The Nghinh Ong Quan Thanh De Quan festival, one of the six provincial-level festivals in Binh Thuan province was held from August 23-25 in Phan Thiet city.
Performing procession ritual at Nghinh Ong festival
The festival held every two years in the last week of the seventh lunar month aims to preserve and promote values of the folk culture of the Chinese community, a segment of the population in the process of formation and development of Phan Thiet city.
Nghinh Ong means taking Ong on a procession. Ong here is Quan Cong (courtesy name Zihuang) who a famous general in the Three Kingdoms period, well-known for his virtues of respect for honor, loyalty to the king, devotion to the people, generosity, fairness, uprightness, integrity, etc. The custom of worshiping Quan Cong has been maintained by Chinese residents during the process of trading and settling in Vietnam. The place to worship Quan Cong is respectfully called Ong Temple or Ong Quan Thanh Temple (Quan De Temple).
Parade of Chinese groups through streets of Phan Thiet city during the festival
Nghinh Ong Quan Thanh De Quan festival featured 16 traditional rituals preserved and inherited by generations of Chinese people in Phan Thiet with meanings of commemorating heroes and ancestors who have contributed to the country and community, praying for good weather, prosperous nation, and good crops.
The Nghinh Ong Quan Thanh De Quan festival 2024 also highlighted a parade of Chinese groups through the streets of Phan Thiet city to recreate characters of Tang Sanzang and his disciples, Maitreya Buddha, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, the Three Stars of Happiness, Wealth and Longevity, etc., along with folk dances and a 49m long green dragon dance performanced by 150 locals drawing the participation of dozens of thousands of locals and tourists.
Recreating characters of Longevity Monk (Tang Sanzang) and his disciples in Nghinh Ong Quan Thanh De Quan festival
Performing 49m long green dragon dance on the street
The Chinese community in Phan Thiet currently has about 1,600 people, accounting for 71.27% of ethnic minorities in the city. Chinese people are living in wards of Duc Nghia, Duc Thang, Lac Dao, Mui Ne wards and practicing their traditions in four assembly halls of Fujian, Guangdong, Chaozhou and Hainan.
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