Linking tourism development with festivals.

The Quang Ngai Tourism Week 2024 will take place from April 22nd, 2024. Among the activities in response to this event is the Khao Le The Linh Hoang Sa ceremony in Ly Son district. Although this festival has been upgraded to a "National Festival," both the ceremonial and celebratory parts are organized by the people of Ly Son. Cultural researchers in Quang Ngai call this a "people's festival."

Since taking control of the South, the Nguyen lords, and later the Nguyen emperors, regarded the Paracel Islands as a vital frontier of the country. No force was better suited to guarding this frontier than the fishermen of Quang Ngai province, especially those from Ly Son Island. With their fragile boats, the fishermen of this island conquered the Paracel Islands through their courage and bravery in the face of harsh natural conditions. The Hoang Sa (Paracel Islands) militia was born in this context. The Hoang Sa militia had to confront the harshness of the open sea; many fell, their bodies merging with the waters of the Fatherland. They went and never returned, and the people of Ly Son commemorated them with a ceremony called the "Hoang Sa Soldiers' Commemoration Ceremony."

Releasing boats carrying effigies into the sea during the Hoang Sa Soldiers' Commemoration Ceremony. Photo by T. L.

For hundreds of years, every year on the 16th day of the third lunar month, the same day that the soldiers of Ly Son Island bid farewell to their loved ones before setting sail for the Hoang Sa Islands centuries ago, the 13 clans on the island hold a traditional feast. This feast is a self-imposed need for the island's inhabitants. On this day, not only the 20,000 island residents but also hundreds of Ly Son natives living and working throughout the country return to the island to participate in the feast. During this reunion, generations of descendants hear their ancestors recount how they conquered the Hoang Sa Islands in fragile boats against storms. Perhaps this is the most vivid and persuasive "visual" lesson about patriotism for today's young generation.

Not only do young people hear their elders recount the courage of their ancestors in conquering the Paracel Islands to mark the sovereignty of the nation's seas and islands, but they also learn why mulberry trees still exist on the island even though the people of Ly Son do not raise silkworms or weave cloth. The mulberry tree has been a companion to the islanders for hundreds of years, used only for one purpose: its trunk is used to make the remains of soldiers and fishermen who unfortunately perished in the Paracel Islands, placed in symbolic graves. Today's young people on the island also understand why their mothers and grandmothers still pass down the tradition of making a type of cake called "banh it" (sticky rice cake wrapped in dried banana leaves), even though there are now hundreds of other types of cakes considered "premium." It is a staple food that doesn't mold in the sea breeze, an indispensable part of the supplies of the soldiers of the Paracel Islands in the past. Therefore, this festival endures through time.

TRAN DANG

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