Mach Trang is an ancient village located in the "bát xã hộ nhi" (eight communes) and worships King An Duong Vuong, formerly known as Mach Truong, located next to Co Loa citadel. According to legend, King An Duong Vuong moved the capital from the northern mountainous region to the plain and settled the capital at Co Loa, taking advantage of the terrain to build the citadel, training his soldiers to fight the invaders of Trieu Da. He brought rice seed to the village and taught the people to plant and store the food of Au Lac country here. Later, King Ngo Quyen opened a national school in this place, so the village was named as Mach Truong; Folk misread is Mach Trang and has called to this day. Every year, like the villages of eight commune, after the traditional festival of Co Loa on on the 6th day of the 1st lunar month, a festival takes place in Mach Trang with rich ritual activities and folk games.
Photo: Elders practice rituals
In particular, this place also preserves the very ancient traditional culture such as the custom of ”khao ỉ” (raising Vietnamese black pigs) in the village festival. In the life of a man in the village of Mach Trang, he had to take on the obligations of raising Vietnamese black pigs and making vegetarian meals.
Photo: Offerings
Photo: The old men enjoy material advantages
Each year, one hamlet has to raise pigs, and assigns it to the "cai đám" (the oldest person in the age group of 54) to take charge. Pigs are raised for two years, used on the December festival (November 30 of the lunar calendar). Pig standards must be pure black pigs, without white hair. Pig farmer is provided with 3 ”mẫu” and 2 ”sào” of field. In addition, for four years, each year the pig farmer also gets one leg of the pig used in this december festival (the first and fourth years are enjoy to the front leg, the second two years to enjoy the hind legs). The pig of the farming village can go anywhere freely, the villagers are not allowed to chase. Because the "cai đám" also performs the celebrant duties, if the pig farmer has a physical deformity, he must not be the celebrant but must be replaced by someone else, called ”hữu tì”. Pig farmers are still entitled to the prescribed benefits. In the early morning of November 30, the villagers performed a pig-killing ceremony: The pig's head is kept intact, boiled and offered to King An Duong Vuong with white sticky rice, wine, and flowers. Pork is divided among 4 hamlets of the village: East hamlet, Đoài hamlet, South hamlet, North hamlet, now there are 4 production teams of Mach Trang village.
In the rite of ”khao ỉ” day, the village selected 27 old men to perform the sacrifice. The person participating in the sacrifice must be a person who is not in mourning, is not disabled, his wife and children are all good. After doing the rites for the December holiday, it is the part of enjoy material advantages. Especially, Mai Trang still retains the village's traditional custom from the past, that is: Each tray of 4 tools sits in four corners of the mat, material advantages is white sticky rice, pork is served with white salt. Elderly people are assigned seats according to age: aged 70 and over sit on the upper mat on the East side, aged 60-69 sit on the upper mat on the West side, and the elderly aged 50-59 sit on the lower mat.
In addition to the custom of ”khao ỉ”, in the village of Mach Trang, there is also the custom of raising pigs and making vegetarian dishes, creating a very unique culture of Mach Trang village.
Raising pigs on occasions:
- Village festival: on the 6th, 9th and 12th of January, each hamlet must have a pig, any man's turn must have a previously raised pig. According to regulations, pigs are pure black boars, weighing 51 "cân" or more (each ”cân” is about 0.7 kg at present). If the pig exceeds the above weight, the village will pay 1 ”hào” (unit of ancient Vietnamese money) for each pound.
- On the day of ”eating the field”, which is the day when the boys reach the age of 18 to receive the village's public field, on the 5th of February, each hamlet has to offer a pig, which it is his turn to raise and give to the hamlet.
The obligation to raise pigs is almost a must for any man in his life before the age of 60. In hamlets with few men, the men in the village have to feed them twice, sometimes three times in their life. Each pig farmer is provided with one ”sào” of field by the village.
Making vegetarian meal: on the 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th of January every year; Every day there is a vegetarian meal, the hamlets take turns to prepare the meal, including popcorn, sesame cake, vegetarian cake, tea, orange... Cakes, popcorns, and tea are made very sophisticatedly, from the stage of rice selection to pounding cakes. People who make vegetarian meals are provided 6 ”sào” of field.
Along with the festival of Eight commune Loa Thanh, the “khao ỉ” custom of Mach Trang village contributes to making the picture of the Mai Trang festival as well as the Co Loa festival more vivid and unique. The custom of “khao ỉ” contributes to creating separate customs, unique culture, opening a new year of excitemen and hopes for a prosperous and happy life.
MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT OF CO LOA VESTIGE SITE
