Every year on the evening of the 16th lunar day, the Ma Coong people of Bru-Van Kieu ethnic group in Thuong Trach commune, Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province eagerly organize the drum beating festival. The festival aims to pray for favorable rain, good wind, lush fields, healthy villages, and disease-free livestock.
In particular, this is also a special day for couples to meet, date, and love each other without any restriction…
From the legend…
Thuong Trach Commune is a border commune bordering Laos with 18 villages. According to the leader of the Commune People’s Committee, this place is the residence of 692 households with regarding 3,127 people, of which the Ma Coong people account for nearly 90%.
| The village elder Dinh Xon performs the sacrifice ritual. Photo: BAO THIEN |
According to the legend of the Ma Coong people, in the past, the land of the Ma Coong people appeared a yellow monkey, every night they went to the fields to eat corn, destroy rice… Since the evil monkey appeared, the Ma Coong people continuously lost their crops. famine, and disease raging incessantly. To protect themselves, protect the village, the people used all means but the evil monkey still attacked.
Suddenly, before the full moon night of January, the oldest village elder dreamed that Giang (God of Heaven – PV) appeared and told him that if he wanted to chase monkeys, he should make a drum with a real sound and beat it on the full moon night.
Waking up, the village elder immediately gathered the people in the village to recount the dream. The next day, the Ma Coong men urgently completed a drum from buffalo skin with a loud and warm sound, resounding deep in the heart of the great thousand Truong Sons.
Waiting for the evil monkey to come to the moonlit night of the full moon on January 16, the strongest boys of the village brought drums to take turns fighting. The sound of drums echoes, the evil monkey screams in fear and runs away from sight and never comes back.
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| The dishes in the ancient trays of the Ma Coong people. Photo: BAO THIEN |
To express their gratitude, the Ma Coong bring delicious and exotic foods to display and make sacrifices to Giang. Since then, the Ma Coong drumming festival began to take shape.
Today, the Ma Coong drumming festival is conducted in two parts: the ceremony and the festival. The part of the ceremony is conducted by the celebrant who is the village elder, who is reputable with traditional rituals. The festival part is fun activities, dancing and singing according to the customs of the Ma Coong people.
This year, the opening time of the ceremony takes place at 19 pm on January 16 of the lunar calendar. When the moon has just risen, the village elder Dinh Xon reads a prayer to heaven and earth to bless the villagers with a peaceful life, full of food, and a bountiful harvest… After the ceremony is over, the rice is thrown out by the village elder Dinh Xon. on all sides with the wish for rice to be full of you, full of upbringing.
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| The “special” drum in the Ma Coong drumming festival. Photo: BAO THIEN |
After a few turns of worship, the village elder Dinh Xon issued an order and the drumming festival began. Attendees and villagers took turns beating the drum with a surface made from buffalo skin, until the drum surface was completely punctured.