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Main Festivals of the Year in Ancient Phuong La Village


In a lifetime, a person must become a pig twice . When he reaches the age of being a pig, he must raise (or buy it at the market) a big pig (also called a pig) . The pig's neck is measured by a steel ring, and the one with the largest measurement receives the village's prize. The elders recount that one year, Mr. Tran Dinh Doai bought a pig so big that when the pig stood, people sitting on one side could not see the other side, and the pig's tusks were also very long. Those teeth were stuck into the end of a stick to invite the village and were kept as souvenirs until later. The pig brought to the communal house for sacrifice had to be slaughtered, covered with fat leaves all the way to the neck, and then brought to the communal house in a bustling scene of beating drums and playing oars. After the sacrifice, the pig was slaughtered and divided among the villagers, and the remaining pig was divided among the dignitaries. The boss got the ears and nose; the village chief and the group got the legs; The rest is for the Commune to sell [ Source: NCS Interview (2013)] .

- The Council of Elders is the village's governing body, deciding on village affairs, such as: dividing and bidding for public land, selling ranks... The membership structure of this council in Phuong La follows the general model of Vietnamese villages in the North.

For a long time, Phuong La village was a unified block. Later, due to conflicts in communal house activities, the village was divided into two areas, with the East communal house as the center: the East Communal House and the West Communal House. Each area was a “village”, with an executive apparatus like a council of elders with its own titles. This was an uncommon phenomenon of village division in the Northern Delta region.

- Civil service apparatus: before the August Revolution of 1945, Phuong La village was also a commune, with a civil service apparatus that performed the tasks of maintaining security, collecting taxes, and mobilizing soldiers for the feudal state. The people called village chiefs included village chiefs , and below them was a deputy village chief . In addition, there were also supporting positions such as village chiefs, village elders, householders, village chiefs, etc.

- Guilds: in the past, Phuong La also had guild organizations: the Tu Van association of educated and high-ranking people; the Tu Vo association of soldiers; the Lao Nhi association of people 60 years old and over, etc.; in addition, there were also craft guilds and money guilds to support and help each other in times of difficulty.


Hierarchy in the family


The village communal house hierarchy is one of the most prominent aspects of social relations in feudal villages. The ancient Huong La commune (now Phuong La) also established ranks based on which salaries and duties were enjoyed. The first, second, third, fourth ranks... depended on degrees (degrees), ranks, titles and age. According to the elders, the communal house ranks of the ancient village were basically the same as those of the villages of Viet Bac Bo.

In addition to the positions reserved for those with qualifications (degrees), ranks, titles and ages, Meo village also has positions reserved for those who pay money, such as village chief, deputy village chief, chief, supervisor , etc. Those who pay money to buy positions aim to gain a reputation in front of the villagers and avoid having to do corvée, chores, or patrol. These purchased positions, when they go to the village, are also given gifts: Chief is given a chicken head (or pig cheek); Village chief is given a ham, and a piece of cake; Supervisor is given a piece of pig belly (miền nây).

1.2.3.3. Spiritual culture of Phuong La village


Weddings and funerals


- Marriage: in the past, when children in the family reached the age of marriage, their parents arranged it. Parents, right after their children were born, had an idea of ​​who their children would marry when they grew up, then measured their own abilities and arranged it, usually letting their children marry someone in the village: "Our buffaloes eat grass in our fields", "the eldest son and the youngest daughter will marry each other" with the combination of "the girl is two years older, the boy is one year older "; or friends promised to marry each other. In the past, marriage had a custom of paying cheo and clearly stipulated that the daughter who got married had to pay cheo, wine, betel and areca nuts; how much was the eldest son; how much was the second son. The daughter of Phuong La village was not allowed to marry elsewhere for fear of passing on the profession to the villagers, only the son was allowed to marry someone outside the village. The unmarried son-in-law had to make a New Year offering to his future wife's parents on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, including a goose and five kilos of green beans; the proposal had to include a rooster and five bushels of sticky rice (each bushel equals eight ounces).


The engagement ceremony includes a 1 to 2 kg string of meat. The groom's family talks about the engagement and asks the bride's family to ask for a dowry. The bride's dowry depends on whether the groom's family can afford it. If the groom's family is poor, it depends on how much they can afford. Sometimes the dowry is only enough to pay 7 coins to the village. If the dowry is too high, the groom's family will give up. If the bride's family accepts the dowry and then gives up, they will have to return the dowry.

Conducting the ceremony: a few days before the wedding, the groom's family brings a ceremony to the bride's house, called conducting the ceremony. Through the process of conducting the ceremony, the status of rich and poor in the village becomes clear; rich families conduct the ceremony with clothes, bracelets, earrings, rings, 10 bottles of wine, 30 coins, thousands of areca nuts. Poor families only calculate the ceremony and then balance the money. There are cases where the groom's family has not paid the full dowry, the bride's family only invites them to drink water and then puts it in the kitchen without breaking the ceremony. If the ceremony has not been broken, it means that it has not been accepted, so the wedding cannot take place. Therefore, the groom's family must return to make up for it, sometimes having to mortgage their fields and sell things to have enough to conduct the ceremony.

