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SOCIETY AT LARGE
hile it is natural to
think of festivals as
a time of joy and
peace, some in Vi-
etnam are anything
but. Tran Temple Festival in Nam Dinh
province is a case in point. Late at night
on February 23, tens of thousands of
people, gather shoulder-to-shoulder,
around Tran Temple to wait for the
opening ceremony. They are re-enact-
ing a custom dating back to the Tran
dynasty (1225-1400), when mandarins
broke their seals after the Tet holiday,
resuming administrative activities, in-
cluding rewarding and conferring titles.
A crowd of people now flock to the tem-
ple before the ceremony and try to get
a stamp in the hope of gaining higher
chances of promotion.
Doctor Nguyen Quang Ngoc, for-
mer director of Institute of Vietnamese
Studies and Developmental Sciences,
says it is a totally unfounded belief: “I
do not know why people are so keen
for a stamp. The seal opening ceremo-
ny’s only true meaning is to wish for a
smooth year. Nothing more.”
Doctor Ngoc and others are becom-
ing angry at the chaotic scenes that
happen at the festival every year. Thou-
sands of people jostle each other in a
massive crowd in their desperation to
get a stamp. Some faint, some are hurt
and many lose their shoes. The pil-
grims, many of whom are young men,
damage the protecting fence and even
the objects of worship. After the cer-
emony, several doors of the temple are
often found broken.
Another custom involves stuffing
money into Buddhist statutes and ge-
nies’ hands or mouths. This is com-
monly called genie bribing. 53 year old
Xuan, a fruit seller, strongly believes
that you get what you give and so she
crams what small money she has in
to the statues. Her daughter and son
follow and imitate. Normally there is
no problem, but at the Bai Dinh Pa-
goda this spring, and at many other
big pagodas and temples, disorder has
turned a solemn practice into a shock-
ing spectacle.
For Doctor Ngo Duc Thinh, Director
of Vietnamese Cultural Belief Studying
and Conserving Center, stuffing money
into statues is improper. He insists there
are two normal ways to donate money:
put it into charity boxes set in front of
the altars, or put it on a plate to respect-
ably give to a monk. Thinh says he is
saddened by the sight of holy places
littered with small notes.
A TIME FOR GIVING?
These traditional festivals have now
become a magnet for beggars which
is taking the shine off them for some
Vietnamese. 27 year old Thanh Phuong,
an insurance worker in Hanoi, reported
many came seeking money at Ba Chua
W