Rituals and tug-of-war games - Human heritage

Tug-of-war is a very ancient ritual of both East and Southeast Asia, each with its own way of performing, but the common spirit is the desire for prosperity, growth and development.

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Associate Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Huy, former member of the National Cultural Heritage Council, said tug-of-war is an ancient ritual to be practiced in spring festivals to pray for prosperity and prosperity. wind harmony."For decades in general development people have turned it into a sports activity. They dropped the story of the old days, ignoring the spiritual meaning of the ritual. That's a mistake , " said PGS.

In the photo, there are rituals and folk tugging games simulated on Dong Ho painting (Hanoi).

The tug of war is widely practiced in rice culture in East and Southeast Asia such as Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia and the Philippines. According to researcher Nguyen Van Huy, due to cultural diversity, the way to practice this ritual is different in regions. In Vietnam, for example, a tug of ceremonies in Thach Ban Ward (Long Bien District, Hanoi) is a pair of people sitting on the ground tugged by a rope, threaded through a hole, a wooden pillar buried in the ground. Tug of war in Xuan Lai village (Soc Son, Hanoi) is to pull bamboo poles, like Korea.

Tug-of-war game in Sinh village folk paintings (popular in Hue Ancient City).

Cu Linh village festival (Thach Ban, Long Bien, Hanoi) held on March 3 of the lunar calendar with sitting tug-of-ceremonies with compulsory rituals for participants to practice and tools and space. perform the show. Before going into tug-of-war, the teams will receive the sacrament to the temple and do the holy ceremony.

The speciality of the tool and how to practice tug of rituals here are that the teams must sit on the ground tugged by a rope and thread through the hole a wooden pillar buried in the ground. PGS Nguyen Van Huy said, the column with the middle round hole that the two teams have to pull through is the symbol of yin and yang. Wood pillar is like a linga .

Research of the Center for Research and Promotion of Cultural Heritage Values ​​shows that the meaning of the tug-of-war ritual is sitting spiritually, expressing the desire of the community that the winner will bring good luck Good for the village, that is, their message has come to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit has received and given them good things.

The legend of the origin of the tug of war is rooted in the desire to have adequate water for production and people's daily life. The saints are worshiping Cu Linh village which is related to water such as village tutelary god - Thanh Linh Lang, which comes from the aquarium (or Water god), Duc Tran Vu is a saint of the Taoist religion. Dance (also known as Tri Thuy).

Pulling scissors in Vinh Phuc also uses wire to thread through the burial column.(Photo: Thu Trang.)

At the festival of the temple of Ba Ba (Xuan Lai, Soc Son, Hanoi), before entering the tug-of-war (dragging) competition, the teams also performed the sacrament, offering offerings of carp and white rice.

According to the Center for Research and Promotion of Cultural Heritage Values, dragging mines in King Ba Temple Temple is a ceremonial game with historical value. The show was made at the same time as the Temple, which lasted for hundreds of years and hardly changed the rituals, practice methods, from the game service to the participants.

Pulling mine is only carried out during the temple day with strict rituals for practice participants as well as game tools, from selecting boys to mine, to selecting mines to make mines, and then catching regulations tie with people who cut bamboo and mine; how to put bamboo after chopping, how to make mines . All are spiritual, with the idea that it is a sacred act of the beginning of the year, so everything is best done according to the Holy will, not to be changed change, even if the condition of space, time changes.

In addition to midland residents, the Red River Delta and the North Central Coast often practice tug-of-war, rituals and games are also used by ethnic groups in northern Vietnam such as Tay, Thai, Giay in Lao Cai province. organization.

The ethnic youth in Son La are playing tug-of-war.(Photo: HH)

On December 2, the Intergovernmental Committee on the Protection of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage has registered rituals and tug-of-war games in Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, and Philippines on the list of Non-Cultural Heritage representative objects of humanity.