other localities, Huu Chap people use bamboo trunks as a rope.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tin, Head of the Front Committee of Huu Chap Ward, said that to have bamboo trees to make the rope for the contest, before the opening day of the festival every month, the village sent people to select bamboo from families in the village. The bamboo chosen must be from families with no death, both parents are alive, and everyone trusts them.
The East and West teams waited for the order to compete in the tug of war.
The two bamboo trees chosen must not be too old, not too young, called “banh nuoc” bamboo, long, straight, free of insects, not short-headed, and the number of joints of the two trees must be an odd number. The bamboo of whichever family is chosen is the honor and luck of that family for the whole year.
" The bamboo is trimmed, the branches are neatly trimmed, then a piece of ceramic is used to scrape off the bamboo essence to reveal the white core. The two ends of the two bamboos are cut squarely without being crushed or broken. The total number of joints of the two bamboos must be an odd number.
In addition, there are two horizontal arms symbolizing the East and West directions, which act as support points for the players to hold on to pull. Between the intersection of the two bamboo roots, there are three spiral circles woven with bamboo strips, of different sizes, which the locals call spider shapes. When finished, the bamboo rope is hung in front of the front door of the communal house to report to the village guardian spirit that the competition preparations are complete," Mr. Tin added.
The village elders beat gongs and drums to urge the two teams to compete.
Participating in the tug of war are the young men in the village, divided into two sides: the East and the West. Usually each side has 35 healthy young men, whose families have no mourning (people call them "no dust"), selected by the village, the total number of young men participating is 70 people.
All the men were shirtless, wearing white pants and red belts. The East team had a red scarf on their heads, the West team had a blue scarf. When the flag had waved three times around the bamboo pole, the competition officially began. The two teams from the East and West tried their best to pull the long bamboo pole towards them amid the cheers and encouragement of the villagers and the continuous beating of the festival drums.
According to custom, both sides had to pull all three rounds, and the side that won two rounds would win. The first two rounds, both teams pulled independently but were evenly matched. In the third round, villagers from both sides rushed to help the East side pull because according to the belief, if the East side won, the whole year would have a good harvest.
The East team will win 2 games to wish for a good harvest all year round for the villagers here.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Dung (50 years old) said that he has been participating in tug of war since he was 20 years old, and will be out of age in 2023.
"I have participated in tug of war 15 times since 1995. Some years I was on the East side, some years I was on the West side, but no matter which side I was on, when the competition ended, we felt happy and proud to have contributed to the village," Mr. Dung added.
Like Mr. Dung, Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa (49 years old) has also participated in tug of war 15 times, from the age of 20 until now. In the 15 tug of war competitions, he waved the flag 7 times and participated in the tug of war 8 times.
"We are very proud of the bamboo tug-of-war tradition that our ancestors left behind. The unique thing about tug-of-war is that the side that pulls the strongest will win, but it must operate according to the old principle that if the East side wins, that year the village will have a good harvest, if the West side wins, that year the village will have a bad harvest.
Therefore, usually by the third round, the villagers will gather to help the East side. The East side wins accordingly, but the West side is not sad because the East side wins, meaning the village will have a more prosperous new year," Mr. Khoa said excitedly.
By the third harvest, villagers from both sides rushed to help the East side, hoping for a good harvest all year round.
Mr. Nguyen Van Son, head of Huu Chap area, shared that Huu Chap Tug of War festival is the oldest and most unique traditional festival of the ancient Kinh Bac region and present-day Bac Ninh. This Tug of War festival contains many unique cultural values that have been preserved, practiced and passed down through many generations by the Huu Chap community.
To maintain the festival according to regulations, according to Mr. Son, for many years now the Festival Organizing Committee has reduced some taboos in choosing bamboo as a suitable rope. For example, the origin of the bamboo does not need to be carefully assessed, the bamboo only needs to be old enough, not infested with worms or ants...
"Previously, the Tug of War festival was held every two years in even years. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been moved to odd years when it is held in 2023. The festival space also had to be moved to a large area in front of the communal house instead of being held in the communal house yard as before.
Despite some of the above changes, our village's tug-of-war rituals and games still attract a large number of people and tourists from all over the country to attend in early spring," Mr. Son added.
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