Go to Quan Xuyen to see the art tower

In the past, Quan Xuyen communal house festival (Thanh Cong commune, Khoai Chau district, Hung Yen province) was held annually from the 9th to the 16th of the second lunar month, but later, since 1938, Mr. Cao Van Linh (a judge in Hung Yen) has regulated the festival to be held in the years "Dragon, Dog, Ox, Goat" (ie every 3 years).

Up to now, the festival still preserves many unique cultural values ​​of the Red River countryside, such as the royal procession, the water procession, and the wrestling match.

According to legend, the village tutelary god of Vu Quang Chieu village created the wrestling game to simulate the drifting on the river of his sworn brother Pham Cong Nghi.

There were 72 people participating in the wrestling match, divided into two teams in blue and red costumes, each team had 36 people. One team represented the Upper village, the other team represented the Lower village.

The wrestling team commander consists of 3 people elected by the people to run the match, including one person as the general commander, 2 people as flag bearers, each person commands a team.

The wrestling yard is chosen from a field in front of the communal house. Every year, when the village prepares for the festival, the villagers will stop plowing on that field. The yard is 65m long and 45m wide. The yard is flat, consisting of 3 pits, including one main pit and 2 small pits.

The main pit is twice as big as the small pit. The main pit is dug in the middle of the yard, 1.2m deep and 1.5m in diameter. The other two small pits are dug at the two ends of the yard, 0.6m deep and 0.8m in diameter. The distance from the main pit to the small pit is 30m.

At the beginning of the game, each team chooses the strongest, quickest and most skillful person to go first to capture the tower. The commander signals and the signalman strikes the gong, and the match begins. The two wrestlers run as fast as they can and jump into the main tower hole. They rely on their strength and cleverness to capture the tower and bring it to their team.

While transporting the ball from the main hole to the field, the contestant must use his hands to hold the ball in his arms. All other contestants must not use their hands but only use the muscles of their legs, back or buttocks. The player presses his feet on the ground as a fulcrum to transfer force through his back, shoulders or buttocks, transferring force to his body to gradually move up, pushing the ball towards his team's field. The winning team will be the team that brings the ball into their team's hole.

Due to the terrain of the playground, without headbands, it would be difficult for the audience to distinguish the players from each team because everyone was covered in mud. With the concept that the winning team would bring good luck for the whole year to their village and vice versa, the losing village would have bad luck, so today, teams often keep the score to a draw.

The wrestling competition in the Quan Xuyen communal house festival is competitive but not too fierce and is enthusiastically cheered by villagers and tourists. The competition, in addition to the martial spirit, also has a high symbolic value for the folk beliefs in agriculture when promoting solidarity and coordination between team members as well as in the whole community.

Heritage Magazine