Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival - Rach Gia - National Intangible Cultural Heritage

After more than 150 years, the traditional festival commemorating the sacrifice of National Hero Nguyen Trung Truc in Rach Gia ward (An Giang province) (the heritage name is Nguyen Trung Truc communal house festival - Rach Gia) is not only an occasion to commemorate National Hero Nguyen Trung Truc, who devoted his whole life to the Fatherland with the immortal saying "When the West has pulled out all the grass in the South, then there will be no more Southern people fighting the West" but also a national intangible cultural heritage with profound historical and humanistic values.

After more than 150 years, the traditional festival commemorating the sacrifice of National Hero Nguyen Trung Truc in Rach Gia ward ( An Giang province) (the heritage name is Nguyen Trung Truc communal house festival - Rach Gia) is not only an occasion to commemorate National Hero Nguyen Trung Truc, who devoted his whole life to the Fatherland with the immortal saying "When the West has pulled out all the grass in the South, then there will be no more Southern people fighting the West", but also a national intangible cultural heritage with profound historical and humanistic values.

The festival brings together the unique features of Southern culture, demonstrating the spirit of remembering the source of drinking water, community solidarity and national pride. From a folk worship ceremony, the festival has now become a major cultural and tourist event, attracting more than one million visitors each year, spreading the spirit of patriotism, humanity and solidarity of the Vietnamese people through many generations.

Portrait of National Hero Nguyen Trung Truc. Photo: Document.

National hero Nguyen Trung Truc, in his youth, was named Nguyen Van Lich (also known as Quan Chon, Quan Lich), born in 1838, in Binh Nhat, Cua An district, Tan An prefecture (now Tay Ninh province) in a farming family working as a fisherman. During his lifetime, he was very proficient in martial arts, knowledgeable about the books of sages, upright in character, and patriotic.

When the French colonialists invaded our country, Nguyen Trung Truc was selected to join the peasant army under the command of Commander Truong Dinh, holding the positions of Acting Commander and Commander. In 1861, the French colonialists attacked Gia Dinh citadel for the second time, he and the peasant army participated in the defense of Ky Hoa (Gia Dinh) under the command of the military governor Nguyen Tri Phuong.

After the second fall of Gia Dinh citadel (February 1861), he gathered patriots with the will to fight against foreign invaders to fight against the French in the Southwest region, causing heavy losses to the French colonialists. A typical example was the battle using fire to burn and sink the small gunboat Hy Vong (L'Espérance) at Nhut Tao estuary (Ben Luc, Long An). After the "Nhut Tao Fire" feat, he was appointed by the Hue court as Thanh Thu Uy Ha Tien. Nguyen Trung Truc had not yet returned to Ha Tien to take office when Ha Tien was occupied.

Nguyen Trung Truc retreated to Ta Nien to organize an attack force to destroy all French soldiers stationed at Kien Giang garrison, controlling the provincial capital in 10 days. For the first time in the history of fighting against the French, under the command of a general under 30 years old with a small number of insurgents, he burned an iron ship which the French considered an invincible weapon at that time and captured and controlled a large provincial capital fort in 10 days.

The French army used the most brutal and sinister methods to destroy Nguyen Trung Truc's army and suppress the spirit of resistance. Finally, the French army captured him, brought him to Saigon for interrogation, and used titles and money to entice him, but without success. On October 27, 1868, the French army brought Nguyen Trung Truc to Rach Gia to be executed, when he was only 30 years old. People in Rach Gia province flocked to the execution ground (near Kien Giang station) to witness and bid him farewell. With his two resounding victories and his life and career, the people created many legends and folk tales to honor him.

After Nguyen Trung Truc was executed in Rach Gia, to commemorate the hero who sacrificed his life for the country, people secretly worshiped him at Ong Nam Hai temple in the fishing village on the bank of Ong Hien canal.

In 1891, Nam Hai communal house was moved to its current location in Rach Gia ward (present-day An Giang province). Every year, the communal house holds a memorial service for him on the 26th, 27th, and 28th of the 8th lunar month. Gradually, the memorial service for him has become a festival of the communal house. After more than 150 years of ups and downs, Nguyen Trung Truc communal house in Rach Gia is honored by the people as the main communal house and the place where the main annual festival is held, attracting more than 1 million participants.

National hero Nguyen Trung Truc was honored as an “outstanding farmer-fisherman general” who went down in history as the Vietnamese people’s resistance against foreign invaders in the second half of the 19th century. This was a typical uprising after the French occupied the entire South. People greatly admired and honored him as a “God”, calling him “Mr. Nguyen”, “Mr. Nguyen”, “National hero Nguyen Trung Truc”, “High-ranking mandarin” even though he was only 30 years old when he was executed.

