"Dong Noc Cang" Festival

The "Dong Noc Mang" festival is held from the 15th to 17th of the second lunar month every year, at the Noc Mang historical relic site, Gia Rai town, Gia Rai district. The festival is to pay tribute to the ancestors who stood up to fight against the tyrants who stole land from farmers before the Party existed. Noc Nan Dong Festival (also called Noc Nang according to local calligraphy) at the National Historical Site of Noc Nan Dong in Hamlet 4, Phong Thanh B Commune (Gia Rai). The relic includes Muoi Chuc's family tomb, memorial house, exhibition house, and a cluster of statues recreating the battle between Muoi Chuc's family and Western rice robbers. History records: In the past, this land was still deserted, mainly with mud, cajuput forests, reeds, weeds and many wild animals and poisonous snakes. At that time, people who came here to clear land had to cut down trees to make the venom stick in the mud and then put up their crutches to build houses to avoid wild animals and poisonous snakes. The name Noc Nuan was born from there, which is also the name of a canal and a field. Before 1900, a farmer came to clear 73 hectares of forest in Noc Nan canal. In 1908, this farmer died, leaving the land to his son, Huong Chief Nguyen Thanh Luong. In 1910, Huong Chanh Luong officially applied for 20 hectares of land, which was accepted in writing by the government. In 1912, Huong Chanh Luong continued to apply to measure and issue a title for the entire area of ​​73 hectares and was also approved by the owner of Bac Lieu province, including a map of the land. When Huong Chanh Luong passed away, his son Nguyen Van Toai (also known as Bien Toai) inherited the land. In 1917, a notoriously rich overseas Chinese in Bac Lieu named Ma Ngan, often called Bang Tac by local people, intended to usurp Bien Toai's land. Being a scheming person, Bang Tac knew clearly that Bien Toai's land only had a temporary deed, so he bought land from Mrs. Nguyen Thi Duong, bordering Bien Toai's land, but in the contract, the boundary was written to cover Bien Toai's brothers' land. The land dispute between Bang Tac and Bien Toai's family broke out. Through many trials, Bien Toai's family always lost because Bang Tac paid a lot of money to bribe the authorities. In the end, the land belonged to Bang Tac. Immediately after that, Bang Tac sold the 50 hectares of land to the government's family. From then on, the new owner forced the Bien Toai brothers to pay land rent right on their own family land. On February 13 and 14, 1928, Ma Ta soldiers met the Bien Toai brothers to enforce the order to confiscate rice. Determined to protect the land of flesh and blood, on the evening of February 14, the Bien Toai brothers worshiped their ancestors, injecting blood and swearing not to be afraid of death. On the morning of February 16, 1928, when the soldiers came to confiscate rice, Bien Toai brothers used knives, sticks and sticks to fight. As a result, Bien Toai's four younger siblings, Muoi Chuc, Nhan, Nhin, and Mrs. Nghia (Muoi Chuc's pregnant wife) were shot and killed. A French soldier was stabbed in the stomach by Muoi Chuc. On August 17, 1928, the Can Tho Criminal Court tried the Noc Nan copper case. Two French lawyers defended Bien Toai's family for free. The French prosecutor also said that the situation of Bien Toai's family was very pitiful: they were robbed of their land by heartless people, and then powerful people joined hands with tycoons. The prosecutor asked the court to acquit Bien Toai's family members. The French lawyer also highly praised the spirit of labor and reclamation of Bien Toai's family, fighting with nature, with tyrants, and with legal procedures to build their homeland. To record this event, the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province built the Noc Nan bronze relic site right at the place where the incident occurred in the past. The relic is historical evidence showing the struggle of Bac Lieu farmers in particular and Southern farmers in general against landlords and colonialists who robbed the people of their land. The Noc Nan bronze relic was ranked as a national historical relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information in 1991. Every year, on the day of the event, the People's Committee of Gia Rai district solemnly organizes the Dong Noc Mang festival. This is an opportunity to remind everyone - especially the younger generation - about the tradition of resilient struggle of Bac Lieu farmers; At the same time, through it to promote tourism for the district, introduce an attractive destination to tourists from near and far.