Go to Quan Xuyen to see the building

Up to now, the festival still preserves many unique cultural values ​​of the countryside along the Red River, such as the royal procession, the water procession and the wrestling match.

Legend has it that the village tutelary god Vu Quang Chieu created the wrestling game to simulate the drifting on the river of his sworn brother Pham Cong Nghi.

There were 72 people participating in the wrestling match, divided into two teams in blue and red costumes, each team had 36 people. One team represented the Upper village, the other team represented the Lower village.

The wrestling team commander consists of 3 people elected by the people to run the match, including one person as the general commander, 2 people as flag bearers, each person commanding a team.

The wrestling ground is chosen from a field in front of the communal house. Every year, when the village prepares for the festival, the villagers will stop plowing on that field. The length of the yard is 65m, the width is 45m. The ground is flat, consisting of 3 pits, including a main pit and 2 small pits.

The main pit is twice as big as the small pit. The main pit is dug in the middle of the yard, 1.2m deep and 1.5m in diameter. The other two small pits are dug at the two ends of the yard, 0.6m deep and 0.8m in diameter. The distance from the main pit to the small pit is 30m.

At the beginning of the game, each team chooses the strongest, fastest and most skillful person to go first to capture the tower. The commander signals and the signalman strikes the gong, and the match begins. The two wrestlers run as fast as they can and jump into the main tower hole. They rely on their strength and cleverness to capture the tower and bring it to their team.

While transporting the ball from the main hole to the field, the contestant must use his hands to hold the ball in his arms. All other contestants must not use their hands but only use the muscles of their legs, back or buttocks. The player presses his feet on the ground as a fulcrum, transmitting force through his back, shoulders or buttocks, transmitting force to his body to gradually move up, pushing the ball towards his team's field. The winning team will be the team that brings the ball into their team's hole.

Due to the terrain of the playground, without headbands, it would be difficult for the audience to distinguish the players from each team because everyone was covered in mud. With the idea that the winning team would bring good luck for the whole year to their village and vice versa, the losing village would have bad luck, so today, teams often keep the score tied.

The wrestling competition in the traditional festival of Quan Xuyen communal house is competitive but not too fierce and is enthusiastically cheered by villagers and tourists. The competition, in addition to the martial spirit, also has a high symbolic value for the folk belief in agriculture when promoting solidarity and coordination among team members as well as in the whole community.

Heritage Magazine