Rice Worship Customs in Folk Festivals Associated with the Worship of Hung Kings in the Ancestral Land

Rice worship customs in folk festivals are closely linked to the beliefs and worship of the Hung Kings in the ancestral land.

PTĐT – For the community of Phu Tho people – the direct bearers and practitioners of the Cultural Heritage of Worshiping Hung Kings, the Hung Kings are ancestral deities associated with agriculture, teaching people to plow fields, plant rice, bestow vitality to the land, houses, crops, livestock, and contribute to the flourishing life and abundant harvests, protecting the local people. The rice worship ritual with its traditional ceremonies and folk performances in traditional festivals is connected to the period when the Hung Kings established the nation, carrying the imprint of the agricultural beliefs of the ancient Vietnamese, portraying the pre-agricultural activities, and expressing the reverence for “Rice” by the descendants of the residents of Van Lang during the time of the Hung Kings with rituals such as worshiping rice husks and rice offering ceremonies.

The legend of the Hung Kings also narrates how the kings visited the people, taught them to grow and plant rice, and together with the elders of the villages, they worshiped rice deities, praying to the heavens and the earth for the well-being of the people. The place where the Hung Kings called for rice worship is the Hùng mountain – the place of worship for the heavens and the Rice God. Today, this location is the Upper Temple on Nghia Linh Mountain, Hy Cuong Commune, part of the Special National Historical and Cultural Site of the Hung Temple. In this temple, there used to be a stone resembling a large rice husk shaped like a boat. The “Rice God” ceremony takes place on the first day of the lunar year and the 10th day of the 10th lunar month every year. It is passed down by the locals that at this very place, from the establishment of the Van Lang state, the Hung Kings successively ascended to pray to the heavens and the earth, offering rituals to the Rice God, and praying for favorable weather. This was closely associated with the “tế khí” (spiritual offerings) ceremonies accompanied by bronze drumming.

The “Xuong Dong” ceremony is a direct and practical agricultural ritual that is prominent in agricultural ceremonies and is focused on a figure known as the “Mother of Rice.” In Co Tich Village (Hy Cuong Commune, Viet Tri City), the “Downfield Festival” is held on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. Offerings include a tray of sticky rice with chicken and three bundles of rice. The chosen “Dong Princess” is elected by the villagers, wearing a red scarf and red clothes, she goes down to the field to plant rice. After the Dong Princess finishes planting, the villagers throw sticky mud at her, symbolizing the desire for favorable rain and wind. Thus, in this downfield festival, the water praying ceremony is also performed.

The Vua Hung Festival, which reenacts the Hung Kings teaching people to plant rice in Minh Nong Ward, vividly portrays the legend of the Hung Kings teaching people to plant rice. The ceremony takes place on the 1st day of the 6th and 11th lunar months. According to the custom, the villagers select an elderly person to perform the Thanh Nong (Agricultural Deity) worship at the constructed altar on the Tich field. Offerings include a tray of sticky rice with chicken, betel leaves, a few bundles of rice, and a tall bamboo pole. After the ritual, they proceed to the downfield ceremony. The ritual master, who also acts as the field owner, participates in the ceremony wearing rolled-up trousers and a ritual robe. Holding a sickle, he walks into the field, plants the rice, and when the rice bundles are done, he returns to the edge of the field. The villagers, along with the ritual master, then rush down to continue planting in an enthusiastic and joyful atmosphere, wishing for everyone to be skilled in their work, for a bountiful harvest, and for prosperity and happiness. After finishing planting the field, the villagers and the ritual master perform a thanksgiving ceremony to Thanh Nong, followed by returning to the temple to offer gratitude to the Hung Kings.

In Ke Thiec (now Hà Thạch Commune, Lam Thao District), the downfield festival is held on the 1st day of the 6th lunar month. The field owner plants additional taro shoots after finishing planting rice. In Thuy Van Commune (Viet Tri City), the festival takes place on the 15th day of the 6th lunar month. The field owner prepares 100 betel leaves and each family must present a tray of sticky rice, a symbol of their dedication to the field. The field owner conducts a worship ceremony for the spirits in the temple before going down to the field, where a tall bamboo pole is planted, and 8 to 12 rice clumps are planted around it. An indispensable ritual in these festivals is that before the field owner goes down to inaugurate the farming season, a ceremony to worship Thanh Nong must be performed.