Wedding ceremony: The groom's family organizes a wedding for their child, relatives come to celebrate with wine and tea... The bride's family marries their child, relatives do not give material gifts but bring the bride to the groom's family to eat a feast. In the past, in Phuong La, when a rich family married their child, they held a lavish feast. Even though the bride's family was poor, they still demanded a dowry, requiring the groom's family to prepare nine ceremonies. The ceremony at the ancestral temple must be a pig's head, other ceremonies were prepared based on the generation: "the second generation is bigger, the third generation is smaller..." - "closer is a garland; farther is a pig's leg, pig's leg; closer is a prepared feast" . The poor bride's family cannot afford a feast, so they ask the groom's family for five prepared feasts to invite relatives, these five feasts are carried by the groom's family to the bride's house at night and the bride's family must also organize a night meal. The prepared feast includes two plates of boiled meat, two plates of stir-fried meat, a plate of offal, a bowl of kohlrabi cooked with minced bones. Normally, the wedding ceremony is held during the day; if the groom's family is poor, the ceremony must be held at night. In the past, weddings were usually held at night, and when the bride’s family brought the bride home, it was still not dawn. The wedding ceremonies of the people of Phuong La village were extremely cumbersome and complicated, with all kinds of rituals, from the marriage ceremony, the matchmaking ceremony, the engagement ceremony, the wedding ceremony, the return ceremony, the dowry, the dowry…

- Funerals : the customs and practices of Phuong La village are recorded in the "Customs of Phuong La Commune" kept at the Institute of Han Nom Studies .


The document was established on May 22, the 34th year of Tu Duc (1881), consisting of 19 Articles, of which 13 Articles are related to filial piety:

The filial piety includes everything from announcing the death, building a temporary house, setting up a tent, funeral arrangements for the clan, gifts from the clan, and inviting and entertaining mourners, the ceremony to worship the local god; the ceremony to install the throne; the 100-day period, the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, the first death anniversary, and the end of the mourning anniversary.

According to the elders, the funeral of a commoner; when a parent or relative dies, there must be a ceremony in which the family carries the coffin. If the homeowner is too poor, the debt must be paid back at the harvest season. The rich often organize a three-day feast. The servants must pass a test: put a pile of coins on the coffin lid, or put a cup of water on the coin, if it does not spill, they will be allowed to participate in carrying the coffin and will be rewarded with money. The coffin of the deceased is placed along the house. The deceased is taken to the field in the morning, and common families do not choose a time to carry the coffin. If the deceased has relatives, the relatives will come to pay their respects, with a tray of betel, a handful of incense, or a curtain. In the past, when digging a grave, a shaman would mark the direction of the land, then the homeowner would let people dig.

Village festivals and ceremonies

- The annual ceremonies of the old Phuong La village are basically the same as those in many other villages in the Northern Delta, including:

+ The biggest holiday of the year is Tet Nguyen Dan, also known as Tet Ca ;

+ The ceremony on April 4 at the village communal house - is the day of the gods' death;

+ The death anniversary ceremony : In the content of the stele inscription Truy tu bi ky at Phuong La communal house, it is mentioned that the villagers organized the death anniversary ceremony, which means performing a ceremony to commemorate the late ancestors who had contributed to the village on the same day [111, p.175];

+ The Shangyuan Festival (Full Moon Festival of January) takes place at communal houses and village pagodas;

+ Opening Ceremony - April 1st (ceremony to pray for blessings to ward off epidemics);

+ Procession: in the past, the procession of the gods was held on the 30th of Tet;

+ Thanh Minh Festival: Phuong La villagers also call it the day of cleaning the family altar;


+ Doan Ngo Festival (May 5);


+ The 15th day of the seventh lunar month, also known as "pardon for the dead";


+ On the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, the Mid-Autumn Festival has the custom of welcoming the moon and breaking the cake...


+ Tet Ong Cong or the day to send Tao Quan to heaven is December 23.


Table 1.3 : Main ceremonies of the year in the ancient Phuong La village


TT

Etiquette

Date

Venue

1

Lunar New Year

1,2,3/January

Village communal house (Eastern communal house)

2

Full moon in January

January 15

Temples, pagodas and families

3

Sacrifice

January 4

Communal house

4

Field Day

1/ Two

Communal house

5

Opening Ceremony or

1/Wednesday

Communal house

6

Day of the field

4/Year

Communal house

7

Village festival

October 20-25

Communal house

8

Procession

30th of Tet

Communal house

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Main Festivals of the Year in Ancient Phuong La Village

[ Source: NCS survey results].


- The village festival, the festival at the old Phuong La communal house, was held from October 20 to 25. The festival included many folk performances, including a model simulating the traditional silk weaving profession.

