The sacred Nam Giao Offering Ritual took place on April 8 at the Nam Giao Esplanade, as part of the on-going Hue festival.
TheNam Giao Offering Ritual was one of the most important traditionalceremonies under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), which honoured the skyand the earth. It focused around the desire for peace, prosperity andfavourable weather.
This year’s ceremony began at 8pm, witha procession of 34 wooden tablets carried from Trai Cung, the Palace ofFasting Palace, to the Nam Giao Esplanade, with over 1,000 peopledressed in traditional royal costumes taking part.
The Nam GiaoEsplanade, a three story monument, was built in Duong Xuan village,south of the Hue citadel, in 1806. The top floor was circular tosymbolise the sky but the two floors below were square to symbolise theearth and man. The Nguyen Dynasty usually held this ritual inmid-February with the King or the head mandarin acting as theofficiating priest.
As part of the 2012 Hue festival, a six-dayinternational trade fair opened the same day with 350 companies fromacross the country and several from Laos, China, Thailand, thePhilippines and Taiwan exhibiting their goods and services.
Alsoon the day, the National Centre of Traditional Performance Art from theRepublic of Korea (RoK) presented a set of Vietnamese Courtmusic instruments to the Hue Centre for the Preservation of Relics.
Theinstruments, including a magnificent bronze bell and a large musicalstone, were restored with financial assistance from the RoK.
Since2010, both countries have worked together to collect and study variousold documents and have supported training for local people to give themthe skills to restore Vietnamese Court musical instruments.-VNA
TheNam Giao Offering Ritual was one of the most important traditionalceremonies under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), which honoured the skyand the earth. It focused around the desire for peace, prosperity andfavourable weather.
This year’s ceremony began at 8pm, witha procession of 34 wooden tablets carried from Trai Cung, the Palace ofFasting Palace, to the Nam Giao Esplanade, with over 1,000 peopledressed in traditional royal costumes taking part.
The Nam GiaoEsplanade, a three story monument, was built in Duong Xuan village,south of the Hue citadel, in 1806. The top floor was circular tosymbolise the sky but the two floors below were square to symbolise theearth and man. The Nguyen Dynasty usually held this ritual inmid-February with the King or the head mandarin acting as theofficiating priest.
As part of the 2012 Hue festival, a six-dayinternational trade fair opened the same day with 350 companies fromacross the country and several from Laos, China, Thailand, thePhilippines and Taiwan exhibiting their goods and services.
Alsoon the day, the National Centre of Traditional Performance Art from theRepublic of Korea (RoK) presented a set of Vietnamese Courtmusic instruments to the Hue Centre for the Preservation of Relics.
Theinstruments, including a magnificent bronze bell and a large musicalstone, were restored with financial assistance from the RoK.
Since2010, both countries have worked together to collect and study variousold documents and have supported training for local people to give themthe skills to restore Vietnamese Court musical instruments.-VNA
