Throbbing with the season of Su flowers

WHERE IS THE ANCEST PALM TREE?

Every April, people far from Tam Ky just need to look at the photos of friends taking pictures of the blooming Su flowers on the streets to reminisce about the beautiful memories of this young city. "Looking at the photos, I remember the days when I used to wander under the bright yellow Su trees. Just a light breeze, Su petals fell all over the street, it looked very romantic. Having been away from this city for nearly 10 years, I always want to return right when the Su flowers bloom to be immersed in a space full of memories," said Nguyen Van Thanh (38 years old, living in Da Nang City) and added: "I am very happy that in recent years, Tam Ky City has organized a Su flower festival with many rich activities so that I can bring my relatives to experience it."

Tam Ky City Sua Flower Festival is held on the Sua flower street of Huong Tra village.

The Tam Ky - Sua Flower Season Festival organized by the People's Committee of Tam Ky City last April was the 6th festival. This is the largest festival ever with 20 activities, notably the ceremony to receive the certificate of Vietnam Heritage Tree recognition for the group of 9 Sua trees in Huong Tra village (Hoa Huong Ward).

Throughout Tam Ky City, sưa trees are planted on many roads with a total of more than 5,000 trees. However, these are only the "later" generations of sưa trees. Even the 9-tree heritage sưa tree with an average age of about 100 years, the oldest tree is about 150 years old, is also a "seedling" generation. Hương Trà Village, the starting point for the "sầu forest" of Tam Kỳ as it is today, once had a giant sưa tree.

"Is that the ancestral sua tree, so that people can take branches and twigs to propagate?", I brought this question to Mr. Tran Xuan Quang (76 years old, a teacher with profound knowledge of local history). Mr. Quang slowly said: "According to history, around the early years of the 17th century, Thanh Hoa residents moved south and settled in Huong Tra village. This is considered a "matriarchal village", one of the first villages of ancient Tam Ky. Because of their livelihood on the river, the ancestors settled in the Tam Ky river junction, on the sand dunes along the river. In the year of Giap Ty 1864 (under King Tu Duc), a very large flood occurred, and the people of Huong Tra village asked to mobilize the people's strength to build a dike to prevent floods. This was also the first large-scale water project to protect the people of Tam Ky".

The Su flowers blooming every April evoke emotions for many people far from Tam Ky.

Mr. Quang said that to maintain the dike and the road connecting Huong Tra village to the outside before each rainy season, people cut branches of the Dalbergia tonkinensis trees planted next to Huong Tra village communal house since the land reclamation period and planted them on both sides of the dike to prevent erosion and preserve the soil. Over the years, the road leading to Huong Tra village is covered with Dalbergia tonkinensis trees and they have also aged over time, meeting all the criteria to become a Vietnam Heritage Tree.

"In 1936, the ancestral sua tree completed its sacred historical mission when it was cut down to get wood to restore the communal house next door. My grandfather was the one who cut down this sua tree. He said that the ancestral sua tree was so big that several people could hug it," said Mr. Quang.

HONORING THE BEAUTY OF SUA FLOWERS

Teacher Tran Xuan Quang shared that the Sua flower festival in Huong Tra village after 6 times of organization has gradually stabilized and formed in the people's consciousness. From the story of a beautiful flowering plant, it has become a festival that, although modern in style, also contains many unique values, reminds of history and shows gratitude to ancestors. Especially when the festival has many activities associated with the sacred Huong Tra communal house. During the festival season lasting until mid-April 2024, Tam Ky City People's Committee organized a series of events associated with traditional values, such as: Huong Tra village festival, Ao Dai festival, boat racing, Bai Choi singing performance, village flag competition... along with many exciting cultural and sports activities.

The brilliant yellow Su flowers reflect on the Tam Ky River during every festival.

Mr. Vo Thanh Cung, Director of the Center for Culture - Sports - Communication of Tam Ky City, said that the Sua flower festival is organized to honor the beauty of the flower, and at the same time attract tourists to Tam Ky City to visit, experience and admire the Sua flowers. Therefore, the organization of the festival is usually not fixed by date but must closely follow each blooming season.

"The Su flowers bloom in April, but no one is sure exactly when. Usually, the flowers bloom in a concentrated period of 1 month with 3-4 batches. The flowers will bloom in the second batch, about 8-10 days after the first batch. The flowers bloom for 3 days and then fall into a beautiful carpet of yellow flowers. That is also when the festival begins," said Mr. Cung.

Taking the people as the main subject of the festival as well as aiming for the title of "golden flower city", the organizing committee has activities to launch a movement to plant Sua flowers throughout Tam Ky City. The functional sector mobilized people to donate Sua trees that were 50-60 years old, with a trunk diameter of 30 cm or more. During the last festival season, the city rewarded households who, despite donating Sua trees, still made efforts to preserve and protect them well. Mr. Cung said that in addition to the policy of expanding the Sua tree area, the city also directed the review of ancient trees of native varieties to continue to propose recognition as heritage trees.

"For the people of Tam Ky, if the Sua flower is a source of pride, the Sua flower festival is like an invitation for tourists to come not only to admire but also to have something to do. It is no coincidence that the Sua flower was chosen as the identifying symbol in the Tam Ky logo, which was just announced in September 2024. With the theme of "Non nuoc bu hoa", above the logo is a stylized Sua flower in full bloom, symbolizing the convergence of culture, land, water and people of Tam Ky", Mr. Cung shared. (to be continued)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhung-le-hoi-doc-dao-thon-thuc-cung-mua-hoa-sua-185241128232610588.htm