In the mountainous district of Ba Che, the Dao people in general and Dao Lo Gang in particular possess a diverse and unique cultural treasure, creating a unique cultural beauty for the land and people of Ba Che.
Ba Che district has 14 ethnic groups living together, of which the Dao people have the largest population, accounting for over 45% of the district's population with 3 groups: Dao Thanh Y, Dao Thanh Phan, Dao Lo Gang. The Dao Lo Gang people migrated from Thai Binh and Kien Moc communes of Dinh Lap district, Lang Son province to Ba Che since 1982, concentrated in Khe Na village (Luong Mong commune, now Luong Minh commune), Dong Khoang village (Dap Thanh commune), Khe On village (Thanh Lam commune). Currently, in the whole province, only Ba Che has Dao Lo Gang people living.
The Dao Lo Gang people still maintain many customs in their daily life, beliefs, and culture that are unique to their people. They also preserve and conserve common rituals of the Dao people, such as: the Cap Sac ceremony, the Ban Vuong ceremony, the harvest ceremony, the Wind Abstinence Festival, etc. On the occasion of the Lunar New Year, from the 15th of December, the Dao Lo Gang people celebrate Tet early and it lasts until January. At the beginning of the new spring, the whole village will hold a harvest ceremony to officially enter the new crop season, hoping for a bountiful harvest and abundance.
Compared to other Dao groups, the costumes of the Dao Lo Gang are meticulously hand-embroidered, elaborate, unique with a higher density of embroidery. The costumes stand out brilliantly with the main colors of orange-yellow and red embroidered on a black fabric background with motifs associated with daily life such as grass, flowers, mountains, hills, hearts, dogs (the ancestral symbol of the Dao people)...
Dao Lo Gang women's shirts are usually knee-length, with slits from the hem to the waist. Wide-leg pants, elastic waistband, above the ankle. The entire collar, hem, hem, sleeves, and back of the shirt are decorated with wide embroidered pieces of fabric with diverse decorative patterns of diamonds, waves, flowers, leaves, and trees. The inner bib is embroidered with patterns, attached with silver stars. The belt is white, the headdress is shaped like a roof, wrapped around with strings of colorful beads. The men's shirt has 4 front pockets (each side of the shirt has 2 pockets, upper and lower), the entire body of the shirt is embroidered with similar patterns to the women's shirt.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh, Chairman of the Quang Ninh Folklore Arts Association, author of the book “Quang Ninh Dao People”, said: The Dao Lo Gang people have a very unique way of embroidering, with 5 basic colors (red, orange, blue, white, black), creating colorful and different costumes compared to other ethnic groups. It can take half a year to a year to complete a hand-embroidered costume. Dao girls are taught embroidery by their mothers from a young age and have to make their own most beautiful costumes to wear during festivals or their weddings.
The Dao Lo Gang in Ba Che still hold weddings according to traditional rituals. The bride's costume stands out with a veil and a headdress made of colorful woolen threads, embroidered with elaborate patterns on the four strings attached to the four corners of the headdress. The groom's hat is round, embroidered with motifs of mountains, four-petaled flowers, people, and melon seeds. The groom's costume includes a blue ao dai and a square piece of cloth covering his face.
According to Mr. Trieu Sinh Kim (Khe On village, Thanh Lam commune), the wedding ceremony of the Dao Lo Gang people often has a brass trumpeter wearing neat clothes, playing cheerful songs with the meaning of welcoming the new bride home and blessing the family. The wedding usually only has brass trumpets, not drums or gongs like the weddings of some other ethnic groups.
The unique cultural features of the Dao Lo Gang people are still preserved today, making the cultural picture of the ethnic groups in Quang Ninh province more rich, adding brilliant and distinct colors to the highland villages of Ba Che.
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