Huu Chap village in the northern province of Bac Ninh has playedthe traditional bamboo game keo co (tug of war) for hundreds of years,but now it is being lost amid rapid socio-economic development, said anelderly resident, Nguyen Van Hai.
The village's tug ofwar differs from others' because the two teams struggling to pull eachother off their feet don't pull on a rope, but rather two bamboo trees.
Hai, 79, said in the past the game was held on thefourth day of the first lunar month, or the fourth day of Tet (LunarNew Year). The afternoon tug-of-war game followed morning rituals.
The village slowly lost its keo co game festival tradition, as severalwars interrupted it and other religious practices fell by the wayside.
"There are few people who remember how to organise these rituals now," Hai said.
Finding standard bamboo trees to use has also become difficult, because less and less households plant them, he said.
Sometimes,villagers must travel to northern Cao Bang and Ha Giang provinces tobuy bamboo trees. As a result, the villagers now try to play the gameevery two years. But now they don't include the religious ceremonies ofthe old days.
Despite the difficulties, the Huu Chap keo co lures large crowds of tourists from nearby regions and provinces, Hai said.
The provincial People's Committee has submitted a petition to theMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to add the game and itsceremonies to the country's 2014 list of national intangible culturalheritage.
Before, when the religious ceremonies wereincluded, villagers had to start organising the festival more than amonth in advance.
On the third day of Tet, theelderly held a ritual to open the village communal house's doors,preparing it for the festival the next morning.
Thatnext morning, a delegation of villagers marched with ancient tablets,flags and others items from the communal house to a river in the northof the village, where they worshipped and asked permission from heavenand earth deities to get clean water from the middle of the CauRiver . They would use this water for worshipping the rest of the year.
The delegation then brought water back to the communalhouse. They sprayed villagers with the ceremonial water to protect them,and give them comfort and good health.
Then, in the afternoon, villagers turned their attention toward the tug-of-war game.
The village head, Nguyen Van Huynh, said healthy men around 40 must buythe bamboo. Their family should not be in mourning, and they shouldhave both male and female children. The pullers should also be healthy,but between 30 and 37 years old.
Tran Van The, whobought the bamboo many times, said the trees should be more than 20mlong, without damage from ants or worms. Most importantly, they shouldbe planted by a family that is not mourning.
In the olddays, The would be able to find a suitable tree in the village. But mostbamboo trees have been lost in the wave of urbanisation, so it takes alot more time and travel now to find them.
Afterchoosing, he cut the tree to mark it, to remember it until the last dayof the lunar year when healthy male villagers came and cut the treesdown to bring them home, The said.
The men then shavedthe trees' skin, bore holes in them and linked them together with twoshoulder poles, before hanging them in front of the communal house'sdoors for worship until the festival opens.
The organiserdivided 70 healthy men into two teams. They held on firmly to thebamboo until the organiser gave them the signal to start pulling. Theteam that won two out of three matches was the champion.-VNA
The village's tug ofwar differs from others' because the two teams struggling to pull eachother off their feet don't pull on a rope, but rather two bamboo trees.
Hai, 79, said in the past the game was held on thefourth day of the first lunar month, or the fourth day of Tet (LunarNew Year). The afternoon tug-of-war game followed morning rituals.
The village slowly lost its keo co game festival tradition, as severalwars interrupted it and other religious practices fell by the wayside.
"There are few people who remember how to organise these rituals now," Hai said.
Finding standard bamboo trees to use has also become difficult, because less and less households plant them, he said.
Sometimes,villagers must travel to northern Cao Bang and Ha Giang provinces tobuy bamboo trees. As a result, the villagers now try to play the gameevery two years. But now they don't include the religious ceremonies ofthe old days.
Despite the difficulties, the Huu Chap keo co lures large crowds of tourists from nearby regions and provinces, Hai said.
The provincial People's Committee has submitted a petition to theMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to add the game and itsceremonies to the country's 2014 list of national intangible culturalheritage.
Before, when the religious ceremonies wereincluded, villagers had to start organising the festival more than amonth in advance.
On the third day of Tet, theelderly held a ritual to open the village communal house's doors,preparing it for the festival the next morning.
Thatnext morning, a delegation of villagers marched with ancient tablets,flags and others items from the communal house to a river in the northof the village, where they worshipped and asked permission from heavenand earth deities to get clean water from the middle of the CauRiver . They would use this water for worshipping the rest of the year.
The delegation then brought water back to the communalhouse. They sprayed villagers with the ceremonial water to protect them,and give them comfort and good health.
Then, in the afternoon, villagers turned their attention toward the tug-of-war game.
The village head, Nguyen Van Huynh, said healthy men around 40 must buythe bamboo. Their family should not be in mourning, and they shouldhave both male and female children. The pullers should also be healthy,but between 30 and 37 years old.
Tran Van The, whobought the bamboo many times, said the trees should be more than 20mlong, without damage from ants or worms. Most importantly, they shouldbe planted by a family that is not mourning.
In the olddays, The would be able to find a suitable tree in the village. But mostbamboo trees have been lost in the wave of urbanisation, so it takes alot more time and travel now to find them.
Afterchoosing, he cut the tree to mark it, to remember it until the last dayof the lunar year when healthy male villagers came and cut the treesdown to bring them home, The said.
The men then shavedthe trees' skin, bore holes in them and linked them together with twoshoulder poles, before hanging them in front of the communal house'sdoors for worship until the festival opens.
The organiserdivided 70 healthy men into two teams. They held on firmly to thebamboo until the organiser gave them the signal to start pulling. Theteam that won two out of three matches was the champion.-VNA
