Go to Bac Son to see Tay people compete in harvesting rice with primitive tools

Performed by: Nam Nguyen | October 22, 2024

(Fatherland) - Continuing the series of activities in the "Bac Son Golden Season" Festival program in 2024, at Na Du field, Don Riec 2 village, Bac Quynh commune, Bac Son district, Lang Son province, the Festival Organizing Committee organized a rice harvesting competition using rudimentary tools.

Teams participate in a rice harvesting competition in the fields of Bac Quynh commune, Bac Son district in the "Bac Son Golden Season" Festival in 2024.

Participating in the competition, there are 3 teams, each team has 4 members from Bac Quynh, Hung Vu and Long Dong communes.

Teams compete in harvesting rice with sickles, threshing rice with sickles and bundling straw in the fields. Team members must wear traditional costumes.

Many tourists as well as ethnic people in the region came to cheer on the contest.

When the judges give the signal, the teams will cut the rice, thresh the rice and bundle the straw. Within 30 minutes, the team that harvests the most rice, has clean rice without straw, has beautiful straw bundles and has the highest score will win.

The contest aims to honor the cultural values, labor, solidarity, overcoming difficulties and rising up in the lives of ethnic minorities. Thereby raising community awareness in preserving, maintaining and promoting the fine cultural traditions of the nation. At the same time, contributing to introducing and promoting tourism activities of Bac Son district to visitors inside and outside the province.

Vice Chairwoman of Bac Son District People's Committee Duong Thi Thep said that the Golden Season Festival is maintained to create a unique and distinctive cultural space, contributing to preserving culture, promoting the potential and tourism advantages of the district. The highlight of the Festival is a series of cultural - tourism activities, traditional cultural and artistic exchanges to serve the needs of sightseeing, enjoyment, entertainment for local people, as well as attracting domestic and international tourists to Bac Son in particular, Lang Son in general.

After being cut, the rice will be threshed by two men with their hands.

According to the Organizing Committee, Loong is a rice threshing tool of the Tay people that has been very popular since ancient times. However, in recent years, when industrialization has developed, people have used combine harvesters, so Loong is rarely used.

Using Loong in the competition helps people preserve their identity as well as ancient cultural values.

To preserve and promote the value of the heritage, Bac Son district identifies wet rice as the main crop. Every year, the district coordinates with all levels and sectors to encourage people to organize agricultural ceremonies and festivals associated with tourism development such as: Organizing folk games (throwing con, rice planting, pulling); organizing culinary culture competitions to introduce traditional dishes made from local rice, thereby building a brand for the specialty dishes of the homeland.

The district also focuses on building typical Tay ethnic cultural villages in communes, recreating traditional spaces of wet rice cultivation, such as water wheels, water troughs, water-powered rice mortars, traditional production tools: Loong, rice mortars, coffin fans, and shoulder poles. From there, the tradition of wet rice cultivation will gradually become a typical product serving tourism development, improving people's lives.

Tourists enjoy the experience of cutting rice and carrying rice home with the Tay ethnic people.

After 30 minutes of competition, the team from Bac Quynh commune won first prize of the competition.

The rice harvesting competition using primitive tools aims to recreate the rice harvesting scene of people in previous years.

Thereby contributing to honoring the cultural values, labor, and solidarity of the ethnic groups in Bac Son district; at the same time introducing to tourists the image and people of Bac Son, and the potential for tourism development in the area.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/len-bac-son-xem-dong-bao-tay-thi-gat-lua-bang-cong-cu-tho-so-2024102114513467.htm