This is the compiled article, inspired by and mostly based on the interview of Prof. Tran Ngoc Them, on the debating topic: "should pig-slaughtering fest. be kept or revoked?"
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| Start of Ritual Ceremony (Source: Internet) |
About Pig-slaughtering Fest. and its spirits (media untold part)
When:
Lunar Year, Jan 6th.
Where:
Nem Thuong village, Tien Du, Bac Ninh, Vietnam
Spirit:
The villagers practice this traditional ritual in the spirit of memorializing a General in Ly's dynasty(1009–1225), who slaughtered the boar to raise the local army to fight with invaders*.
Ritual
- The pig raisers also being chosen from those families with lot of children and happiness life, especially get good skill in raising pigs.
- The slaughterers must be healthy, with happy family background and exact age of 50.
- Two chosen pigs for the ritual are sacred and fully respected and was calling "Ông Ỉn" (Pig deity - as my translation).
- In the day, they were paraded around the village, accompanied by formal teams of drums, trumpets, parasol and villagers prepared their tray of offerings to show their sincerity and giving economic contribution to the community.
- The main ritual is to slaughter Pig deity in just one blow (for purpose of immediately release His souls from purgatory ), with cheering from the crowd.
- Pork is considered sacred, and would be shared for every villagers after praying to the God.
- While pig blood is considered bringing luck, prime, fertility, liveliness and good harvest...After the ritual, villagers tend to dip stuffs or money into pig blood to pray for luck.
- After the ritual, villagers come back home for lunch. In the afternoon, they gather to join entertaining activities like rice - cooking contest...
