Hai Phong's firecrackers resounded to celebrate National Day

To celebrate the 80th anniversary of National Day, September 2nd, people in Vinh Lai and Tu Ky communes (Hai Phong city) have a unique way to celebrate this important holiday. That is playing with clay firecrackers.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of National Day, September 2nd, every evening, the cultural house of Vu Xa village (Tu Ky commune) was crowded with gunners from many places coming to exchange firecrackers. In addition to Vu Xa, gunners also came from many other villages such as Nhu Tinh, Mep, Tan Quang (Tu Ky commune) and Vinh Lai commune.

In the ancient Hai Duong region, there are two stories about the clay cannon game. From the time of the Trung Sisters fighting the enemy, when the generals chased the enemy through the land of Tu Ky, Ninh Giang..., they saw children molding clay cannons to play and compete with each other to create loud explosions. Seeing the strange game, the generals immediately organized for the soldiers to learn and play. Seeing that the bigger the cannons, the louder the explosions, they immediately ordered the soldiers to mold extremely large cannons, causing loud explosions. Later, the people also used the explosions of clay cannons to deceive and overwhelm the enemy's spirit.
The second legend says that Tran Hung Dao's war elephant got stuck in the Hoa River (a section of the Luoc River in Ninh Giang, Tu Ky, bordering Thai Binh - old Hai Phong) while going to battle. People threw dirt down to save the elephant. To commemorate this event, people in the area created the game of dirt cannon.

According to Mr. Vu Van Nha, Head of Vu Xa village, the clay cannon game in this area has existed for a long time and is still passed down to this day. Unlike many traditional games that are gradually fading away, clay cannons have a strong vitality and are developing more widely. On each occasion of the previous Con Son - Kiep Bac Autumn Festival, Vu Xa village was often selected by the commune's team of nearly 10 gunners to compete. In Vu Xa, there are Mr. Bon, Mr. Canh, Mr. Teo, Mr. Chung... who are famous for being good at playing clay cannons.

Normally, each clay firecracker weighs about 60 kg, some even weigh up to 90 kg - depending on the strength of the firecrackers. To have a satisfactory clay firecracker is also very elaborate. The soil is taken from the tidal flat, the young men gather to use sickles to split it thinly, put it in a mortar and pound it with a pestle, add enough water and then knead it together until it is really soft. After each time playing, the clay firecracker is wrapped in 1-2 layers of plastic and left in the corner of the garden to wait until next year to take it out and play again.

After being molded, the clay firecrackers were solemnly "carried" to the yard by the village boys amid the cheers and encouragement of the audience.

At the competition location, the village trusted an experienced gunner to launch the cannon, with the requirement of making the loudest explosion and the longest flare (the edge of the cannon surrounding the cannon).

The villages that exchange firecrackers must also follow a strict process: Each village's gunners will throw the cannons 4 times, then someone will be responsible for measuring the length of the cannons, another person will sit and record the length of the 4 strings of cannons and then add them up to find the winning village. After throwing, the gunners will immediately move the cannons to another place to make room for the field.

In each firecracker exchange, the teams will agree to choose one quick, honest person to be responsible for measuring the length of the firecracker and reporting to the recorder.

In each team, the cannon is usually assigned to an experienced gunner who is both strong and skillful. The strength to be able to lift a cannon weighing about 60 kg to the level of the face, skillfully to rotate the cannon before launching, so that the cannon fragment sticks firmly and evenly to the ground, causing the pressure inside to blow the cannon fragment away and create a loud explosion.

Clay cannons in the old Hai Duong province were found in many communes such as Minh Duc, Quang Khai (Tu Ky district); Nghia An, Ung Hoe, Kien Quoc (Ninh Giang district); Duc Xuong (Gia Loc district)... In Vinh Bao district (old Hai Phong ), the communes of Viet Tien and Tan Lien all played clay cannons. This is a rare folk game that has not faded but has grown more and more.
Clay cannons not only have a martial spirit, but also have a sense of community cohesion, shown in the stages from finding land, preparing land, kneading land, lifting cannons and handing them over to the gunners... all have the contribution of groups of men and young men.

TIEN HUY

Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/phao-dat-hai-phong-ren-vang-mung-quoc-khanh-519685.html