The custom of carrying the “Rice God” during the Tram Tram Festival in Tu Xa Commune, Lâm Thao District, on the morning of the 12th day of the 1st lunar month, involves the villagers parading the “Rice God” and performing traditional trades of the Four Professions. The “Rice God” is a clump of long, fluffy rice with mature grains, chosen by the ritual master from the previous year’s harvest, and a sugar cane added on Tet. Both the rice clump and the sugar cane symbolize the Rice God. The procession travels around the village, returns to Tram Temple, and the “Rice God” is placed on the altar while Tram Ward performs traditional trade demonstrations. In Thanh Dinh Commune, Viet Tri City, the village celebrates a prayer for rain with a unique “hem” ceremony, carrying Mr. Khiu and Mrs. Khiu from Thanh Dinh Commune on the 4th day of Tet. The procession carrying Mr. Khiu and Mrs. Khiu, on a sedan chair adorned with cogon grass (a type of grass resembling rice leaves), rice straw, and a small amount of corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and an elongated square banh chung made by hand. After the ritual is performed at the Thanh Te Thanh (Ghe Field), Mr. Khiu lifts the rice tray and five cereals, while Mrs. Khiu throws the banh chung onto the ground for the villagers to snatch.

The “Chay Tung Di” dance is a traditional ritual dance performed jointly by the Vi Cuong and Trieu Phu villages (Hùng Sơn Town). Since the previous crop season, the ritual master must select good-quality, large, and sturdy rice bundles, tied into 12 bundles (equivalent to rice stalks). On the 7th day of the 1st lunar month, after the ceremony is completed, the ritual master stands in the middle of the temple courtyard with a good sugarcane in hand. Six young men, each carrying a painted and decorated bamboo pole, each with two bunches of rice seedlings and two bundles of sticky rice wrapped in dong leaves, are divided into two groups, running around the temple courtyard for three laps while shouting “Hu tung di, hu tung di.” After completing three laps, the ritual master throws the rice and sticky rice for everyone to snatch. This ritual aims to pray for a bountiful harvest and a prosperous farming season. (In ancient times, this ritual originally expressed the fertility beliefs. Over time, the villagers have associated this ritual performance with the legend of Son Tinh bringing his wife back to the Tan mountain). The “Rước Chúa Gái” (Carrying the Goddess) performance in the He Village Festival (Hùng Sơn Town, Lâm Thao District) runs parallel to the rice deity procession and trade demonstrations, showcasing the traditional trades of the ancient agricultural society. It is evident that the rice worship ceremony is related to the negative and positive aspects of the legend of Hung Kings. The legend of the Hung Kings teaching people to plant rice forms the basis for the rice planting rituals observed in the spring.

Through the ceremonies in various festivals, it is clear that the rice worship customs in traditional festivals always evoke legends of King Hung. Conversely, the legend of King Hung teaching people to plant rice contributes to the rituals of the planting season. Thus, the worship ceremony of the Rice God on the Upper Temple – Kinh Thien Linh Dien at the Hung Temple is a distinctive product of the agricultural beliefs associated with the cultural space of Worshiping the Hung Kings during the nation-building period. These rituals, reenacting the teaching of King Hung to cultivate rice, provide warmth and abundance to the lives of the people. The rice worship customs in folk festivals associated with the Worshiping of the Hung Kings embody the solemnity of customs, the reverence in consciousness and behavior (with a sacred orientation towards a sacred space), along with a profound sense of gratitude, reflecting the cultural identity of the rice farming residents in the Phong Chau region towards the Hung Kings, those who made significant contributions to the establishment of the Van Lang nation, creating the unique cultural value of the Worship of the Hung Kings.