Many places built communal houses to worship Nguyen Trung Truc or worship him together with other gods and hold annual ceremonies to worship him together with the main gods or a separate ceremony. The ceremony held at Nguyen Trung Truc communal house - Rach Gia (abbreviated as Nguyen Trung Truc communal house) is the largest festival.

Today's Nguyen Trung Truc communal house was rebuilt from the Nam Hai communal house (whale shrine) which is the local tutelary god of Vinh Thanh Van village. After 1840, after Pho Co Nguyen Hien Dieu died in battle, people brought Pho Co's head to worship in the communal house, so it is also called Pho Co Dieu communal house.

In 1852, the communal house was granted the title of “Great General of the National Army of the South Sea”. In 1868, after Nguyen Trung Truc was executed, the Vinh Thanh Van village council established his spirit tablet to worship at the same altar as Pho Co Dieu. To avoid being terrorized by the French, the people had to set up an altar to worship the god of the South Sea and the anniversary had to be held on a different day than the day he was executed.

The elders chose the 26th, 27th and 28th of the 8th lunar month as the festival days to worship Mr. Nguyen. In 1891, the communal house was rebuilt with larger wooden logs, tiled roof and larger area than the old one. After the Geneva Agreement in 1954, Nam Hai communal house was officially renamed Nguyen Trung Truc communal house. By 1963, the communal house was so damaged that it could not be repaired, so the local people gathered together to contribute labor and money to rebuild it. The communal house started construction in December 1964 and was completed in February 1970. The design was carried out by architect Nguyen Van Loi.

According to the history of the communal house, in 1908, during the communal house's annual worship ceremony, the village council invited the French governor to attend the ceremony. In the governor's delegation, there was a French officer who had studied in China, knew Han-Nom characters and could read the parallel sentences, including the Nguyen Trung Truc altar. The governor was not satisfied and left angrily.

The council feared that he would cause harm to the people, so they did not dare to maintain the worship of Nguyen Trung Truc anymore. Someone told the story to a French farm owner named Hyacinthe Le Nestour (who called himself Le Duc Tam), who had land and houses in the area adjacent to Rach Gia. He had a Vietnamese wife, was very knowledgeable about Vietnamese culture, and greatly admired Nguyen Trung Truc. Mr. Le Nestour talked to the provincial governor and was allowed to bring Nguyen Trung Truc's spirit tablet to Tan Dien commune to build a wooden and leaf temple to worship him. After Le Nestour passed away, his descendants continued to maintain the worship and repair of that temple. In 1945, France was overthrown by Japan, Le Nestour's descendants were scattered to other places, and no one repaired or worshiped the temple for many years.

In the early 50s of the 20th century, the people of Rach Gia secretly invited the spirit tablet of Nguyen Trung Truc back to the old communal house to worship. During this period, the governor of Rach Gia was replaced by a Vietnamese, so the people openly displayed the spirit tablet and worshiped Mr. Nguyen at the communal house. At that time, there were 3 altars in the communal house: In the middle was the altar of the god (the local tutelary god), on the right was the altar of the god Nam Hai, on the left was the altar of Pho Co Nguyen Hien Dieu and Nguyen Trung Truc.

Behind the altar of Nguyen Trung Truc is a portrait of him. In 1957, his altar and portrait were moved to the central altar. This was a legitimate request of the people of Rach Gia in particular and the whole Southern region in general, so the government accepted it. From then on, Mr. Nguyen officially became the main god of the communal house as the local tutelary god.

National hero Nguyen Trung Truc was revered by the people as a person who “lived as a general and died as a god”. He was considered a model of loyalty, bravery, filial piety and righteousness for future generations to follow. From 1950 to 1951, the movement for democracy and cultural revival of the Southern people rose. During the fierce struggle of the cultural front, the Saigon press wanted to awaken national pride by creating the image of Hero Nguyen Trung Truc.

In 1951, a newspaper in Saigon hired an artist to paint a portrait of Nguyen Trung Truc. The artist told the editor that he modeled the portraits of Phan Dinh Phung, Thu Khoa Huan and Hoang Hoa Tham, each with a different detail, not a portrait of a real person. The memorial painting was photographed and printed for wide distribution.

In 1951, after the portrait of Nguyen Trung Truc was printed, the Vinh Thanh Van village council ordered a large photo to be printed and placed on the main altar and worshiped until today. Gradually, these photos were believed by the people to be Mr. Nguyen's portrait. Later, this portrait painting was developed into a bust and a full-body statue to serve the worship needs of the people. In the homes of followers of Hoa Hao Buddhism, Cao Dai and people who respect Mr. Nguyen, altars are set up to display his portrait or hang his portrait.

