TL;DR: The Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival is the largest plowing festival in the Northern Delta, originating in 987 when King Lê Đại Hành plowed the first field at the foot of Doi Mountain. Revived in 2009, it is held annually from the 5th to the 7th of the first lunar month, featuring a solemn ritual and festive activities, honoring the agricultural tradition and educating younger generations.
What is the origin of the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival?
According to historical records, in the spring of the Đinh Hợi year, the 7th year of the Thiên Phúc era, i.e., 987, King Lê Đại Hành chose the land at the foot of Doi Mountain (now in Tiên Sơn Commune, Duy Tiên Town, Hà Nam Province) to perform the Tich Dien ceremony, the first plowing ritual in Vietnamese history. This act was not only ceremonial but also a profound reminder to all subjects about the importance of agricultural production, considered the root of prosperity and happiness.
Since then, the Tich Dien Festival became a fine custom practiced solemnly and reverently by later feudal dynasties. Following the predecessors, in 2009, the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival was revived right on the fields at the foot of Doi Mountain, where King Lê Đại Hành once made the first plowing furrows of spring. This event marked the revival of a ritual over a thousand years old, tied to the cultural and spiritual life of agricultural residents in the Northern Delta.
The Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival is regarded as a national ceremony, the largest plowing festival in the Northern Delta. This stems from the profound humanitarian meaning in the agricultural mindset, praying for favorable weather, bountiful harvests, and encouraging people to work diligently on their homeland fields for a prosperous life. The festival is also an occasion to awaken attachment and love for labor with the homeland and educate younger generations about national cultural traditions.
Summary table of the main timelines, locations, and rituals of the Đọi Sơn Plowing Festival.
| Event, timeline | Year, time | Location | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Plowing Ceremony | 987 | At the foot of Doi Mountain, Tiên Sơn Commune, Duy Tiên Town, Hà Nam Province | Performed by King Lê Đại Hành |
| Festival restoration | 2009 | The field area at the foot of Doi Mountain | Marked the revival of a ritual more than a thousand years old |
| 1,036th anniversary | 2023 | The field at the foot of the mountain in Đọi Sơn Commune | The 15th year the festival was maintained and organized |
| Annual organization time | The 5th to the 7th day of the first lunar month | Tiên Sơn Commune, Duy Tiên Town, Hà Nam Province | Takes place annually |
| Procession of the spirit tablet of King Lê Đại Hành | From Doi Pagoda down to the foot of the mountain | Joined with the procession of the Thanh Hoang palanquin and the drum craft ancestor palanquin | |
| Water procession to the altar | The altar | Purification and praying for abundant water | |
| Purification ceremony | Sacred space | Cleansing the space before the main ritual | |
| Peace-praying ceremony | Long Đọi Sơn Pagoda | Praying for peace for the people and the harvest | |
| Plowing ritual | Kim Ngan field | Village elders make three plowing strokes, provincial leaders make five plowing strokes |
When and where is the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival held?
The Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival takes place from the 5th to the 7th day of the first lunar month annually, in Tiên Sơn Commune, Duy Tiên Town, Hà Nam Province. The central location is the field at the foot of Doi Mountain, known as Kim Ngan field, along with related relics such as Long Đọi Sơn Pagoda, the Thần Nông altar, and palanquin procession areas.
In 2023, it marked the 1,036th anniversary of King Lê Đại Hành's plowing on the field at the foot of Đọi Sơn Commune. This was also the 15th year the festival was maintained and organized by Duy Tiên Town, aiming to promote to domestic and international tourists the typical and unique traditional cultural values of the locality. After 15 years of revival, the organization has become systematic and proficient according to the overall script of the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts.
What happens during the ritual ceremony?
The ceremony part of the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival is performed with full traditional rituals, deeply spiritual and solemn. The festival begins with the procession of King Lê Đại Hành's spirit tablet from Doi Pagoda. When the procession reaches the foot of the mountain, it merges with the procession of the Thanh Hoang palanquin and the drum craft ancestor palanquin, proceeding to the altar on the Tich Dien grounds.
Main rituals include:
- Cao Yet ceremony: reporting to the deities about the festival organization.
- Water procession to the altar: an important ritual symbolizing purification and praying for abundant water for agriculture.
- Sai Tinh ceremony: cleansing the sacred space before main rituals.
- Prayer for peace at Long Đọi Sơn Pagoda: praying for peace for the people and harvest.
- Procession of King Lê Đại Hành's palanquin, Thanh Hoang palanquin, and Đọi Tam drum craft ancestor palanquin.
After the incense offering to the Thần Nông altar, King Le's spirit tablet, and patron deities, an elder of Tiên Sơn Commune reads the proclamation. Then, an elder who has performed the ritual of receiving royal spirit steps down to make the first plowing furrows to open the Tich Dien festival. Reportedly, the elder makes three furrows, provincial leaders and delegates make five furrows, and leaders of Duy Tiên Town, Tiên Sơn Commune, and other elders make subsequent furrows on Kim Ngan field to start a new production year.
