Tro Chieng Festival is held from January 10-12 of the lunar calendar in Thanh Hoa Province. (Photo: ttptntthanhhoa.gov.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - Central Thanh Hoa province’s intangible heritages – Tro ChiengFestival and Sing and Dance under Bon Tree Festival - have been recorgnised asnational culture intangible heritages by the Ministry of Culture, Sports andTourism.
The Tro Chieng Festival is considered themost anticipated festival in Thanh Hoa, which is being held since the rule ofthe Ly Dynasty. The founder of the festival is General Trinh Quoc Bao, whoserved during the reign of King Ly Thanh Tong (1054-1072) and is credited withdefeating the Chiem Thanh (Champa) invaders.
To prepare for the fight against theinvaders, who used elephant troops, the general ordered his soldiers to buildbamboo elephants to practice with. During the battle, bamboo elephants whichwere glued with fireworks attached to them were burned, helping to defeat theinvaders’ troops.
A martial arts game with bamboo elephantswas reproduced at the festival to welcome the coming of spring in 1068 and washeld by villagers of Trinh Xa village, Yen Dinh district.
Currently, the villagers hold the festivalon January 10-12 of the lunar calendar. The festival is organised on a largescale with many folk games and cultural activities, including a paper elephantfighting competition, in which groups of men hoisting paper elephants attemptto topple each other.
The Sing and Dance under Bon Tree Festivaloriginated from Thanh Hoa province’s Thai ethnic group. It is held to payrespects to people, helping locals settle down and be protected. The Thai peoplealso sing and dance under the Bong tree on the occasion of the harvest.
Southern Ninh Thuan province also has twoheritages - Kate Festival of the Cham ethnic group and the art of makingpottery in Bau Truc village listed by the Ministry.
The ministry in its recent decision addedseven more festivals to the list of national intangible cultural heritages.They include Lady Hai Festival of the Tay ethnic group in the northernmountainous province of Cao Bang, Lanh Giang Temple Festival in the northernprovince of Ha Nam and Chieu Trung Temple Festival in the central province of HaTinh.
These seven national intangible culturalheritages that were recently recognised belong to the three categories oftraditional festivals, traditional crafts, and social customs and beliefs.-VNA
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