Every second day of Tet, people in Dat Tai village, Hoang Ha commune (Hoang Hoa) bustlingly organize the traditional wrestling festival filled with joy and good meaning.
The traditional wrestling festival of Dat Tai village takes place on the second day of Tet.
The festival consists of a ceremony and a festival. At noon on the second day of the Lunar New Year, people will go together to the Tay temple to report to the village's tutelary god. After that, the strong men will take charge of carrying the palanquin and the gong from the Tay temple to Quan temple (now Ben market).
Before the festival, there is a procession of the village's tutelary god from Tay temple to Quan temple (now Ben market).
After completing the respectful rituals, there will be a lively festival between the villages. Accordingly, the participants of the festival are men with good health, agility, and dexterity, competing in the top spinning top game.
The cu fruit is woven tightly, with sand inside and red cloth outside.
The cu is woven firmly, with a core of sand inside and a red cloth wrapped around the outside. In the middle of the cu wrestling area, a bamboo or rattan pole is placed, with a “cu basket” hanging above it, a basket woven from bamboo. When the gong sounds signal the start of the festival, the cu is tossed high into the air. Amidst the excited cheers of the people, the participants will jump high, raising their long, strong arms to compete for the top. Whoever wins and holds the top for the longest time, then throws the top into the basket, will “score points”. The team that throws more tops into the basket will be the winner.
After announcing the rules of the game, the village chief will be the one to start the tickling.
Before that, during the days before Tet, the "braiding" of the cu will be assigned to an experienced person in the village.
In Dat Tai, although it only happens once a year, the weaving of “cu” is also “passed down from father to son”. Previously, in Dat Tai, the weaving of “cu” was done by Mr. Le Van Chi, but now Mr. Le Van Thanh - Mr. Le Van Chi’s son “follows his father’s footsteps”.
The wrestling festival is attended by men who are strong, flexible and skillful.
Participants compete to throw tops into the hanging basket above.
According to the elders in the village, the cu wrestling festival in Dat Tai has existed since ancient times. Legend has it that in the old days, in the village garden, there were 3 lions who often played with each other, called "hy cu". From that legend, the ancients organized the game - cu wrestling festival on the occasion of Tet with the meaning of praying for national peace and prosperity, favorable weather, good crops, and prosperous business for the people.
The traditional wrestling festival of Dat Tai village attracts a large number of people to participate and have fun.
The team that hits the basket the most times wins.
The traditional wrestling game also demonstrates the martial spirit and strength of community solidarity. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Kien, head of Dat Tai village, said: “The traditional wrestling festival of Dat Tai village has existed for hundreds of years and has been maintained by many generations of people. On the first day of spring, the wrestling festival takes place alongside the spiritual meaning, sending and wishing good things to the villagers; maintaining the organization of the traditional wrestling game also creates a useful playground, once again affirming the spirit and strength of solidarity, from which people can work together to build their homeland and country”.
Khanh Loc
Source
![[Photo] Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs Government Conference with localities on economic growth](https://vstatic.vietnam.vn/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/2/21/f34583484f2643a2a2b72168a0d64baa)
Comment (0)