Bac Giang is located in the Kinh Bac cultural area with many traditional craft villages, each has its own founder to worship. Among them are the wine making craft in Van village, and the pottery making craft in Tho Ha village, Van Ha commune (Viet Yen district). 

Duc Thang region (Hiep Hoa district) has the custom of worshiping the founder of the iron-smithing craft and many other localities in the province worship the founders of agriculture such as Tri Nong (God of Agriculture) in Luong Phong; Than Nong (God of Agriculture) in Hoang An (Hiep Hoa district), Cam Ly (Luc Nam district). The Dao, Tay and Nung ethnic people in Son Dong, Luc Ngan and Yen The districts also have their own customs.

The worshipping ceremony at Than Nong temple, Cam Ly commune (Luc Nam province). Photo: Duc Quang

Worshiping the craft founders is actually an affirmation and an honour of the traditional crafts. It is a good tradition, showing people’s gratitude to the founders of the professions that help them have a better life. These founders often had their biography, but in some places, the craft founders cannot be identified. In order to be able to imagine the persons being worshipped, people have taken them from the folk treasure or sought to legendize them to increase their spirituality. 

The founder of the iron-smithing craft in Duc Thang commune, Hiep Hoa district, is Khong Minh Khong, in fact the archetype of the god Duong Tu Minh under the Ly dynasty, who had the merit of fighting the Song invaders and is worshiped by the local people at the communal house. The folk beliefs through this custom are evident during the village festival on the 10th day of the first lunar year. During the festival, there are processions, rituals and folk games, including many contests and games related to the crafts. The mature craftsmen of the craft village often make unique products to offer them to the communal house and the temple... Van Ha village worships the founder of the wine-making craft, Lady Nghi Diet, who is worshiped at Doc Pagoda. Lady Nghi Diet is almost a legendary figure. People only know that she had ever lived in Van village. Legend has it that her husband liked to drink wine, so she tried to make yeast to create a delicious wine, then passed it on to the people of Van village. Van village has the custom of worshiping the craft founder on the 7th day of the first lunar month every year at Doc Pagoda. On this day, the village also holds an oath ceremony to keep the wine-making secret. The oath reads that making the precious wine is a skill passed down from the ancestors to their descendants to use as a livelihood, and it must not be passed on to outsiders. If anyone, either because of the intimate companionship, or the love of others’ money, betrays the ancestral wishes and passes down the craft secret to people outside the village, he will be killed by the gods.

Tho Ha village worships the founder of the pottery-making profession, Dao Tri Tien. Legend has it that at the end of the Ly dynasty, Dao Tri Tien was sent to China with Hua Vinh Hao and Luu Phong Tu as ambassadors. After fulfilling the mission, on the way back to the country through Guangdong province, the trio encountered a storm and had to stay here. There was a very famous ceramic kiln here, so they visited and learned the techniques of making pottery. Returning home, Dao Tri Tien passed down the craft to the Tho Ha people. Remembering his merits, every year, the people of Tho Ha village organize a festival on the 21st and 22nd days of the first lunar month to offer incense to worship the craft founder.

With regard to the folk belief of worshiping the founder of agriculture, in Luong Phong region (Hiep Hoa district), there are the custom of worshiping the God of Tri Nong (Agriculture) and the horse-drawing ceremony to pray for rain on the festival day. An Cap village, Hoang An commune (Hiep Hoa) owns the tradition of robbing the king's cow in the traditional festival. The temple worshipping Than Nong (God of Agriculture) in Cam Ly commune still has a legend about a visitor coming from a far place. When he stopped on the peak of a high mountain, a cool wind blew from the mountain. Standing on the top of the mountain, the constellation of Scorpius shines brightly and is very close, we can count each of the God of Agriculture’s ducks on the Milky Way. People in the folk thought it is the acupuncture point of the God of Agriculture.

In every festival season, the practice of the folk belief of worshiping craft founders is a vivid evidence for the important position of the crafts in the life of the people in the craft villages in Bac Giang. This is a traditional cultural beauty showing the gratitude and the tradition of “drinking water, remembering its source” of the villagers.

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