Bridge Robbery Festival and Village Pounding in Son Vi (Son Vi Commune – Lam Thao District – Phu Tho Province)

The folk saying in the lower district of Lam Thao has echoed for generations:

“At the beginning of spring, Son Vi’s festival emerges,

Robbing bridges and pounding the village, an inevitable event.”

This folk verse, originating from the people in the lower district of Lam Thao, has been passed down through the ages. Every year, around the second lunar month, when the second harvest season approaches, on the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year, people flock to the Son Vi festival like a flowing river. They come not only to witness the bridge robbery and village pounding but also to carry a deep sense of pride and admiration for the legends passed down from the time of the Hung Kings.

Son Vi Village, also known as Ke Vay in the old script, is home to six generals who served King Duệ Vương of the Hung Kings. Under the leadership of Tan Vien Son Thanh, these generals played a crucial role in helping King Hung defeat the Thuc invaders. After the victory, these generals contributed to the village’s development, assisting in cultivation and settlement establishment. Due to their heroic deeds, the people of the village elevated them to the status of village deities and were honored by the king as “thanh hoang” (divine protectors). Even today, the villagers maintain the tradition of not directly calling the names of these revered deities but using alternative names like Quy (Quy Minh), Minh (Minh), Tam (Tam Tơn), Sinh (Sinh Xanh), and so on.

The Bridge Robbery Festival and Village Pounding in Son Vi are held annually, deeply intertwined with the historical legends of the village’s deities honored at the Son Vi communal temple: Cao Son, Quy Minh, Toat Tau, Qui At, Bach Minh, and Moc Sinh. These historical figures are associated with the period when the Hung Kings founded the nation, during the reign of the 18th Hung King.

According to tradition, every year on the 3rd day of the first lunar month, Saint Tan Vien moves from Lang Xuong Cave to the capital city of Phong Chau to celebrate Tet and marry. On his return journey, he stops in Son Vi Village to reminisce with the generals and villagers about the intense days of fighting against the Thuc invaders to defend the country. The generals and villagers of Vay have great respect and affection for Tan Vien, always trying to find ways to keep him in the village. However, this proves challenging. One year, as Tan Vien returned to the village, he saw children playfully fighting over a pomelo. They were chasing each other across the fields, laughing joyously. Seeing this, Tan Vien stopped for a while to watch and appeared delighted. Witnessing the scene, General Moc Sinh came up with the idea of organizing a game of bridge robbery to entertain Tan Vien and keep him in the village. This game not only provided entertainment but also served as a way to train the soldiers’ spirit of unity, courage, intelligence, agility, and determination to win. Thus, the bridge robbery game became a traditional festival of Son Vi Village.

The Bridge Robbery Festival in Son Vi lasts for three days, from the morning of the 3rd day, known as the bridge-welcoming ceremony for Saint Tan, to the afternoon of the 5th day, marking the bridge-farewell ceremony for Saint Tan. Two months before the lunar New Year, the villagers divide into 18 teams to organize the festival, with 9 teams forming the internal faction and the remaining 9 forming the external faction. Each team consists of about twenty healthy, young men who voluntarily register to play the bridge robbery game and prepare 10 square meters of white fabric to make loincloths for themselves during the game. The participating men, considered as soldiers of the village deities, take the opportunity to prove their worthiness of this prestigious title. Before the competition, they must abstain from indulging in immoral activities and avoid consuming items with strong odors such as dog meat, onions, garlic, shrimp paste, chili, etc. Each team prepares two sacred flags and one decorated rooster for the temple ceremony, while also engaging in rigorous training to ensure victory in the festival. The winning team receives traditional offerings for the temple, including pig’s head, chicken sticky rice, and square glutinous rice cakes. However, the true value of the victory lies in the spiritual and cultural aspects, symbolizing good fortune for the entire year. According to the villagers, the winning team is blessed with prosperity throughout the year. People compete to buy loincloths worn by the bridge robbers, believing that bringing these items home will bring luck to their families.

The initial “balls” used in the bridge robbery were simple items like banana stems or raw sugarcane. Over time, they progressed to wooden balls made of ironwood, smoothly crafted with a diameter of 0.30 meters and weighing around 20 kilograms. After each festival, these wooden balls are preserved in the communal temple as sacred treasures.

