March (lunar calendar) is here, let's learn about the Ky Yen festival at the village temple

Every year, from January to March (lunar calendar), the communal houses in Vinh Long province become bustling and vibrant with the Ha Dien, Thuong Dien and “Tam nien dao le Ky yen” festivals, to pray for national peace, people’s peace, and prosperous and well-off villages. This is also a folk belief imbued with the traditional culture of the people of the South in general and Vinh Long people in particular, which has been preserved since ancient times and passed down to this day.

According to “Learning about Vinh Long culture (1732-2000)”, every time a village was established, a communal house had to be built. The communal house was the place to worship Thanh Hoang, where village officials worked and also where villagers gathered and attended festivals. Every year, many festivals took place at the communal houses, some of which include: the seal-sealing ceremony (December 25), the procession of Thanh Hoang (December 30), Nguyen Dan held at New Year's Eve to see off the old year and welcome the new year or on the morning of the first day of Tet; Khai ha or Khai son, Gio an ceremony (January 7); Tam Nguyen took place on 3 big full moon days of the year (January 15, July 15 and October 15) like in Buddhism... but in general and most important are Ha dien ceremony, Thuong dien ceremony and Ky yen ceremony.

The Ha Dien ceremony is usually held at the beginning of the rainy season, which is the same as the ceremony to go to the fields, to start the plowing and also to show respect to Thanh Hoang, Than Nong, the gods of clouds, rain, thunder, lightning to pray for favorable weather, good harvest, so it is often called Ha Dien Cau Bong. The Thuong Dien ceremony is held at the end of the rainy season, when the crops have produced results, to worship Than Nong, Hau Tac, Vu Su, Phong Ba... also aiming to pray for favorable weather, good harvest like the Ha Dien ceremony.

Watching hát bội at Tan Hanh communal house, Long Ho district, Vinh Long province

In terms of religious beliefs, the purpose of organizing the two ceremonies of Ha Dien and Thuong Dien have similar nature and meaning to the Ky Yen ceremony. Therefore, many villages every 3 years choose the Ha Dien or Thuong Dien ceremony to organize the Ky Yen ceremony, after a long time, the people have the saying "Tam nien dao le Ky Yen".

The book Gia Dinh Thanh Thong Chi by Trinh Hoai Duc wrote: "The Ky Yen ceremony can be held in the spring", that is, in the middle of the second or third lunar month every year, with the meaning of "xuan ky", meaning at the beginning of the year, a ceremony to pray for national peace and prosperity for the people, and for the village to prosper. Some communal houses also hold it in the fall, with the meaning of "thu bao", meaning after the harvest, a ceremony to repay the favor. Or sometimes it is held at the end of the year, with the meaning of offering sacrifices, "te lap" (we call it cham mieu) meaning a peaceful year, so a ceremony to give thanks.

However, in Vinh Long, very few communal houses have the conditions to organize such rituals. Normally, every 3 years, communal houses hold the Ky Yen ceremony on the day of Ha Dien or Thuong Dien. Other years, there are only 2 ceremonies each year: Ha Dien and Thuong Dien. Of which, Ha Dien is usually larger in scale than Thuong Dien. From the above scale and nature, Ha Dien ceremony will be organized by the Incense Association Board, the Protection Board of communal houses and the people in the surrounding area with more and larger activities, while Thuong Dien ceremony is organized more compactly.

In the year of the Ky Yen festival, the ceremony will be held for two days and one night. Ky Yen is to pray for peace, so the main purpose of the Ky Yen festival is to worship Thanh Hoang to pray for national peace and prosperity, and for the village to be prosperous and well-off. In the Ky Yen festival, the "ceremony" part plays a more important role than the "festival" part, with the main rituals: the ceremony to invite the God's decree, the ceremony to worship Than Nong, the temple, the martyrs; the Tuc Yet ceremony, the Chanh Te ceremony, the ceremony to worship Tien Hien, Hau Hien, and the deceased members, the ceremony to send the God's decree. All communal houses worship Tien Hien and Hau Hien, who are those who have contributed to the establishment of villages or spent money to build the first public welfare projects to leave an example for future generations. Therefore, in the Ky Yen festival program at all communal houses, there are rituals to worship the above meritorious predecessors, demonstrating the morality of "when drinking water, remember its source". The rituals, whether short or long, rich or simple, all have the meaning of expressing the sincerity of the participants.

In addition, the Ky Yen festival also has another meaning as the village's death anniversary. On these days, the village communal houses often organize many folk games, lion dances, dragon dances, and opera performances to entertain the people. In addition, the Ky Yen festival is also an opportunity for artisans to showcase their ingenuity through their skills in flower arrangement and fruit trays. This is also an opportunity for gardeners to introduce new fruit trees, farmers to introduce delicious glutinous rice varieties through their skills in making sticky rice, cakes, and culinary dishes prepared by women to offer to the Thanh Hoang god.

Vinh Long currently has many communal houses built according to the Southern tradition. Every year, communal houses in the province solemnly organize the Ky Yen festival with rituals imbued with traditional Southern culture, meeting the religious needs of the people, thus attracting a large number of people in the surrounding area to come and worship and participate in the festival./.

Article and photos: MINH TRIET (synthesis)

* References

- “Learning about Vinh Long culture (1732-2000)”, Propaganda Department of Vinh Long province, Literature Publishing House, Ho Chi Minh City.

- “Traditional folk culture of Southern communal houses - Beliefs and rituals”, Huynh Ngoc Trang, Truong Ngoc Tuong, Ho Tuong, Ho Chi Minh City Publishing House, 1993.

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