AComplete History of Dai Viet (“Dai Viet su ky toan thu”) states: "Inthe Ly Dynasty, in spring or the first lunar month, boys and girls gettogether and play this game". Villagers usually build their swings on adry, harvested rice paddy near a communal house. The area should belarge enough for spectators to stand around all four sides.

Swingsand the associated games come in many kinds and variations. However,the most common Vietnamese swings involve a wooden platform, not aseat. One or two people stand on the platform and swing themselves highin the air, even tens of meters, until their bodies are almost parallelto the ground. Their goal is a prize hanging from the top of theswing's frame.

Playing tools

Theframe of the swing is constructed of solid bamboo. The handles are alsomade of bamboo that is straight, without knots and wide enough for aperson's palm. The swing's platform must be close enough to the groundthat players can jump on easily.

Toensure safety, builders must choose the right bamboo, for young bamboois weak, while old bamboo is less elastic and tends to break. They sealtheir completed frame with paper and invite an elderly villager tocheck its quality. If the frame meets his standards, he will remove theseal. With that, someone beats a drum. He clasps both hands in front ofhis chest and bows to his fellow villagers. Then, on behalf of thecommunity, he opens the game.

How to play the game

Playersshould dress smartly and neatly. Boys wear red purse-belts and girlsgreenish pulse-belts over traditional four-panel dresses (“ao tu than”)and then headscarves so their hair won't come loose. Often a boy andgirl will swing together.

First,the couple steps onto the swing platform and stands face to face. Thenthey press their feet against platform floor and bend their knees.Gradually, the swing begins to move like a pendulum. The harder theypress, the higher the swing flies, as described in a poem by the19th-century woman poet Ho Xuan Huong:

“The boy bends his knees
The girl bends her back
The four red panels of her skirt fly in the air
Two parallel lines of stretched legs”

Atthe height or their swinging, the two almost lie on top of one another.The crowd cheers. As soon as the couple reaches the highest point, oneof the two will stretch out a hand and try to snatch the prize. This isthe most difficult part of the game, for it requires that both playersbe calm, clever and acts as a team. They lose if they drop the prize.The crowd is just as anxious, hoping the couple manages to secure theprize as a reward for their long days of practice. There is a note thatthis type of swinging is not for those who get dizzy!

Let’s once join in the game and you will find it so interesting...