A ceremony to erect cay neu, a tall bamboo tree believed to ward off ghosts and monsters from entering the community during Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, was re-enacted in the former imperial city of Hue, central Thua Thien-Hue province, on February 11.
The 15-metre bamboo pole cay neu was carried by ten guards in a procession from the Hien Nhon Gate through the Thai Hoa Palace to arrive at the Ancestral Temple, where it was put up to the backdrop of ceremonial music and smoke from burning incense.
According to Phan Thanh Hai at the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, the re-enactment of the ceremony will contribute to the preservation and promotion of intangible cultural values in the former royal city.
The custom of erecting cay neu has died out in modern Vietnamese society and has been replaced with the display of ornamental trees such as peach and kumquat trees, Nhan Dan newspaper quoted Hai as saying. Cay neu is now only seen in a few rural areas and ethnic minority communities, he added.
According to Hai, under the Nguyen Dynasty, cay neu was usually erected on the 23rd day of the final month of the lunar year, coinciding with the day when the Kitchen Gods are believed to ride carps to Heaven to report on the events from the past year.
Cay neu will be taken down on the seventh day of the first lunar month.-VNA
The 15-metre bamboo pole cay neu was carried by ten guards in a procession from the Hien Nhon Gate through the Thai Hoa Palace to arrive at the Ancestral Temple, where it was put up to the backdrop of ceremonial music and smoke from burning incense.
According to Phan Thanh Hai at the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, the re-enactment of the ceremony will contribute to the preservation and promotion of intangible cultural values in the former royal city.
The custom of erecting cay neu has died out in modern Vietnamese society and has been replaced with the display of ornamental trees such as peach and kumquat trees, Nhan Dan newspaper quoted Hai as saying. Cay neu is now only seen in a few rural areas and ethnic minority communities, he added.
According to Hai, under the Nguyen Dynasty, cay neu was usually erected on the 23rd day of the final month of the lunar year, coinciding with the day when the Kitchen Gods are believed to ride carps to Heaven to report on the events from the past year.
Cay neu will be taken down on the seventh day of the first lunar month.-VNA
