Spring worship ceremony in Thai Duong village

The story goes that, in the early days of Thai Duong village in the 14th century, Mr. Truong, one of the three founding families of the village, did not like farming but preferred fishing with a boat, so he chose the southern part of the village to make a living.

Life gradually improved, especially compared to the residents of neighboring villages. From then on, the villagers learned the fishing trade from him, revered him as their tutelary deity, built a temple in his honor, and held a fishing prayer ceremony every three years to commemorate the founder of their profession.

From a geographical perspective, natural disasters have continuously impacted the coastal strip of Thua Thien Hue throughout history, with historical records documenting severe floods during the reign of Emperor Thanh Thai of the Nguyen dynasty.

In 1897 and 1904, floods and sea storms caused silt and sand to fill the Eo estuary (the old Thuan An estuary) and create the Sut estuary (the present-day Thuan An estuary). This event caused the original Thai Duong village to be split into two villages, Thuong and Ha, separated by the estuary.

In the current administrative boundaries, Thai Duong Thuong village is located on the left side of the estuary, belonging to Hai Duong commune, Hue city; Thai Duong Ha village is located on the right side, belonging to Thuan An ward, Hue city, about 12km northeast of Hue city center.

On the afternoon of the 9th day of the first lunar month, the elders and residents of Thai Duong Ha village held a ceremony to welcome the village's tutelary deity from the temple to the village communal house. The procession included gongs, drums, flags, banners, a traditional eight-instrument orchestra, and especially a symbolic boat carried by young men, parading from one end of the village to the other before entering the communal house.

On the night of the 9th, a ritual offering is made to the deities. Around 2 a.m. on the 10th, the main ceremony is held with full offerings and solemn rituals led by the chief priest and assistant priests. After the main ceremony, the profession presentation ceremony is conducted as a performance dedicated to the deities, in remembrance of the village guardian deity - the founder of the profession who taught the villagers how to make a living from the sea.

After three drum beats from the village chief, the village headman will throw money and offerings into the temple courtyard for the children to scramble to pick up. The children have previously been dressed up as various kinds of shrimp, crabs, fish, squid, etc.

Meanwhile, young men dressed as fishermen stood nearby, casting their fishing rods so that the children, dressed as various seafood species, could scramble to catch the bait. In addition, another group carried a red-painted fishing boat with people sitting on it into the temple courtyard, circling around the dressed children.

The people in the boat began casting nets to encircle the "seafood" below. The nets formed a circle around the "shrimp" and "fish" in the temple courtyard, while the "seafood" struggled to escape. Meanwhile, those in the boat reenacted the actions of shouting, cheering, and pulling the nets in the open sea. When the circle of nets narrowed, the fishermen on the boat jumped down to catch the largest "fish" and brought it into the temple to offer to the village guardian deity.

Then, the "seafood" caught in the nets is placed in baskets and carried by the women; some are taken to the beach to be washed in saltwater, symbolizing the processing of seafood; others are carried to the market to be sold. Those disguised as traders haggle over prices when buying this seafood, just like buying real seafood, creating a bustling and noisy atmosphere similar to a real market.

Heritage Magazine