The Ban Vuong Festival is one of the traditional festivals of the Dao ethnic community throughout the country. Quang Ninh Province has recently restored and preserved this unique cultural heritage.
Ban Vuong Festival – A Ritual Ceremony Honoring the Ancestor of the 12 Dao Clans
The Dao people have a very long history of migration due to wars and climate change. Over time, they gradually divided into many smaller groups, with variations in language and clothing. Their beliefs, forms of folk culture, and housing also differ.
The area where the Ban Vuong Festival takes place. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
However, the Dao branches share one common feature: the worship of Ban Vuong. The custom of worshipping Ban Vuong and the Ban Vuong Festival are typical practices in the spiritual life of the Dao people in Ba Che, Quang Ninh, in particular, and of the Dao people in general.
Reenacting the journey across the sea to a new land. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
Legend has it that Ban Ho (Ban Vuong) was a Long Khuyen, a three-thước-long creature with smooth, velvet-like black fur striped with yellow, and was always cherished by King Binh Vuong. One day, King Cao raised an army to invade, plunging the people into misery. The king sent many brave soldiers and powerful generals to guard the border.
Arriving at the Ban Vuong Shrine. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
Ban Ho then offered a strategy that helped the king defeat King Cao. After suppressing the invading army, Ban Ho suddenly transformed into a handsome young man. King Binh Vuong was delighted and married his Third Princess to him, conferring the title of King and the name Ban Vuong.
The procession presenting local products. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
They had 12 children, six sons and six daughters, to whom King Binh Vuong granted 12 family names. After the king died, Ban Vuong ascended the throne but continued to maintain a simple way of life, teaching the people how to grow rice and weave cloth. After Ban Vuong died, his descendants continued to hold ritual ceremonies for generations in his memory. This is the Ban Vuong Festival.
Spirit possession and fire dancing. Photo: Nhan Dan Newspaper.
The Ban Vuong ritual ceremony is deeply humanistic because it encourages people to always remember their origins. The ritual also serves as a bond connecting the community, clans, villages, and hamlets.
District leaders offering incense. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
The Ban Vuong Festival is also held to introduce and promote the distinctive culture, rituals, and beliefs of the Dao people in Ba Che District. It reenacts several rituals, including the “sea-crossing” journey of the 12 Dao clans on 12 boats to a new land where they could establish their livelihoods.
The 12 Dao clans. Photo: VOV.
There are also rituals for offering local specialties and fruits to the ancestor Ban Vuong at the Ban Vuong Shrine, as well as several typical ceremonies praying for favorable weather, abundant crops, and warmth, prosperity, and happiness for the people.
Boats traveling downstream to the Ban Vuong Shrine. Photo: VOV.
From early morning, delegations representing the 12 Dao clans put on their finest and most splendid traditional costumes and gathered at the boat landing near Ong Shrine to board 12 boats representing the 12 clans and cross the sea to a new land.
Local products offered to Ban Vuong. Photo: VOV.
Amid the sounds of drums and gongs, the boats traveled along the Ba Che River, accompanied by people on the banks, toward the Ban Vuong Shrine to offer such items as ba kich, yellow tea, traditional medicinal herbs, corn, sweet potatoes, cassava, sugarcane, vegetables, dogs, chickens, pigs…
In turn, representatives of the 12 Dao clans offered incense, flowers, and various offerings to Ban Vuong with reverence and sincerity.
The turtle dance performed by ritual masters. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
During the Ban Vuong worship ceremony, several activities take place as part of the ritual sequence, including the turtle dance, spirit possession and fire dancing, and pestle wrestling. These activities are mysterious while also reflecting the cultural beauty of the Dao people in Ba Che.
Songs and dances after the ritual ceremony. Photo: Quang Ninh Newspaper.
The Ban Vuong Festival contributes to preserving and promoting cultural values while supporting the development of community-based tourism. It also promotes tourism potential through the cultural traditions, religious rituals, and cultural activities of the Dao people in particular and the ethnic minorities of Quang Ninh in general.
