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Double Seven Day

Do you guys remember that today is the holiday on which the Vietnamese commemorated the day the President took office on July 7, 1954. Hence Double Seven Day – the seventh day of the seventh month. Every building in Saigon from the large government houses to the little thatch huts flew the Vietnamese flag.

3 comments to Double Seven Day

  • Admin

    Alice – thanks for the memories of “Double Seven Day” in Saigon.

    There is also another “Double Seven Day” festival celebrated thoughout many Asian countries.

    Qixi Festival (Chinese: pinyin: qi xi jié; literally “The Night of Sevens”), also known as Magpie Festival, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar; thus its name. It also inspired Tanabata in Japan, Chilseok (??) in Korea, and That Tich in Vietnam.

    It is sometimes called Chinese Valentine’s Day in recent years.

    Young girls traditionally demonstrate their domestic arts, especially melon carving, on this day and make wishes for a good husband. It is also known by the following names:

    – The Festival to Plead for Skills(qi qiao jié)

    – The Seventh Sister’s Birthday (qi jie dàn)

    – The Night of Skills (qiao xi)

    In 2009, this festival is on August 26.

    Vietnam: “Ngày mu’a Ngâu”

    In Vietnam, this day is called “Ngày mu’a ngâu” (Continual rain day). The tale is about a pair of lovers: Ngu’u Lang, who is the Jade Emperor’s buffalo man and an outstanding bamboo fluter, and Chu’c Nu’, who is responsible for fabric weaving. They were too passionate for each other to do their work well. Because of this lost productivity, the Jade Emperor became angry and decided that they must live on opposite sides of sông Ngân (the Milky Way) . But after that, the Jade Emperor felt sorry for them and permitted that they can meet each other once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month on the lunar year.

    However, they cannot cross the Milky Way. To fix this, the Jade Emperor ordered crows and Racquet-tailed treepie to build a bridge across the Milky Way. From then on, the bridge has the name cau’ Ô Thu’oc (“Crow and pie bridge”).

    Every year, when they meet each other, they cry and cry and cry. Their tears fall down from the sky and make a special kind of rain on this day: “mu’a ngâu” (continual rain- a rain that last during a long period of time). This is why the people call them ông Ngâu and bà Ngâu (Sir and Madame Continual Rain).

    Then there was the “Double Seven Day Schuffle” on July 7, 1963 in Saigon:

    The Double Seven Day scuffle was a physical altercation on July 7, 1963 in Saigon, South Vietnam. The secret police of Ngo Dinh Nhu—the brother of President Ngo Dinh Diem—attacked a group of journalists from the United States who were covering Buddhist protests on the ninth anniversary of Diem’s rise to power. Peter Arnett of the Associated Press (AP) was punched on the nose, but the quarrel quickly ended after David Halberstam of The New York Times, being much taller than Nhu’s men, counterattacked and caused the secret police to retreat. Arnett and Browne were later accosted by police at their office and taken away for questioning on suspicion of attacking police officers … [click here to read all the details of this incident]

    I wonder if there is any connection/relationship between Diem taking office on July 7, 1954 (a double seven day) and Viet-namese folk lore about double seven days – Continual Rain Days. Interesting food for thought and thoughts to ponder – 🙂

    Bob

  • Ken

    Bob, where in the hell do you come up with all of this information? Is there a Trivial Persuit book that you study before falling asleep at night? Or are your a history/geography buff? What gives? I feel positively ignorant when I read some of the stuff you write. Ken

    • Admin

      @ Ken — ROFL man 🙂

      If only I knew … lol … they say curiousity killed the cat – I’m sure glad I’m not a cat, cuz if I was, I’d of used up my 9 lives by the end of my 3rd day in Saigon … LOL

      Yes, Ken, I’m a “buff” … I spend my idle hours (days, weeks and months – sometimes even) studying the history and geography of the lovely ladies of France, Canada, Germany, Spain, Viet-nam, China, Japan, USA, Sweden, etc. … “Cultural Studies” are just sooooo enjoyable … LOL 🙂

      By the way, I’m planning a “Magic Bus” tour in about a year or so … (you do remember – Magic Buses – of the 1960s, don’t you?!). Back in the 60s four of us toured Germany and Spain in our VW Magic Bus – selling silk screened T-Shirts out of it to pay our way – LOL – was a lot of fun … BUT, don’t ever do the ‘Bull Run’ in Spain – very scary to put it mildly – LOL

      Rock onnnnn … Saigon Kid 🙂

      Bob

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