Vinh Ninh communal house festival

Vinh Ninh communal house festival Time: February 8 - 12 of the lunar calendar. Location: Vinh Ninh communal house, Vinh Ninh village, Vinh Quynh commune, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi. Object of respect: Truong Tu Nuong, female general of Hai Ba Trung.   Characteristics: Rituals, palanquin processions, wrestling competitions, chess games, cockfighting... Truong Tu Nuong (also known as Miss Tia) was born in Giang Vinh Hung hamlet, Thang Moc hamlet (now Vinh Ninh village). Miss Tia has a beautiful appearance, is agile, and is skilled in martial arts. When she was 15 years old, Hai Ba Trung met her while on an inspection tour. Admiring the young girl's intelligence, Hai Ba Trung took her to help in the court. In early 43, when Ma Vien sent troops to attack our country, Hai Ba Trung and their generals set out to fight the enemy. Lady Tia was appointed by Hai Ba Trung to be Admiral of the navy and directly won many battles. In a fierce battle with the Ma Vien army, she sacrificed her life heroically at the mouth of Than Phu lake in Ninh Binh province. To commemorate her merits, Hai Ba Trung ordained her as "Trinh Thuc Doan Trang Anh Tuc Goddess" and built a temple in her hometown for people to worship with incense and smoke. Vinh Ninh traditional communal house festival is held from the 8th to the 12th day of the second lunar month every year. February 8: In the morning, at the beginning of the festival, the elders offer incense at the communal house. Next, people in the village offer incense to the Saint.   In the afternoon, a procession left and right into the palace was held. The procession on the left comes from the place of worshiping Xa Cong, Tho Dia. Outside the communal house, the procession on the right starts from the mound where Hai Ba Trung sits. At the head of the two processions are the dragon dance team, lion dance team, five element flag team, dragon sword team, then drums, gongs, barbells, senh tien bronze dance team, bowl sound ward, and dragon family palanquin procession team. Next to carry the palanquin are people over eighty years old wearing red clothes and people over seventy years old wearing blue and black clothes. Wherever the two processions go, gongs and drums resound loudly. In small alleys, villagers set up altars to pray when the Holy palanquin passes by. When the two processions, left and right, arrived at the communal house yard, according to the command, the Saint's palanquin was brought back to reside in the communal house. In the late afternoon, the men's worship team performed the external worship ceremony. February 9: The festival begins in the morning with a procession to Vinh Ninh pagoda and to Vinh Ninh communal house by the elders and people in the village. After that, the inner court ceremony is performed by the male sacrifice team. In the afternoon, people and tourists from all over come to offer incense to the Saint. February 10 - 11: In the morning, the male incense offering team performs the ceremony, then the female incense offering team performs the ceremony. In the afternoon, groups of men and women from neighboring villages and tourists from all over attend the Holy Mass. February 12: The left and right return procession takes place from early morning until nearly noon. The festival ends with a farewell ceremony performed by the men's worship team. Held alternately during the festival days are activities such as free wrestling, cockfighting, Chinese chess, Quan Ho singing on boats, Cai Luong, Cheo, martial arts performances...