A place where traditional cultural values are handed down

In the journey to the South, from the early days of reclamation and establishment of villages, the ancient Vietnamese often set up communal houses on the new land to worship the god village Thanh Hoang, the god protects villagers and the village.  Di An communal house in Nhi Dong 1 quarter, Di An ward of Di An city is one of such Vietnamese communal houses.

“Nghinh Sac”, an important ritual in the "Ky Yen Festival of Di An communal house".

Trinh Van Xuan, Head of Di An Communal House’s Management Board, said that according to updated documents, Di An communal house was built in 1837, but according to the forefathers, this communal house was established very early, but the exact year is unknown. Initially, the communal house was built from fairly simple materials. Later, when the people in the village had better conditions, they contributed and worked together to build and repair a more spacious communal house. Not only was the place for the common cultural activities of the village, during the resistance wars, Di An communal house was also a secret shelter for the revolutionary force. Especially, despite going through wars, today's Di An communal house is still intact.

Like many other Vietnamese communal houses, every year at Di An communal house many traditional rituals and ceremonies. In particular, Ky Yen Festival takes place on the 15th and 16th of the 11th lunar month, which is the biggest and most important worshiping ceremony. Once every three years, the communal house will hold a larger Ky Yen Festival (a great celebration), lasting until the 18th day of the 11th lunar month, inviting troupes of “bội” singing to perform for local people and visitors from other places to enjoy at the festival. Ky Yen festival of the communal house is a very important event, expresses the belief in worshiping the god Thanh Hoang and paying tribute to the ancestors who contributed to the land reclamation and establishment of the village.

Ky Yen Festival is also an occasion for vibrant cultural activities of local people, demonstrating the spirit of solidarity, community responsibility and the transmission of traditional values. Therefore, Ky Yen festival was carefully and meticulously prepared by Board of Priests in order to show sincerity to the village's patron god and create opportunities for members of the local community to exchange and meet. If we have the opportunity to attend rituals of this festival, we will feel the great traditional values and cultural identities that are preserved and handed down through generations. 

Communal houses and festivals in Binh Duong always contain valuable documentary values, which are the folklore source of this land, and has been built up over many generations. Therefore, communal houses and festivals always contain deep historical, cultural and social values. “Di An communal house festival” is such a case. Experiencing many ups and downs in history and the change of time, "Ky Yen Festival of Di An communal house" still retains its traditional rituals. With the values still preserved, in early 2023, "Ky Yen Festival of Di An communal house" was included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage issued by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

To learn more about the process of formation and development of this national monument of Di An as well as how the festival has been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage with traditional rituals, don’t forget to watch the next episode of "I love Binh Duong” produced by Binh Duong Newspaper, broadcast at 6 am on Sunday, August 6th, 2023 at www. baobinhduong.vn.

Reported by Cam Ly - Translated by Ngoc Huynh