VietNamNet Bridge – Medium Hoang Minh Do from Ha Noi sways in a succession of flowing costumers as she dances in a ceremony dedicated to Lady Nine, one of the ancient genies at the heart of Vietnamese Mother Goddesses worship.

Old arts: Medium Hoang Minh Do pretends to embroider during a hau dong ritual dedicated to Lady Nine.

One by one her costumes are changed by her devoted attendants kneeling beside her. Then the music quickens and she rises to her feet holding incense and instruments - or swinging swords.

She acts out her role as Lady Nine embroidering on a brocade frame. Her dance is accompanied by haunting instrumental music and songs performed by cung van (singers involved in Mother Goddess worship).

There is a golden loom in Lady Nine’s temple. With an ivory shuttle bar, she embroiders flowers and recites lyrics about Lady Nine.

Do was one of 29 mediums at the Ha Noi Cultural Hau Dong Festival which ran for a week, ending yesterday. The festival was followed by a seminar on preserving and promoting values of Mother Goddess worship and hau dong ritual.

During the festival, mediums performed rituals dedicated to different genies worshipped. A council of experts and local authorities then remarked on the performers, their costumes, dances and music.

“The mediums participating were veterans,” said Luu Ngoc Duc, a member of the organising board.

“We organise the festival with the aim of preserving and promoting Mother Goddesses worship and its hau dong ritual. We want to build up a standard for all hau dong rituals.”

Devoted: An assistant to a medium offers wine during the hau dong ritual.

Mother Goddess worship was once practised widely, but cultural activists condemned the practice, saying they were superstitious and often run by fraudsters. 

“However, the practice was revived and legalised in the 1990s. Hau dong is now seen as a religious ritual and part of the traditional cultural treasure. It combines performing art, singing, dancing and music,” Duc said.

Duc said that many traditional hau dong rituals were lost when it was banned. That’s why nowadays many mediums performed the rituals incorrectly.

Traditionally there are six kinds of offerings used in the ritual, including incense, flowers, candles, tea and wine, fruit and food. When the ritual ends, these offerings are distributed to the followers and spectators as they believe they contain spiritual and material power.

“However some people now offer cell phones and expensive jewelries during the hau dong ritual, which is not correct,” said Duc.

“At some hau dong ritual performances I attended, a medium used a national flag, not a festive flag, during the dance, or she invited spectators to dance with her, turning a solemn ritual into a farce."

Duc said the organisers want to eliminate all the recent additions to Mother Goddess worship and preserve its cultural values.

Truong Minh Tien, vice director of the Ha Noi Department of Culture and Tourism, said the hau dong ritual practice was an integral part of the traditional culture of the nation.

“The Mother Goddess religion is tightly associated with the community,” he said.

“The community considers nature as ’the mother’ and worship her. Through the worship, people pray for happiness, prosperity and longevity. It clearly reflects patriotism, as all rituals and performances are dedicated to Mother Nature and heroes who have rendered great services to the nation.”

Tien said it was necessary to continue researching the worship, raise people’s awareness of the cultural value of the Mother Goddesses belief and encourage veteran artisans to train younger generation to uphold the tradition.

Aflame: Medium Bui Quang Luu from the northern province of Bac Giang performs hau dong ritual at the festival. — VNS Photos Long Hung

The belief originated in Viet Nam perhaps thousands of years ago. Last year it was recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Ngo Duc Thinh, director of the Viet Nam Belief Culture Research and Preservation Centre in Ha Noi and vice chairman of the Asian Folklore Council, is a leading expert in the Mother Goddess religion.

He recommended that the authorities and cultural managers promote the true value of Mother Goddesses worship and weed out wrong behaviour.

“Performing hau dong on stage can be organised to introduce the ritual to the public and international audience, but we have to separate the performing art and the holy religious ritual,” said Thinh.

“Hau dong ritual performed at temples and pagodas should maintain religious standards and traditional manners.” 

By Minh Thu

Source: VNS