The beauty of spiritual culture in early Spring of At Ty 2025
Nhiếp ảnh và Đời sống•11/02/2025
(NADS) - On the evening of February 10 and early morning of February 11 (the evening of January 13 and early morning of January 14, the year of the Snake), 17 "pigs" weighing over 200kg each from 12 villages in La Phu commune, Hoai Duc district, Hanoi city were brought by the people to the communal house to worship Duc Thanh - the god of La Phu village in the traditional festival at the beginning of the year, attracting thousands of people and tourists to attend.
Every year, on January 13, the people of La Phu commune joyfully organize a ceremony to bring the "pig" to the communal house to offer sacrifices to the village's tutelary god. This is considered a long-standing spiritual and cultural beauty to commemorate and show gratitude for the merits of the village's tutelary god Tinh Quoc Tam Lang under the reign of the 6th Hung Due Vuong who had the merit of repelling foreign invaders and protecting the country's borders.
Decorating the "pig" requires meticulousness, caution and dexterity, and can take many hours. Sharing with reporters from Photography and Life Magazine at the religious ceremony site, Mr. Nguyen Quang Tuan, in charge of Hung Vuong village, said that to score points in decorating the "pig", the special thing is to create a cloak with a layer of fat peeled off from the "pig".
According to legend, every time Tinh Quoc Tam Lang gathered soldiers to go to war, he slaughtered pigs and cooked sticky rice to reward the soldiers to encourage and boost their morale. The villagers often brought pigs as offerings and honored him as the village's tutelary god.
Thanks to his great contributions, Tinh Quoc Tam Lang was granted titles by kings Le Dai Hanh, Tran Thai Tong, Le Thai To and King Quang Trung.
Later, Tinh Quoc Tam Lang "transformed" at midnight on the 13th and early morning on the 14th of January in La Phu village. Since then, every year on this day, the people of La Phu commune organize a festival to welcome the "pig man", this is a beautiful spiritual culture of the local people to recreate the images of Tinh Quoc Tam Lang rewarding the army at that time as well as to commemorate his great contributions in the struggle to repel foreign invaders.
The sacrificial "pigs" are decorated in many places such as eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and feet with colorful paper.
This year's "Pig" procession festival is also an opportunity for every resident of La Phu commune as well as tourists from all over the country to feel more deeply about the traditional cultural values, the beauty of the homeland, to arouse patriotism, to remember the merits of our ancestors, thereby promoting the spirit of national pride, self-reliance, and self-reliance, raising awareness of preserving and conserving the precious cultural heritage values of the nation.
According to the concept, when the “pig” is carried on the palanquin for the ceremony, it has a beautiful shape and skin, and is rosy, then the villagers will have good luck all year, have favorable business, have good children and advance in their careers. Therefore, in each stage of decoration, it requires the person doing it to be dedicated and extremely careful. The tail is also a highlight to highlight the majestic lying posture of the "pig" at the festival. The "Pig" of the people of Tien Phong II village is being adjusted in the palanquin to prepare for the procession to the communal house. Boys are selected to serve in the flag-carrying ceremony. The "pig" raised by the people of Hung Vuong village weighed 172kg and was solemnly carried to the communal house for a ceremony. By 7 p.m., all roads leading to La Phu communal house were blocked by the large number of people coming to the "pig" procession festival. Many babies were held up high by their relatives to ensure safety. At 8pm, some “pigs” from the villages were still moving to the communal house, but due to the large number of people, although it was not far from La Phu communal house, it took an hour to bring the “pigs” to their destination. According to observations by reporters from Photography and Life Magazine, the number of people attending the festival was estimated to be in the thousands. Mr. Do Thien Khanh, 57 years old, a member of the organizing committee of Quyet Tien village festival, shared that the household selected to raise the sacrificial pig must have prestige in the village, a disciplined and exemplary family, and must have the will to take care of the "pig". During the raising process, the food must be clean, the pig must be bathed thoroughly, in winter it must be bathed with warm water, and at night it must be slept under a mosquito net to avoid mosquito bites that cause illness. In particular, for families with funerals, raising the "pig" is not possible. At 9 p.m., the "pigs" from 12 villages participating in the festival were carried by the villagers to La Phu communal house to prepare to enter the palace. All 17 "pigs" were brought into the communal house to be displayed, waiting for the time of the ceremony and scoring. This year, the Organizing Committee selected 6 qualified “pigs” from the villages: Doc Lap, Thang Loi, Thong Nhat 1, Chua Tong, Minh Khai 2, Khu Cong Nghiep to bring to the main hall of the communal house to wait for the offering ceremony. After the offering ceremony, the scoring process took place. Because the quality of the “pigs” from these 6 villages all met the strict criteria, the Organizing Committee decided to award the first prize.
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