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Hoang Sa Troop Feasting Festival (Photo: VNA) |
According to statistics, there are over 8,900 festivals country-wide. Among those, Hoang Sa Troop Feasting Festival has a long history in the country’s tradition. According to some ancient books such as The Book of the South’s Map (Thien Nam tu chi lo do thu) (1686), Miscellany on the Pacification at the Frontier (Phu bien tap luc) (1776), The First Part of The Chronicles of Dai Nam (Dai Nam thuc luc tien bien),… the festival dated back since Nguyen Lord deployed men from An Vinh commune of Binh Son district, Quang Ngai province to found “Hoang Sa flottila” to manage and exploit Hoang Sa archipelago when it was a terra nullius. Their mission was very tough. They had to collect sea treasures, measure sea routes, plant trees, erect landmarks, patrol and guard the islands, etc. Their boats were small and simple while they had to travel hundreds of nautical miles in the tough weather conditions from March to August in lunar year, annually. As a result, they faced various dangers, accidents, even death. For this reason, every year, on 20th February in lunar year, before the departure of the Hoang Sa flotilla, households and clans on the Ly Son island (Quang Ngai province) celebrated the “Feasting Festival” to pray for the safety of the troops. In the festival, local people made dummies by bamboo and paper. The dummies would be dedicated to the local communal house and burnt or stuck on rafts and floated on sea with a belief that the dummies would suffer all the dangers and accidents for Hoang Sa troops. Since then, the festival has been passed on generations by generations and become an unique rite of coastal people of Quang Ngai.
Today, every year in February lunar calendar, authority and people on Ly Son island celebrate the festival at An Vinh’s communal house in the old manner, reminding participants of the troops’ going offshore. This cultural event attracts a large crowd of local people and tourists, representing people’s wish to conquer the sea and their gratefulness to those who have devoted their lives to protect the country’s territorial sovereignty. Besides, the festival also educate present people of the patriotism as well as their responsibility to protect the counry’s sea and island sovereignty.
Hoang Sa Troop Feasting Festival proves that for ages, Vietnam has controlled, managed, protected and exercised its sovereignty over the Hoang Sa archipelago in a continuous and peaceful manner in accordance with the rule of international law. This has become a deep cultural value in the mind of the Vietnamese people that nothing can change. For its significance, the festival has been classified as the national intangible cultural heritage and An Vinh communal house has been recognized as the national relic of Vietnam.
Ta Quang