+ The ceremony consists of sacred rituals including: sacrifice - ceremony - procession, expressing the community's respect and honor to the deities being worshiped. In addition, the ceremony also describes the merits of the deities. The sacrificial activities include: reading the funeral oration, offering flowers and incense, offering wine, sword dancing, singing with an octagonal orchestra - gold coins accompanying the singer. The solemn and respectful ceremony directs people's souls to the supernatural world to remember the merits of the ancients in order to maintain morality. According to documents collected in Phuong La village, the sacrificial ceremony in the village festival takes place from October 20 to 23 every year and is organized very solemnly. A sacrificial group consists of 20 to 25 people, when performing the official ceremony, there are only 12 people. The main celebrant wears sandals, white pants, a blue shirt, and a blue hat, with two assistants standing on either side of the main celebrant. In the assistants, one person is a supporting singer and the other is a general singer. These two people coordinate to direct the ceremony.


+ The festival is the part of entertainment and competition of the participants. Through folk games, the work of people growing rice, fishing, passing on skills, fighting and competing in various areas of life is simulated. The festival also organizes cockfighting and stick fighting competitions. At Phuong La communal house, there are competitions in silk spinning and weaving.

Summary


Based on the theoretical inheritance of previous scholars, the thesis has analyzed and clarified the concepts of craft villages, craft village culture and cultural transformation of craft villages. The thesis defines craft villages as villages where the majority of residents live on one or more handicrafts, sometimes just one stage of the craft, creating products with unique features, the working time and income from the craft account for the largest proportion compared to other economic activities; craft activities have a great influence on other aspects of the village (village architecture, houses, lifestyle, customs and practices...). Craft village culture that the thesis mentions is not simply the sum of village culture and craft culture, but a specific form, a complex of material cultural, social cultural and spiritual cultural elements of the craft village, between the craft and the village, between people and factors outside of people, closely related, binding and influencing each other.

Craft village culture, like village culture, is made up of the material culture, social culture and spiritual culture of the village; these elements are closely related, bound and dependent on each other, in which the craft holds a central position . In addition to the common elements of village culture, craft village culture has some specific elements, such as the rhythm of life of the craft village, the psychology and personality of the villagers... However, craft village culture is a unified whole that cannot be divided. The mechanical division of the above elements aims to help us study more deeply the movement and transformation of craft village culture.

Phuong La is an ancient village formed and developed at the end of the Ly Dynasty, associated with the merit of opening hamlets, opening villages, and passing on the weaving profession to the people of Tran Hoang Nghi.


In addition to the Tran family, the Nguyen, Dao, Pham, Le, Vu, Dang, Do, Doan, and Dinh families also worked together to build and develop the village. Later, the Bui and Ninh families were added.

In the past, Phuong La was famous for being a fertile land, with highly developed agricultural production and handicrafts. The village's silk products were famous throughout the region, being presented to the king and used for foreign trade with neighboring countries. The market and weaving craft of Meo village in the past were the starting point for the economic development of Phuong La village today. Phuong La people built simple houses, mainly made of bamboo, reeds, and wood. They lived together, with a leisurely, peaceful lifestyle, without competition. Phuong La is an ancient village where a complex of historical and cultural relics and works such as Dong Communal House, Ung Mao Pagoda, etc. are still preserved. The ancient Phuong La village festival had many rich activities, where rituals of the rice-growing people were reenacted, etc. In short, there is a Phuong La craft village culture on the general background of Vietnamese village culture in the Northern Delta.


Chapter 2

WEAVING AND MATERIAL CULTURE

OF PHUONG LA VILLAGE TODAY


2.1. The weaving profession of Phuong La village today


For craft villages, the culture of making a living is most clearly shown in aspects related to the craft. In the process of making a craft, in addition to investing in techniques, craft villagers always calculate how to invest less in production but gain the highest profit, in which, finding a product that is still "untouched" by the market is very important.

The same goes for Phuong La people. The process of doing the job for hundreds of years has made Phuong La people spend a lot of effort, worry, research and contemplation, improve, upgrade tools, reorganize production, find products that "stand" in the market. There were times when it seemed like they were "collapsing", but with determination, Phuong La workers got up and overcame. Just counting from the time peace was restored until now, under the impact of policies and socio-economic management mechanisms, Phuong La people have improved tools six times, changed raw materials, innovated production organization, changed product types and designs, to finally discover a product that is a popular item (bath towels, face towels, napkins, towels), almost everyone has a need to use; The government has not paid attention to… Since the mid-90s, scarf products have “stood up” in all kinds of markets, and Phuong La village scarf weaving has been increasingly expanded, bringing in large revenues for the people here. Phuong La people are typical examples of being responsive to the market. This is also a manifestation of Phuong La people’s quick and reasonable adaptation to changes in the times, finding opportunities to make a living in their profession. The ups and downs and changes of the weaving profession in Phuong La are summarized in Table 2.1 .

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