Cổ Loa Festival
28/07/2010
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09:28:00
VGP - Cổ Loa is a commune belonging to Đông Anh, a suburban district of Hà Nội City. Starting from Hà Nội, we can reach the commune by going along Highway 1, crossing Chương Dương Bridge and then Cầu Đuống Bridge, and thereafter following Highway 3 for three kilometers. Getting there, one can see the remains of three layers of concentric ramparts built by King An Dương Vương, alias Thục Phán, in the second century BC.
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Cổ
Loa Temple in Đông
Anh District, Hà Nội |
The legend of An Dương Vương – Mỵ Châu
– Trọng Thủy:
In the
second century BC, Việt Nam
was a country named Âu Lạc ruled by King An Dương Vương whose name prior to
coronation was Thục Phán. He had only one daughter, whose name was Mỵ Châu. The
State’s capital was located at Cổ Loa where the King built a fortress and
ramparts. Yet, whatever was built in the day was subsequently demolished at
night by evil spirits. The King held a religious ceremony and begged Heavens
for assistance. There upon, a golden tortoise came and gave guidance to the
King on how to do away with the malfeasance of evil spirits. As a result, the
fortress and ramparts could be completed. In biding farewell, the golden
tortoise presented the King with one of its claws. The King turned the claw
into the trigger of his crossbow, a single arrow of which could shoot thousands
of enemy troops. The crossbow was thus called as the Magic Crossbow or Tortoise
Crossbow.
By then, a
rebel Chinese General, Zhao To, established in Southern
China a Kingdom called Nam Việt. He tried to conquer Âu Lạc State,
but his military adventures ended in failure because of the magic Crossbow.
Resorting to a different strategy, Zhao To sought peace and requested Thục Phán
to give consent to marriage between Trọng Thủy, Zhao To’s son, and Mỵ Châu, Thục
Phán’s daughter. Thục Phán gave his agreement that Trọng Thủy could, as
son-in-law, stay in Âu Lạc Kingdom in keeping with the practice of
uxorilocality with bride service.
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The
beheaded statue of Princess Mỵ Châu in Cổ Loa Temple |
Taking
advantage of his wife’s deep feeling of love and credulity, Trọng Thủy stole
the secrets of the magic crossbow. Thereafter, he sought permission from Thục
Phán to return home for visiting his parents. In departing, Trọng Thủy said to
his wife, “In case war breaks out between our countries some time in the
future, how can I find you?” His thoughtless wife replied, “I’ve got a coat
made of goose feathers. I’ll take them out and scatter them wherever I go.”
Thereafter,
Zhao To launched a new war of aggression against Âu Lạc. Being overconfident in
his magic crossbow, Thục Phán did not make adequate defense preparation. When
enemy troops surrounded the Cổ Loa Fortress, Thục Phán started his crossbow but
found it useless. He had barely time to put his daughter on horseback and ride
away at full gallop to the south. When he came near the sea coast, the golden
tortoise appeared. The King asked “Oh, Golden Tortoise, why have I lost my
Kingdom?” Immediately the Tortoise replied, “Your enemy is just behind you.” As
the truth suddenly dawned on him, the King drew his sword and killed his
daughter, and then followed the golden tortoise into the sea. The sea waves
brought the corpse of Mỵ Châu to Cổ Loa, and when the villages brought it
ashore it became a big stone which is still kept and worshipped in a small
temple near an old banyan tree. Trọng Thủy also suffered from the loss of his
wife. One day, he came to a well in front of the former palace of King An Dương Vương.
As he saw the face of Mỵ Châu on the surface of the water of the well, he
plunged into the well and died. The blood which poured from Mỵ Châu’s body into
the sea - as the result of the cut from her father’s sword - was swallowed by
oysters and shelves which subsequently produced peals. Popular imagination even
went so far to assert that if the peals were washed in the water of the well
where Trọng Thủy died, they would become much brighter.
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Cổ
Loa Festival |
Every
year, the 12 villages of Cổ Loa Commune join hands in organizing the festival,
which usually begin on the 6th of the first lunar month.
Early on
the morning of the first day of the first lunar month, 12 notables from each
village come to the house of the chief notable in order to prepare for the
procession which starts soon thereafter. Opening the procession is the music
band, to be followed by the chief notable and the 12 village notables, and then
the villagers who carry various offerings to King An Dương Vương.
A couple of
stone horses, one red and one white with embroidered saddles, stand on both
sides of the outside part of the gate of King An Dương Vương’s temple. The road
leading from the gate to the temple is lined with wooden stands for flags and
other objects of worship. The palanquins of the 12 villages are placed in
accordance with a pre-arranged order.
For the
occasion, the organizers put in front of the temple a big altar with a glass
box containing two gold car rings and objects of worship. A smaller alter,
containing the King’s arms – sword, crossbow and bronze arrows – is set in
front of the bigger alter. Beyond it is a space where a number of red – rimmed
mats are spread and where the notables and the population will carry out the
religious ceremony.
When the
procession reaches the temple, a miniature royal court, containing an incense
burner, a stone tablet, and the funeral oration, are put in front of the two
altars.
The chief
notable offiates at the religious ceremony in honor of the God King, which is
in terms of rites quite similar to other traditional ceremonies, amidst the
sound of music from the band. The nobles are followed by inhabitants. All beg
the King to bestow peace and prosperity to the villages.
The
ceremony lasts until 1 or 2 PM, and is followed by a general procession, with
the participation of all the 12 villages, in honor of the King.
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Art
performance at the Cổ Loa Festival |
In front
ranks of the procession are the flags, the Miniature Royal Court and the sacred
weapons of the Temple.
Then come the music band and the village notables clad in traditional Court
uniforms and holding the weapons supposedly wielded by the King – sword,
crossbow, and arrows.
Then come
the notables and inhabitants of the pagoda hamlet and of each of the 12
villages, with their own palanquins, flags and music bands. It is quite a long
procession, which proceeds at a slow space, amidst the sound of music, and
stops regularly to burn a round of firecrackers. Starting from the temple of King An Dương Vương, the procession
comes to the Trọng Thủy Well, and then to the village gate. There upon, more
firecrackers are burned and the contingent which carries the Miniature Royal Court and the royal
tablets go back to the temple while the notables and population of the twelve
villages would carry on the procession to their respective hamlets.
The
religious ceremony and the procession end on the same day, that is, the 6th
of the first lunar month, while the festival goes on until the 15th
of the same month, with various traditional games and activities:
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in
the night, there are fireworks, Ca Trù
songs, folk theatrical plays (chèo)
and conventional theatrical play (tuồng).
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in the day, old men play chess and cards, old women perform rites and present
offerings at the Pagoda, while young men and women, a children have their own
games: wrestling, tugs-of-war, swing, rope climbing, martial arts, shooting
from bows and crossbows, flags dancing, human chess (chess games in which human
beings are used in place of traditional chess-men), cock-fighting,
penny-pitching, rice-cooking contest etc. One ancient game, which consisted in
continuous drum-bearing either by pairs of drums or a whole group of drums, is
no longer played.
People from
neighboring communes used to come in their numbers to Cổ Loa to participate in
the festival, regarding it as a national festival and spring merry-making.