Go to Yen Truong to see Ky Phuc festival

Going back in history, Yen Truong village is one of the ancient villages located in the precious land of "Tien Tam Yen, Hau Ngu Phuc". In the past, Yen Truong was also called An Truong. According to local historical records and through the stories of the elders in the village, Yen Truong is a land where the sacred energy of mountains and rivers converge, so it is praised by the people as "a good land where birds nest".

One of the contents of the ceremony of Ky Phuc festival, Yen Truong village, Tho Lap commune (Tho Xuan).

According to the book History of Tho Lap commune: In the early 10th century, there was a man named Vu from Yen Truong village who followed Duong Dinh Nghe to fight the Southern Han invaders. At the end of the 10th century, when Le Hoan ascended the throne and prepared to raise an army against the Song invaders, the monk Cu Lam received a dream warning from the gods: "An Truong is a good land with gods/ protecting Dai Viet from chasing away the Song invaders". According to legend, after the monk Cu Lam went to the capital Hoa Lu to report to King Le Dai Hanh, the king immediately returned here to set up an altar to pray for three days and three nights, and indeed in the spring of 981, he successfully defeated the Song invaders.

In the 15th century, when King Binh Dinh Le Loi raised the flag of uprising to drive out the invading Ming army, Yen Truong had many people participating in the Lam Son uprising. During the Le Trung Hung period, the land of Yen Truong was chosen by the Le dynasty to build the "resistance capital" Yen Truong - Van Lai to fight against the Mac dynasty.

During the pre-insurrection period before the August Revolution and the two resistance wars of the nation, Yen Truong was known as a typical revolutionary homeland of Thanh Hoa. In particular, in 1930, in Yen Truong, a major historical event of the Thanh Hoa people took place at the house of comrade Le Van Sy, which was the conference to establish the Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee chaired by comrade Nguyen Doan Chap. The conference decided on many policies and tasks that had the opening significance of the Party Committee for the revolutionary movement of the province.

In order to express gratitude to the gods and ancestors, Yen Truong people organized the Ky Phuc festival. Through the festival, it also contributes to strengthening the spirit of solidarity and unity in the community, fostering village and neighborhood affection to work together to build a developed homeland and a strong country.

According to the book “Vietnamese customs” by Phan Ke Binh, published by Literature Publishing House in 2006, about the Ky Phuc festival: “The Ky Phuc festival was originally the Ky Phuc ceremony - a popular ceremony in the Red River Delta and North Central Vietnam. Every year, in the four seasons or two seasons of spring and autumn, there is a week of great ceremony called Ky Phuc ceremony, which means praying for the people to be safe...”. The word Ky is understood as a periodic, annual event at a certain time. The word Phuc means “good things” or “lucky things”.

At Yen Truong communal house on the 11th and 12th of the second lunar month every year, many people have the opportunity to come and watch the traditional Ky Phuc festival. The festival takes place in two parts: the ceremony and the festival. The ceremony takes place solemnly with the procession and traditional offerings to the village's tutelary god; the festival consists of exciting folk games and performances, with many unique activities such as cultural exchange, arts, sports, cockfighting folk games... attracting a large number of people and tourists to participate.

Secretary of Tho Lap Commune Party Committee Tran Van Luc said: “The Ky Phuc festival of Yen Truong village is imbued with humanity and rich in the cultural identity of Vietnamese villages. During the days of the traditional festival of the village, the people of the commune as well as the children of the homeland who are studying, working and working all over the country and visitors from all over the country gather to express their gratitude and remember the contributions of the generations of ancestors who reclaimed the land and founded the village. Through the festival, it helps people to enhance the spirit of community solidarity, foster village and neighborhood affection to work together to develop the homeland and the country.”

Tho Lap commune is known as a land rich in cultural and revolutionary traditions, so the unique Ky Phuc festival in early spring in Yen Truong is also an activity that contributes to preserving and promoting intangible cultural values, meeting the spiritual and cultural needs of the people in the commune and tourists from all over the country, thereby also aiming to build a cultural tourism destination for villages in the district.

Article and photos: Le Phuong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/ve-yen-truong-xem-le-hoi-ky-phuc-241564.htm