Vien Noi Bridge Sowing Festival

Specialties of Vien Noi Bridge Sowing Festival Vien Noi is a revolutionary village of Van Noi commune, Dong Anh district. This is the revolutionary base of the Party Central Committee and the headquarters of the Party newspaper - Liberation Flag. Vien Noi is also the birthplace of the Directive on Japan and France to shoot each other and our actions drafted by the Central Standing Committee. Vien Noi is also famous because it has a unique bridge sowing festival throughout the region. The Vien Noi Village Bridge Sowing Festival was held on January 8 at Vien Noi communal house. Every year, Vien Noi holds a festival, once every 4 years it holds a mass gathering, other years it only holds a small gathering. This is one of the unique festivals of Dong Anh district. The festival is held for 4 days, from January 6-9. Vien Noi Communal House is the place to worship two village tutelary gods, Tong Vinh and Uong Ta. These are two generals of the Trung Sisters period. Currently, the graves of the two men are still behind the village. Legend has it that the two men were from Vien Noi village. The story is that, when Hai Ba Trung raised the flag of insurrection, the two men gathered the villagers and followed the insurgent army to fight the enemy. In the war with the enemy, our army won big. The enemy general was rounded up and beheaded by our troops on the fields of Vien Noi village. The army cheered, rejoiced, rejoiced in the joy of victory. In that joy, the insurgents threw the shuttlecock together and had fun. The custom of sowing bridges in Vien Noi has existed since then and has now gone on for thousands of years. There is a theory that when fighting the Northern invaders, the tutelary gods of Vien Noi village were supported by Ong Qua and the snakes. At Vien Noi communal house, besides the two generals of Hai Ba Trung, the villagers also worship Princess Dieu La as tutelary god. Legend has it that she was also instrumental in fighting foreign invaders and bringing peace to the villagers and communes. Some people believe that Mrs. Dieu La was also a general during the Trung sisters' period, coordinating with two generals Tong Vinh and Uong Ta to deploy troops and fight battles. The story goes that, in an unequal battle, our army lost, and Mrs. Dieu La prayed to the god Kim Quy to help. Suddenly, a jade ball appeared and a flock of black and white snakes flew above the enemy's heads, causing them to panic and run away. After the victory, our army held a celebration party in Am Thong forest. The party was having fun, and the three generals suddenly reunited. Feeling sorry for the fact that the three generals passed away at the same time, the villagers set up a shrine. Every year on January 8, they make offerings in remembrance. On that day, there is always a sowing ceremony to remember the support of the ball and the snake sent by the god Kim Quy. Now the three generals are honored by the villagers as village tutelary gods and worshiped at the communal house. During the festival of Vien Noi village communal house, the custom of sowing prayers is an important ritual, expressing the joy of victory and praying for good rain, good winds, good crops, prosperity of the local people and remembering the mascot's support in the fight with the enemy. The bridge in the festival is no longer a simple ball, but becomes a sacred object - the Bridge God or Mr. Bridge. The bridge is made of good wood, year round is placed on an altar throne, covered with red cloth, called Mr. Qua or God of Bridge. On the day of the holiday, the villagers bring the prayer down and perform the Moc Duc ceremony with fragrant water. The zither is made of young bamboo. This bamboo is planted by villagers in a clean place and given to intact families in the village to polish and paint black and white. At that time, the zither was called Mr. Moc. The 200 Mr. Moc represent the group of snakes carried in procession during the annual festival. On the festival day, Mr. Cau is placed on a palanquin to be carried from the temple to the communal house. The procession of Mr. Cau and the village's tutelary deities was accompanied by the sound of drums and bustling horns, as if recalling the spirit of the generals and soldiers of Hai Ba Trung thousands of years ago.