In farmer attire, delegates perform the Tich Dien ritual, plowing the first furrows to start the new crop. The loud festival drum and furrows are likened to awakening the land, opening spring and breaking ground, praying for favorable weather and a bountiful harvest. This is the expectation not only of Hà Nam residents but also of people nationwide.
What activities take place at the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival?
Besides the solemn ceremony, the festival part of Đọi Sơn Tich Dien is lively with many cultural, sports, and unique folk game activities. Right after the Thần Nông worship ritual is the festival drum performance by the female drum team of Đọi Tam Village combined with dragon dance. On the drumbeat background is the dragon dance celebrating the festival by Đọi Tín Village people.
Festival activities include:
- Mass sports tournaments such as air volleyball, leather volleyball, and Chinese chess.
- Folk games such as swinging, blindfolded goat catching, monkey bridge crossing, blindfolded pot hitting, cockfighting, and Tich Dien wrestling.
- Buffalo painting and decoration contest with selected strong buffaloes decorated with the year's zodiac symbol.
- Rice cake making contest of Đọi Tam Village clans.
- Cultural and artistic activities and exhibition booths displaying typical agricultural and handicraft products of Duy Tiên Town and Hà Nam Province.
These activities not only bring a joyful and exciting atmosphere to the festival but also contribute to preserving and promoting the local traditional cultural values. Especially, the participation of the female drum team of Đọi Tam Village and clans in the village shows deep community spirit, connecting generations in heritage preservation.
What is the cultural significance of the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival?
The Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival carries many layers of cultural significance and profound spiritual values. First, it is a vivid symbol of the "agriculture as foundation" ideology, a philosophy deeply ingrained in Vietnamese life over thousands of years. Reenacting the king's plowing ritual is not only an act of remembering the merits of predecessors but also an affirmation of the importance of labor in social life.
Second, the festival is an occasion for the community to pray for favorable weather and bountiful harvests. This is the eternal aspiration of agricultural residents, whose lives are closely tied to nature and weather factors. The water procession, peace prayer, and other spiritual activities all aim at this sacred goal.
Third, the festival helps awaken attachment and love for labor with the homeland. In the context of rural renewal, with improved material and spiritual life and ensured social security, maintaining traditional festivals becomes more meaningful in preserving national cultural identity.
Fourth, the festival plays a role in educating younger generations about national cultural traditions. Through participating in and witnessing rituals, they learn more about history, the merits of ancestors, and the value of labor. This is a vivid visual education that no book can replace.
How is the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival preserved today?
The preservation and promotion of the cultural values of the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival are of special concern to local authorities and people. At the scientific workshop "Preserving and Promoting the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival Space Associated with National Tourism Development," Mr. Nguyễn Văn Lượng, Secretary of the Duy Tiên Town Party Committee, emphasized that tourism development is one of the sustainable solutions to preserve and promote the cultural values of the Đọi Sơn sub-region and the Tich Dien Festival.
Future directions include coordinating with the culture, sports, and tourism sector to advise Hà Nam Province on implementing the Master Plan for the Special National Relic Site of Đọi Sơn Pagoda and the Tich Dien Festival Space Plan as a basis for projects and plans linking tourism development with cultural heritage of the Đọi Sơn sub-region. The goal is to create uniqueness based on outstanding, authentic values of cultural heritage, history, and local cultural traditions.
The Duy Tiên Town People's Committee also organizes the Tich Dien Festival in line with social development trends, improving the quality of festival activities with the aim of combining tradition and modernity. Specific solutions include gradually improving human resources in tourism, encouraging investment, expanding scale, and modernizing facilities and equipment at tourism service businesses.
With the existing potential of the Tich Dien Festival, along with the attention and direction of authorities from central to provincial and local levels, and the cultural tradition of unity and consensus of Duy Tiên Town people, the preservation and promotion of the Tich Dien Festival space associated with tourism are expected to bring great, sustainable values to the economy and society of Duy Tiên Town in particular and Hà Nam Province in general.
What makes the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival unique?
What makes the Đọi Sơn Tich Dien Festival unique compared to other festivals in the Northern Delta is the harmonious combination of historical, spiritual, and agricultural production elements. The festival is not only an occasion to remember King Lê Đại Hành, who had merits in reclaiming and establishing a strong agriculture, but also a gathering place for traditional craft villages such as Đọi Tam drum village, rice cake making village, and other sideline occupations.
The participation of the female drum team of Đọi Tam Village in the festival drum performance is a unique feature. The drum sound not only signals the new plowing season but also demonstrates the inheritance and promotion of the local traditional craft. Additionally, the ritual of receiving royal spirit by the elder before the first furrows is a unique ritual, showing respect for King Lê Đại Hành and belief in the deities' blessings for the new crop.
Kim Ngan field, where the Tich Dien ritual takes place, is not only a historical site but also a symbol of prosperity and wealth. The name Kim Ngan field means gold and silver, wealth, expressing the wish for a prosperous and full life for the people.
