(VOVworld) - The Nang Hai, which means Second Damsel or Damsel of the Moon, festival is a time-honored festival reflecting ancient Vietnamese people’s hope for fertility. VOV introduces highlights of the festival organized by the Tay people in Cao Bang.
A scene of the Second Damsel worshiping ceremony
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The Second Damsel festival is usually held in the spring from the 1st to the 3rd lunar month. The Tay believe that the Damsel of the Moon and her 12 fairy daughters live on the moon. They protect crops on the Earth. The Second Damsel festival is a ceremony inviting the Damsel of the Moon and the fairies to visit the earth and take care of the people and crops.
The festival has three parts: inviting, praying, and saying farewell to the Second Damsel. The Tay have to prepare offerings and arrange an altar inside the stilt house, an altar for the Land Genie near their house, and a Second Damsel tent. They build a tent in front of their house and decorate it with flowers.
Preparing a pig
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Luu Thi Mai Lien, a Tay woman in Cao Bang, says: “We offer the Land Genie a piglet, a chicken, and a tray of sticky rice. Previously, the ceremony lasted for a month, but now we organize it in 3 days. Every household contributes a bowl of sticky rice. We arrange a boat for the fairies to travel over the sea and rivers.”
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| Making a tent for the Moon Damsel |
The shaman, wearing a red robe and a red hat and holding a musical instrument called a Tinh, sings and dances in front of the altar. Behind him are 14 girls holding paper fans. Two of them cross their legs and solemnly look at the altar. They represent the Second Damsel. The other 12 girls wear indigo costumes and stand in two lines. An old woman stands next to them to instruct them in the ritual inviting the Second Damsel. She must be a good singer, have a happy family, and thoroughly understand the Tay customs.
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The girls sing at the tent for the Moon Damsel
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The shaman reads the prayer. Then the two medium girls start to move and sing. Doctor Nguyen Thi Yen of the Folklore Research Center says: “The Second Damsel festival is similar to the Long Tong festival, but different in the mediumship. The girls go into a trance and sing. They go to heaven to meet the Damsel of the Moon and ask for seedlings and animals and pray for happiness and longevity. All the villagers attend the ritual.”
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| The shaman and the girls pray at the temple of Land Genie |
After the inviting ceremony inside the house, the shaman leads the 14 girls to the temple of the Land Genie to inform him of the reception for the Moon Damsel. Then they go to the tent in front of the house to pray and sing and welcome the Moon Damsel.
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Taking down the tent and bring the boat to the rever
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After the ritual the 12 girls representing the fairy daughters of the Moon Damsel take down the tent and share the offerings to the villagers. They sing together to promise to meet again the following year. Ms. Lien explains: “The Moon Damsel throws paper fans and popcorn to the villagers as a sharing of prosperity. The more popcorn they catch the more wealth they will have.”
The Second Moon Damsel festival reflects the Tay people’s belief in supernatural power that can bless them with bumper crops and a happy family.