Chu Dong Tu - Tien Dung Festival: The most unique love festival in the country

The Chu Dong Tu-Tien Dung Festival at Da Hoa Temple is one of the biggest festivals in the country, a picture of the rich, vibrant spiritual life and profound cultural values ​​of the ancient Vietnamese people in exploiting the swamps and alluvium along the Red River thousands of years ago.

This is not only a place to pass down and spread the legend of a beautiful and sacred love between the poor young man Chu Dong Tu and Princess Tien Dung (daughter of the 18th Hung King), but alsoto educate the tradition of filial piety, humane sentiments and kindness for future generations. The festival also expresses the people's desire to pray for favorable weather and wind for a successful farming and a peaceful, prosperous and happy village.

The legend tells of the love story between Chu Dong Tu and Tien Dung, one of the strangest in the history of the nation. A beautiful, noble princess, daughter of the 18th Hung King, after a chance meeting on the sandbank of Tu Nhien village, defied all feudal etiquette and social hierarchy to fall in love and marry an orphaned, poor but very filial son.

This legend does not stop at a love story but also praises the great dedication of the couple Chu Dong Tu - Tien Dung in helping people from illness and disaster. Wherever they went, they opened their arms to help the poor and the suffering, showing them the way to live a better life. That is why people honor Chu Dong Tu as one of the "Four Immortals" with respect and worship.

Chu Dong Tu - Tien Dung Festival (also known as Love Festival) is one of the famous festivals of Hung Yen province. This is one of the 16 biggest festivals in the country, associated with the legend of love between Chu Dong Tu, a poor fisherman and Tien Dung, daughter of the 18th Hung King (408 - 258 BC).

Dragon dance performance at Da Hoa temple, Binh Minh commune (Khoai Chau, Hung Yen). Photo: VNA

The festival is held at both relics: Da Hoa Temple (Binh Minh Commune) and Hoa Temple (Da Trach Commune). According to legend, Da Hoa Temple is the place where the most beautiful love story in the treasure of Vietnamese folk literature begins, between Princess Tien Dung and the poor fisherman Chu Dong Tu (later revered by the people as Duc Thanh Chu Dong Tu). Meanwhile, Hoa Temple in Da Trach Commune, according to legend, is where Chu Dong Tu and his two wives ascended to heaven. Da Hoa Temple and Hoa Temple were ranked as national historical and cultural relics by the State in 1962 and 1988.

This year, at Da Hoa temple, the festival was held on a district scale (held every 3 years), the largest ever. The festival attracted the participation of villages in the old Me district (the old Me district had 8 villages, now Dong Que hamlet is a newly established administrative unit), now 9 villages in 2 communes: Binh Minh (Khoai Chau) and Me So (Van Giang).

The palanquin procession at the Chu Dong Tu-Princess Tien Dung festival. Photo: VNA

The festival opens with a procession of palanquins carrying the village guardian spirits to Da Hoa Temple. Leading the procession is a dragon over 20m long, danced by young men to the rhythm of drums. Following behind is a group of people holding festival flags, drums, gongs, eight-treasure swords, a Sinh Tien dance team, a conical hat dance team, a ceremonial music team, etc.

At the same time as the festival at Da Hoa Temple, at Hoa Temple, people also organized a procession to carry water from the Red River to worship the Saint, an indispensable ritual in the festival. According to custom, the water used for the ceremony must be taken from the middle of the Red River. Water collection is a procedure that is highly respected by the people in the region, showing their respect and gratitude to the Saint. People believe that in a year when water collection is favorable, the crops will be good and bountiful, and the people in the region will prosper.

After the ritual of fetching water to worship the Saint, all the official opening ceremonies began. The representative of the elders in the region read the proclamation, reviewing the merits of Saint Chu Dong Tu and the national heroes. The proclamation reads: "People, common people, relatives, uncles and aunts, and guests from all directions. Today, the people in the region joyfully open the traditional festival of their homeland to commemorate Saint Chu Dong Tu and his two wives, who set a shining example of the two words Filial Piety and Loyalty, who opened the way for trade and commerce with foreign countries... for the people in the region."

After the ceremony is the festival with activities such as: dragon dance, Sinh Tien dance, folk performances , folk games (human chess, duck catching, bridge crossing, etc.), arts, sports , etc. attracting a large number of people and tourists from all over.

Mr. Nguyen Nhu Dang, Chairman of Da Trach Commune People's Committee, said: This year's festival is large-scale, rich in content, with a palanquin procession to the river to fetch water to worship the Saint, cultural and artistic activities, imbued with traditional and national characteristics, recreated in turn during the 3-day festival.

Imbued with traditional and unique cultural values ​​of the Northern Delta, the Da Hoa Temple Festival in Binh Minh Commune and the Hoa Temple Festival in Da Trach Commune have been included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List this year by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. These decisions demonstrate the deep gratitude of today's generation for the historical, cultural and spiritual heritage values ​​left by their ancestors./.

Yanjiang