On March 23, 1988, the Ministry of Culture and Information recognized "Nguyen Trung Truc's Tomb and Communal House" as a national relic.

Before 1975, the festival was not organized on a large scale, and very few of the festival's activities were of the nature of a memorial service. In 1986, the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet called for the restoration and renovation of the tomb and communal house of Nguyen Trung Truc - Rach Gia. On March 23, 1988, the Ministry of Culture and Information recognized "Nguyen Trung Truc tomb and communal house" as a national relic. After being ranked, Nguyen Trung Truc communal house has truly become a very effective center for cultural activities and patriotic education for the people.

In 1988, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the death of National Hero Nguyen Trung Truc, the government, the Nguyen Trung Truc communal house protection committee and the people organized to raise the scale of the festival to become a typical festival of the province. Since then, the festival has been held regularly and has become a major festival of the entire Southern region, with people from many provinces and cities coming to attend up to more than 1 million times each year.

Depending on the annual scale, festival activities will be planned to serve festival participants. Activities to attract and engage the community include traditional sports competitions, folk games, lion and dragon performances; flower carriage and float making competitions; fairs and exhibitions of local goods; stalls of folk cuisine and local specialties; amateur music stage; theatrical art programs; mobile film screenings; exhibitions of historical photos, art photos, calligraphy, etc.

Folk performing arts: Performing arts activities in the past included opera, amateur singing, and riddles... with themes praising patriotism, national pride, the tradition of fighting against foreign invaders, and praising Hero Nguyen Trung Truc. Some outdoor art stages were organized to perform with singing exchanges, riddles, and mass art exchange festivals of the three ethnic groups Kinh, Hoa, and Khmer.

For about 10 years now, a program considered the highlight of the festival is the festival stage show, which is also the art program to welcome the opening of the festival, taking place on the night of August 26th of the lunar calendar. The program is organized on a large scale, attracting tens of thousands of participants.

Folk games: The games held in the festival are activities close to daily life with the meaning of training intelligence, labor skills, martial spirit, aesthetic education, ethics, and sense of community cohesion. The folk games are organized in a rich, attractive way, attracting many participants such as human chess, boat racing, martial arts competitions and performances, lion, dragon dance competitions, etc.

In addition, depending on each year, the organizers organize many other games such as tug of war, sack jumping competition, pot smashing competition... Besides, there are many other activities such as: Trade fair, orchid exhibition, bonsai, pets... serving a large number of pilgrims in many locations that will take place throughout the festival.

Cuisine in the festival: The offerings are usually vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, such as: roast pork, sweet potatoes, sticky rice, fruits, tea, soft drinks... In particular, the offerings include sweet potatoes, field crabs, grilled snakehead fish. These dishes are offered to commemorate the arduous days of Nguyen Trung Truc and his army fighting against the French.

Other supporting activities during the festival: Fairs and trade exhibitions attract hundreds of businesses and tens of thousands of people to shop and trade. Many lion dance teams from the Mekong Delta provinces and Ho Chi Minh City always entertain a large number of pilgrims in the evenings at many locations, making the festival atmosphere even more exciting.

In recent years, there have been more mass cultural exchange festivals of the three ethnic groups Kinh, Hoa, and Khmer. Since 2013, the organizing committee has built many large-scale performing arts activities such as the festival stage art program, the Southern amateur music space, lion and dragon performances, calligraphy competitions, art photo exhibitions, the contest "Learning about the life and career of National Hero Nguyen Trung Truc"... The activities have attracted many artists and artisans from many places to volunteer to serve the masses for free. Display points for images and products introducing the province's economic, cultural, and social development achievements are organized throughout the festival.

Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival - Rach Gia is called "the festival of the common people of the South". This uniqueness has created a strong vitality and spread widely from the Mekong Delta to the whole South, Central and is affecting some provinces of the Central Highlands.

Although under the French colonial period, the colonial government strictly prohibited it, but people in the provinces of Kien Giang (old), Long An, An Giang (old), Dong Thap, Can Tho, Ca Mau... still secretly worshiped and organized the death anniversary of Nguyen Trung Truc. According to initial statistics, there are 23 places of worship in 5 provinces: Long An, An Giang, Hau Giang, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, where Nguyen Trung Truc is worshiped and annual ceremonies are held. Notably, in 2020, in Xom Chai, Tien Hai commune, Phu Cat district, Binh Dinh province (now Gia Lai province), the hometown of Nguyen Trung Truc, the Nguyen Trung Truc temple was inaugurated and a festival was held to commemorate him on the 13th day of the 9th lunar month.

