Nem Thuong's annual pig-chopping festival is, as one might imagine, a very bloody affair.
Each year, on the sixth day of the lunar new year, the villagers of a town about 25 miles north of Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, organize a festival to honor their local guardian deity, Doan Thuong. The celebrations include traditional festival features such as a march and live music, but one part of the ceremony is not for the faint of heart.
According to Reuters, a live pig is shuttled around the village before being placed on the ground on its back. Assistants hold ropes attached to the pig's legs, spreading the animal's appendages apart to expose its belly. A man wielding a large blade then chops the pig in half, and the villagers rush to smear the blood on bank notes, hoping for good luck in the new year.
The practice has been condemned by activists inside Vietnam and abroad.
SOURCE
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Each year, on the sixth day of the lunar new year, the villagers of a town about 25 miles north of Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, organize a festival to honor their local guardian deity, Doan Thuong. The celebrations include traditional festival features such as a march and live music, but one part of the ceremony is not for the faint of heart.
According to Reuters, a live pig is shuttled around the village before being placed on the ground on its back. Assistants hold ropes attached to the pig's legs, spreading the animal's appendages apart to expose its belly. A man wielding a large blade then chops the pig in half, and the villagers rush to smear the blood on bank notes, hoping for good luck in the new year.
The practice has been condemned by activists inside Vietnam and abroad.
SOURCE