The festival takes place in a sandy field in front of the Son Vi communal temple, known as the Lo Cau field. The villagers have set aside a piece of farmland to create the “Cau Oven.” The Cau Oven is a pit resembling a wok, with a width of 3 meters and a depth of 1.2 meters, and the excavated soil is piled around the edge of the oven. Before the festival, the villagers inform the landowners around the Cau Oven to harvest their crops, leaving an area of about 3 hectares for the village to use during the bridge robbery game. Then, sacred flags are planted, the festival’s booths and tents are set up.

Around 7 a.m. on the 3rd day of the Lunar New Year, after the temple ceremony has concluded, the villagers begin the procession with Tan Vien’s palanquin and the wooden balls to the Lo Cau field. Thousands of people eagerly join the festival to witness the bridge robbery game. The bridge robbers from each team, bare-chested, stand ready at their designated spots, awaiting the tense moment when the bridge robbery signal is given. Once the Bat Cong palanquin is placed in the ceremonial tent, the drums resound, and the master of ceremonies performs a solemn ritual in front of the altar, dragon and phoenix. Following the ceremony, the master of ceremonies carries the wooden ball on his shoulder with someone shading him, walking to the front of the Cau Oven in the name of the village deity. He proclaims the rules of the game and requests both teams’ support three times: Huoc cu! – Response: Hue! As the last Hue echoes, the master of ceremonies throws the first ball into the oven, and the game begins. The bridge robbers from both teams rush to snatch the ball from under the oven, bring it to their team’s destination, and secure victory. The master of ceremonies then throws the second ball, and the process repeats. From the edge of the oven to each team’s destination is only about 200 meters, but each bridge robbery game is fiercely competitive, lasting the entire session, demanding courage, teamwork, physical strength, intelligence, and agility from both teams. At times, the bridge robbers have to carry the ball on their heads and run to the destination. The showdown between the two teams occurs over nine rounds and is organized continuously throughout the three days of the village festival. The winner of each game is determined after the seventh round. After that, the players compete in two additional rounds: the playful round and the farewell round. The playful round involves the players leading Tan Vien to tour the village, and it doesn’t count towards scoring. Instead, it is a fun exhibition. The farewell round for Tan Vien is also intense, with a unique play style transitioning from foot to hand and utilizing a special powder to transfer the ball towards the destination. The team that wins this round is considered the main winner of the festival. Based on the boundary set on the Lo Cau field, if the ball is snatched and reaches the destination of the respective team, that year is considered lucky for that team. If the ball is taken to the common field of the village, it signifies good fortune for the entire village that year.

As dusk falls on the 5th day of the Lunar New Year, signaling the end of the Bridge Robbery Festival, there is a coincidental alignment with the natural order: the Northeast wind starts blowing, causing the sacred flags to flutter towards the Tan Vien Mountain. The people of Vay cheer, light firecrackers, and bid farewell to Tan Vien, guiding him across the Hong River. Meanwhile, the people of Ban Nguyen cheer and play drums to escort Tan Vien through the river, and the people of Truc Phe (Hung Hoa) use wooden pestles to pound rice, providing food for Tan Vien’s soldiers returning to the mountain. From this event, a local song is created: “Son Vi lights the farewell signal, Ban Nguyen cheers, Truc Phe pounds rice.”

The Bridge Robbery Festival and Village Pounding in Son Vi Village are rich in historical reenactments with a festive atmosphere and vibrant community spirit. Attending this festival provides an opportunity to experience the two-way relationship between the village and the nation, emphasizing the duty between individuals and the community. Additionally, attendees can feel a deep sense of pride for their country, heroic ancestors, and the tradition of loving the village and the nation passed down by their forefathers. This is not merely an individual perception or a customary event; it is a shared understanding among the people, achieved through rituals that connect the past and the present. With the intrinsic values of traditional cultural heritage, the Son Vi Village festival revives the tradition of patriotism, affirms the strength and national pride, and serves as encouragement and a reminder of national love for future generations.