The organization of the memorial ceremony for Nguyen Trung Truc's death has become a traditional cultural activity passed down from generation to generation, from region to region. Everyone comes to the festival voluntarily as a family or clan matter, almost without any personal gain. The people of the Mekong Delta still circulate two six-eight verses:

Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival - Rach Gia is closely associated with the cultural and social history of Kien Giang province (now An Giang) for over 150 years. Originating from traditional culture, the festival is not only held at the main worshiping place of Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House - Rach Gia but also held at Nguyen Trung Truc worshiping places throughout the Mekong Delta.

The festival has demonstrated a historical process of the province through the festival periods. Historical values ​​are expressed through the expression of respect and gratitude to those who have contributed to the country, passed down from generation to generation. The historical value of the festival has a great impact on the cultural and spiritual life of the people in the province and the Mekong Delta, contributing to the education of traditions for the younger generation and increasing strong community solidarity.

National hero Nguyen Trung Truc is the sacred pride of our people, a shining symbol of patriotism against foreign invaders. Organizing a ceremony to commemorate the merits of a hero is a cultural tradition of the Vietnamese people. Therefore, the cultural values ​​of the festival, which educate patriotism, the morality of drinking water and remembering its source, community solidarity, equality and self-awareness, need to be preserved and developed as a cultural heritage of the nation.

The cultural value of the Nguyen Trung Truc communal house festival - Rach Gia is expressed through the worship and organization of a memorial ceremony to commemorate him. People believe in the sacred power of Mr. Nguyen. Coming to the festival is coming to Mr. Nguyen - a special spiritual support that can protect against bad things, help bring good luck, and help people overcome difficulties.

Due to historical and social factors, from the time of the formation of the worship of Mr. Nguyen to the organization of festivals and ceremonies at the places of worship of Nguyen Trung Truc, there are differences. People voluntarily worship him as their ancestors in the family. Followers of Hoa Hao Buddhism and Cao Dai honor Nguyen Trung Truc as "Supreme God", build many temples to worship him, and set up altars in their homes to worship his portrait. Mr. Nguyen has become a familiar person like "Nine generations of ancestors" to a part of the people of the Mekong Delta. He is worshiped by people in their homes, with incense and offerings every day.

The volunteerism regardless of social class and age has created the difference between Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival - Rach Gia and other major festivals in Vietnam. Some traditional activities are considered special cultural values ​​of the festival, which is the contribution of money and labor to serve the guests attending the festival. Every year, when the festival comes, thousands of people from all over gather to contribute to the preparation and participate in the service work at the communal house until the end of the festival.

In addition to voluntarily contributing rice, firewood, food, market money... people also happily participate in all the decoration work, cooking... serving hundreds of thousands of visitors to the festival with free meals throughout the festival. This is a community activity, the tradition of the festival is still preserved and promoted. This activity creates a close bond between all participants. The festival is being increasingly socialized and becoming a cultural event of the masses.

The festival is a place to strengthen community cohesion, enhance national sovereignty, and unite ethnic groups under the same divine symbol "Mr. Nguyen" - a god who has contributed to the country and is respected and honored by the people of the South. The worship and organization of the Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival - Rach Gia has fostered solidarity among all classes of people because it is a collective work, completely voluntary and unanimous, going beyond the category of family and clan to reach out to the whole society and the whole nation.

Through the evidence of sacred texts, legends, literary works, worship relics and rituals, and festival organization, it can be affirmed that Nguyen Trung Truc has a very important position in the Vietnamese people's consciousness with a divine halo. A historical figure, a national hero has become a god. The transformation from Hero Nguyen Trung Truc to "Mr. Nguyen", "Mr. Nguyen", "High-ranking mandarin" needs to be explained more deeply in terms of nature, as well as historical and social roots.

An Giang is a province with many advantages in tourism development in terms of both natural landscapes and intangible cultural heritage, especially the Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival - Rach Gia annually attracts more than one million visitors. To meet the needs of the people, the festival has been adjusted to suit and with an increasingly larger scale.

Every year, the number of visitors to the festival is increasing, not only from the province but also from outside the province and international tourists. The cultural heritage of the Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival - Rach Gia is a valuable tourism resource that contributes to the socio-economic development of the province and tourism in the Mekong Delta if it is properly organized and exploited.

Performed by TAY HO

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/le-hoi-dinh-than-nguyen-trung-truc-rach-gia-di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia-a464052.html