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CULTURAL WINDOW
On the seventh day of the first lunar
month, the people of Ban Gian commune,
Vinh Phuc province, hold a festival to mem-
orise four generals of the 18th Hung King
dynasty. After giving offerings to the ge-
nies of the village, people take part in folk
games, such as Chinese chess or blind man’s
bluff. However, it is the phet catching is that
is most highly anticipated. When a
phet
- a
timber ball - is thrown, thousands of young
men will run at full speed trying to catch
it. In the speeding clamour the crowd is
whipped in to a frenzy of loud cheers to the
growing sound of drums and gongs.
The man who brings the
phet
to wor-
ship at the village temple will get an award
and the best luck for a prosperous year. In
the past, the game aimed to improve men’s
health and skills to protect the country from
its enemies. Now, it is an integral part of the
spiritual life of Vinh Phuc’s people.
Tro Tram village in Lam Thao district,
Phu Tho province is well known for a fertil-
ity festival called
No Nuong
or
Linh tinh
tinh phoc
.
No
and
nuong
are wooden representa-
tions of the male and female reproductive
organs.
At midnight on the 12th day of the first
lunar month, the Du Di temple in Lam Thao
district holds the only festival in northern
Vietnam which is dedicated to a particular
set of fertility rituals.
When midnight comes, all candles and
lights are turned off. In the darkness, a spe-
cially selected happily married couple stands
before an altar. The husband holds his
no
and his wife stands in front of him holding
the
nuong
.
Then the old man in charge of caring for
the temple repeats the mantra, “
Linh tinh
tinh … phoc
,” three times.
Following this mantra, the husband at-
tempts to thrust the wooden phallus into
the wooden female orifice, which his wife
holds expectantly. It is believed that if the
phallus penetrates three times, there will be
good crops that year, twice is less lucky and
once is unlucky.
The ritual quickly finishes to the excite-
ment of the crowds. The temple’s custodian
then announces:
thao khoan
(go and be
free) and young men and women scamper
into the temple’s garden to do as they please
until the lights are turned back on.
However, in modern times, the young
people tend to merely chase each other
around the garden symbolically, rather
than copulate wildly as the tradition actu-
ally calls for.
No nuong
:
FESTIVAL OF FERTILITY
Phet festival
:
CATCH THE LUCK
The
no
ready to be
thrust into the
nuong
The fight to get hold of
the lucky ball can be
quite fierce