Tug-of-war: A unique traditional cultural practice of Vietnam

VietNamNet Bridge – For residents in Ngoc Tri Village, Thach Ban Ward, Long Bien District, tug of war is not only a simple game but also a traditional spiritual ritual conveying their hope for a new year with favourable weather conditions and bumper crops.

Tug-of-war attracts crowds in Xuan Lai Hamlet

Being a member of the village’s tug of war team for the village’s festival, celebrated annually on the third day of the third lunar month, is an expectation and honour for every young man in Ngoc Tri Village.

According to leader of the Duong hamlet’s tug of war team, Nguyen Ngoc Mai, the game originated from an old story. The story goes that the village had such a severe drought that eleven out of 12 wells in the village were dry — only the well in Dia Hamlet still had water. However, the residents in Dia Hamlet did not want to share the water with other hamlets because they were afraid of running out of water. When men from Duong and Cho hamlets came to take water, the people of the Dia Hamlet stopped them. In the struggle to push the water pail on their side while fearing that water might spill out, the two sides sat down to keep the pail as balanced as possible.

When the drought passed, the elders made the tug of war game in order for the people to remember the old story of the water struggle and as a way to pray for favourable weather conditions.

Everyone wants to join the ritual as it is believed that participants will be blessed by the village’s god, Mai said.

Competitors are selected carefully before it takes place. The most important criteria is that he must be from a good family with at least five generations having lived in the village.

Before entering the game, each team raises offerings to the village’s god at Tran Vu temple.

The rope used in the game is threaded through a pole on a wooden pillar, deeply buried in the ground. Participants sit with one leg bent, and the other stretched out. In each team’s formation, players sit alternately on either side of the rope.

The participants exert their entire strength under the exciting sounds of festive drums and cheers from the audience.

As Ngoc Tri Village has three hamlets — Duong, Dia, and Cho — each hamlet has its own team competing in the event. However, no matter where audience members come from, they all root for the team from Duong hamlet to win since it is believed that if the Duong team wins, all villagers will be blessed with prosperity and luck for the year. That is why competitors from the other two hamlets often let their opponents from Duong hamlet win the game.

Like Thach Ban locals, to win or to lose is not important to those in Xuan Lai Hamlet, Xuan Thu Commune, Soc Son District, who have a unique game of tug of “beak”. Each team has to drag a trunk of bamboo, which is hooked with the one from the other team like a beak.

Although Xuan Lai has 24 sub-hamlets, and only two hamlets can participate in the game each year. Since young men have to wait every 12 years until their turn, they are ever eager and proud to participate in the game.

Preparations for the ritual are made long before it takes place in the first lunar month. Two bamboo trunks 7-8 metres in length are selected. The one who chops down the bars must be a good man whose family has many children. The cut trunks are brought to the village’s temple before making the “beak”. The number of sections of the bamboo trunk are counted following the words “Thinh – Suy – Bi – Thai” (Prosperity – Decadence – Misfortune – Fortune). The last section should fall on “Thinh” (Prosperity) or “Thai” (Fortune). As such, a twelve-section bar is often chosen, and the last three sections bent to make a hook.

The game always ends in a draw with no winner declared. Xuan Lai residents believe that if the winner is the team standing on the south side, they will have favourable weather that year with bumper crops. If it is the team standing on the north side, they will only have bumper crops of white beans.

The cultural practice has been observed for hundreds of years in Xuan Lai Hamlet, including during the war.

Vietnam recently joined the Republic of Korea, Cambodia and the Philippines to submit multinational dossiers on their traditional tug-of-war game seeking UNESCO recognition as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

According to Head of Heritage Management Office under the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Pham Lan Anh, people are not fully aware of the cultural importance of tug-of-war and many think that it is just a game.

However, tug-of-war is a spiritual ritual which has been handed down over many generations. It is practiced by participants with a hope for favourable weather conditions, she said.

The value of traditional tug-of-war in Xuan Lai is illustrated in the strict steps for preparations of the ritual, including strict selection of who will cut down the tree, which bamboo bars are to be used, and how to make the beak.

The worth of the game is also acknowledged by the community as participants are enthusiastic to join, even though no winner will be announced.

However, she expressed her concern that the urbanisation process and socio-economic changes have created a notable impact on participants’ spirit and space for the cultural practice.

The recognition of tug-of-war as a national intangible cultural heritage and a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage of humanity would help people gain an understanding of the value of the practice, thus contributing to designing long-term measures to safeguard and uphold the heritage.

Nhan Dan

Tug-of-war: A unique traditional cultural practice of Vietnam

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