K'pan is the name of a type of long chair of the Ede people. K'pan is made from a tree trunk, placed in a long house, often used as a seat for gong performances during weddings, funerals, and traditional ceremonies. K'pan chairs are not only a daily household item but also a measure of wealth, a symbol of friendship, and the solidarity of the village community.
Visitors learn about the K'pan chair on display at Dak Lak Museum.
According to the Ede elders in Dak Lak, K'pan is a standalone chair, carved from a whole tree trunk. The Ede often use kapok, sao and eucalyptus trees to make K'pan chairs. Normally, a K'pan chair is 10-15 m long, about 60-70 cm wide, about 8 cm thick, slightly curved at both ends, has two or three supporting legs, and is more than 40 cm high to create a soft and sturdy appearance when sitting.
According to artisan Y Rai Byă, 73 years old, in the remote Cu Pui commune, Krong Bong district, to make a K'pan chair, first of all, the homeowner must be well-off. One family cannot do it alone, but needs the help of the whole village. Initially, a family wanting to make a K'pan must hold a meeting with relatives to unify opinions, estimate costs, materials, and human resources...
A few days later, the homeowner, relatives and the shaman brought a jar of rice wine and a small pig into the forest to survey and find a tree with a large, beautiful trunk, few branches and straight, especially without bird or ant nests to choose. After choosing the tree, the homeowner placed offerings at the base of the tree and held a ceremony to ask the forest god, the earth god and the tree god for permission for the family to cut down the tree.
After the ceremony, wait 7 days, if there is no unexpected event in the village, the homeowner will call on about 7-10 healthy, skillful young men in the village to bring axes into the forest to cut down the chosen tree. To cut down and carve a K'pan, the Ede people usually have to spend 10-15 days eating and sleeping in the forest. The homeowner must provide enough pork, chicken, wine, rice... to serve the people during the days of making the K'pan.
On the day of the K'pan procession, the homeowner dresses neatly and prepares all the offerings such as: 1 large buffalo, 7 jars of rice wine, bamboo rice, a bowl of pig's blood pudding... The size of the K'pan procession depends on the wealth of each family.
When the K'pan's head reaches the foot of the stairs, the shaman and the homeowner will step out with a spear and a shield in their hands, perform a ritual of placing the spear on the K'pan's head, and recite a prayer to Yang. This act is meant to drive away evil spirits from the K'pan and ask the gods to allow the homeowner to use the K'pan chair.
Inside the house, the K'pan is placed in the living room, along the right wall of the house. At this time, no one is allowed to sit on the K'pan. The shaman then holds the homeowner's hand and climbs up and down the K'pan three times. This is a sign of taming, from now on the homeowner will be the new owner of the K'pan. After that, other people are allowed to sit on the K'pan. At the same time, the gong sounds, the shaman performs a ceremony to inform the gods that the K'pan has an owner.
Nowadays, the life of the Ede people in the villages of the Central Highlands has changed a lot. However, in the villages, in many traditional long houses of the Ede people, there are still drums, gongs and especially K'pan which is considered as a chair connecting the community that the Ede people always cherish and preserve, teaching the next generation to know the traditional culture of their people.
According to Cong Ly/nhandan.vn
Source: https://baophutho.vn/k-pan-chiec-ghe-gan-ket-cong-dong-225299.htm
Comment (0)