March is the anniversary of Mother Tien La's death.

“As a child of mother, as a child of father / In March, on the occasion of the death anniversary of Mother Tien La, I return”. Every year on the occasion of the death anniversary of the Hung Kings (March 10th of the lunar calendar), in the joy of the whole country, people turn to the roots of the nation, in the ancient land of Da Cuong Huong (now Hung Ha district), people and tourists from all over the country eagerly return to the Tien La festival, to pay tribute to the great contributions of General Dong Nhung Vu Thi Thuc. With many rituals preserved according to traditional rules, the festival is an opportunity to express the heart of today's generation to the national tradition, while affirming the role of women in the history of the struggle against foreign invaders.

People eagerly participate in Tien La festival.

The sacred Mother Goddess protects the country and brings peace to the people.

According to legend, during the Han Dynasty, in Phuong Lau camp (in Phu Tho province), Vu Thi Thuc was not only a beautiful woman, but also a talented person in both literature and martial arts, patriotic and loved her country and people. Forced to be his wife by the Governor To Dinh, she refused. To Dinh got angry and massacred her family and destroyed Phuong Lau camp. Thuc Nuong was protected by the villagers, took a boat down the Red River to Tien La, and took refuge in the Buddha's gate. Here, she recruited an army, trained soldiers and horses to repay her debt to the country, avenge her family, and raised a flag bearing the words "Bat Nan General". The banks of the Tien Hung River at that time echoed day and night with the sounds of sharpening swords and practicing martial arts. Because of great cause and personal feelings, when the Trung Sisters spread the proclamation everywhere, calling on the people to rise up and fight against the Han invaders, Thuc Nuong led the army of the Da Cuong region to join forces to fight against the invaders.

Tien La Temple, Doan Hung Commune (Hung Ha) was recognized as a national monument in 1986.

In the spring of 40 AD, the Trung Sisters' uprising was completely victorious, ending the first period of Chinese domination. After ascending the throne, Trung Vuong rewarded the soldiers and bestowed the title of General Bat Nan as the Great General Dong Nhung, the leader of all generals. She refused the title and salary, after paying respect to her father, sailed to Tien La with the people to expand the market, grow mulberry trees, raise silkworms, and repair temples.

To take revenge, the Han Dynasty sent Phuc Ba Ma Vien - a veteran general in battle - to lead 200,000 troops to reoccupy our country. Dong Nhung General Vu Thi Thuc led the vanguard and fought fiercely with Hai Ba Trung. Facing a very strong enemy, Hai Ba Trung withdrew their troops to Hat Mon, Phu Tho and heroically sacrificed themselves. General Bat Nan and his soldiers retreated to Da Cuong region to continue the resistance. When the army's provisions were exhausted, she committed suicide at Kim Quy hill. People from generation to generation honored, passed down the story, built temples to worship and burn incense day and night, remembering the merits of Dong Nhung General Vu Thi Thuc. The following dynasties all posthumously honored her as a deity. During the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, she was honored as Princess Y Duc Doan Trang Trinh Thuc. During the reign of King Minh Mang (Nguyen Dynasty), she was honored as Dich Bao Trung Hung Linh Phu Chi Than. During the reign of King Khai Dinh, she was honored as Dich Bao Trung Hung Linh Phu Thuong Dang Than...

Nearly 2,000 years have passed, the relic complex worshiping Dong Nhung General Vu Thi Thuc in the ancient land of Da Cuong Huong has gradually become worthy of the great contributions of the national hero, and is one of the spiritual cultural tourist destinations that cannot be missed in the rice fields of Thai Binh . Meritorious artist Dang Vu Tran Nha, head of Tien La temple, Doan Hung commune (Hung Ha) expressed: From the people's joint efforts, through many times of restoration and embellishment, up to now, Tien La temple worshiping Bat Nan general has a large scale, unique in both location and shape. On occasions such as the beginning of the new year, the opening of Tien La temple festival, the relic welcomes a large number of local people and tourists from all over to offer incense, visit the scenery, remember and show gratitude to the heroic female general who made great contributions to the homeland and the country.

People eagerly participate in Tien La festival.

Spiritual cultural tourism destination

Tien La Festival takes place annually at the relics of Tien La Temple, Buom Temple, and Ray Temple. These are national relics in Doan Hung and Tan Tien communes (Hung Ha). Although Tien La Festival is held from the 10th day of the third lunar month, from the first days of the month, local people and tourists from all over have been eagerly returning to the Mother Goddess festival, praying for health, peace, and the hope of luck to participate and witness the ritual of Hau Dong because Tien La Festival cannot be without Hau Dong of the mediums everywhere. To have a solemn medium with the true spirit of the Mother Goddess religion, costumes, music, and performances are all raised to the level of refined art. In each medium, the medium concentrates his spirit to express the personality and life of the saint who is in the spirit with heroic feats, helping the people and the country, through dances from majestic, graceful to joyful, making the participants of the mediumship more and more fascinated the more they watch. Because of the elaborate preparation, the spring festival atmosphere is even more widespread. Tien La Festival has become a meeting place for tourists from all over.

Mr. Duong Van Phong, a tourist from Quang Ninh province, enthusiastically shared: Every year, when the Mother Goddess's death anniversary is approaching, our whole family goes to Tien La Temple to join in the festival atmosphere, praying for health and peace for everyone. We hope that traditional cultural values ​​will always be preserved so that when people participate in the festival, they can review the heroic history and the tradition of remembering the source of water when drinking water. The stories about the Bat Nan General and the Chau Van songs praising the female general increase national pride.

Practice the ritual of spirit mediumship at Tien La temple.

Meritorious artist Vu Xuan Thang, the management board of Tien La temple relic, said: Since 2016, Tien La festival has been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage, affirming the importance and profound cultural value of this event. This year, during the festival, the ceremonial activities include: the opening ceremony, the worship ceremony, the incense offering ceremony commemorating the death anniversary of Dong Nhung General Vu Thi Thuc, taking place according to traditional rules. The diverse festival activities such as: rice cake pounding competition, flag competition, Cheo club festival, phoenix betel making, clay firecrackers, singing festival, tug of war... will attract the participation of people inside and outside the district.

Reviewing the heroic history through the festival is an opportunity for everyone to be more proud of the glorious tradition of the nation, to love and be more attached to the resilient homeland with a rich tradition of culture, civilization, patriotism and revolution. At the same time, with the active participation of all classes of people, the series of activities at the Tien La festival will contribute to the development of tourism on the basis of promoting traditional cultural values ​​- one of the tasks set out in Resolution No. 09-NQ/TU on developing tourism into an important economic sector of the province.

Tu Anh

Source: https://baothaibinh.com.vn/tin-tuc/19/221303/thang-ba-gio-mau-tien-la-thi-ve