Beating Drum Festival of the Ma Coong - Quang Binh

Lovers may be single guy - single girl or wife & husband; even people from different marriages are able to date with each other  in line with the free love offered by Giang. 

According to Bru – Van Kieu ethnic group, the Ma Coong Coong is a small group living in Thuong Trach commune, Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province. The legend has the love night of the Ma Coong springs by Giang (God) who helped native individuals to kill the naughty monkey that harassed crops, making poverty, and after that he granted Ma Coong individuals an evening of free love to live in wildness without concerning about restrictions and rules.

In the sixteenth night of the first lunar month each year, Ma Coong individuals gather in the sacred land that's Ca Roong village. In the festival night, when the moon rises top, the chieftain reads the prayers asking the Gods to support for peaceful life, productive crops… when finishing the ritual, the rice can be thrown out, wishing that new rice can come back to produce the baskets, the crops full.

The feast of offerings to worship Giang should contain tube-wine, chicken, fish, sticky rice, prime of rattan tree, a section of doac tree trunk. Every village has a feast and there should be totally 18 feasts. The providing feasts should be created by members within the families of villages’ chiefs. When worshipping many times  , the chief announces to begin the beating drum festival. The villagers and guests flow near the drum. Everybody try and get the drumstick.

The festival drum has been created since the morning, drum body is formed from the trunk of convex woody tree, and also the leather covering the drum surface is formed from the skin of cow. The drum is covered by old rattan; old bamboo is utilized to pack the drum surface to form it to stretch. People who beat the drum should be the strongest guys. The drum should be crushed to be broken before the morning so the god can acknowledge sincerity of people and that they can get productive crops within the following year.

As well as beating the drum, the young guys shout: “Roa lu Giang oi!” (“How happiness it is!”). The faster the drum is broken, the earlier young people will take their lover to the forest for making love.

After the drum is broken, every couple quietly holds the hands of each other; find notice their non-public place to speak, make love. the placement is also on the mountain, close to the stream or wherever. Lovers are also single guy - single woman or wife – husband; even ones from totally different marriages will date with each another according to the free love offered by Giang. No jealousy, no obstacle and others pass through and see, this can pay attention to its manual issue. This occurs the same as Khau Vai love market or Moc Chau love market.

 Wen the fire is going to be off, the sun slowly rises on another aspect of the mountain, it’s time for the breaking drum festival of the Ma Coong to be ended.

vietnamtourism.org.vn

Vietnam guide, Vietnam travel guide