The Dao people in Thanh Hoa have two main groups: the Dao Tien people living in the highlands, mainly concentrated in Muong Lat district (Suoi Tut village, Con Dao, Quang Chieu commune; Pu Quan, Pu Nhi commune), and the Dao Quan Chet people living in Ngoc Lac and Cam Thuy districts. The current population is about 7,400 people.
Tet "Nam Cung" is a unique and most important custom of the year of the Dao ethnic group in Thanh Hoa.
One of the three important Tet holidays of the Dao people in short pants
For the Dao people, there are three important Tet holidays in a year: Thanh minh festival, full moon festival in July and "nam cung" festival. Of these, the most important is still "nam cung" festival, because this is the occasion for descendants to report to their ancestors about a year of work of the family, clan and village.
In Ngoc Lac and Cam Thuy districts (where the Dao people in short pants mainly live), at the end of December, when the harvest is bountiful and they are excited about the fruits of their labor, the Dao people will organize the "Nam Cung" Tet to report and thank their ancestors for a year of labor, and at the same time pray for their ancestors to bless and help their families, clans and villages to enter a new year of "favorable weather and favorable winds".
The Dao people make sticky rice cakes, one of the indispensable offerings during the "year together" Tet holiday.
Depending on the economic conditions of each family and clan, a thoughtful and cozy Tet is organized. This is an occasion for relatives to gather together to contribute to a grand Tet feast, each family contributes whatever they have, but the most important is the clan leader.
To celebrate Tet, from the beginning of the 9th lunar month, the head of the family has to prepare delicious sticky rice, raise pigs and chickens to treat the whole family at the end of the year. If many relatives and friends come, Tet is considered prosperous and successful. When the descendants and relatives are most complete, Tet is celebrated. All the people in the family gather at the head of the family's house to celebrate Tet together.
Strong young men will be assigned the task of pounding sticky rice to make cakes.
Banh day is used to eat during Tet holiday "year together"
Mr. Trieu Hung Cuong (Thach An village, Cam Lien commune, Cam Thuy district) said that Tet "Nam Cung" is a very important custom for the Dao people, so every year at the end of November and the beginning of December of the lunar calendar, most families in the village will prepare food, invite a shaman to perform the ceremony and invite brothers, relatives and friends to celebrate Tet.
On the "year-end" Tet holiday, there are 3 indispensable dishes on the offering tray: pork, chicken and sticky rice cake. Pigs are selected from good breeds, raised from the beginning of the year. When slaughtered, the whole pig must be slaughtered, the pig's head is used for the offering, the rest is processed into dishes.
The shaman performs ancestral worship rituals.
To prepare the pork, from early morning, the strong and enthusiastic young men in the clan were mobilized by the clan leader to catch pigs, slaughter pigs and participate in preparing chickens and pounding sticky rice cakes. Sticky rice cakes are made from steamed sticky rice, then pounded in a stone mortar, mixed with roasted sesame seeds and shaped into bite-sized round cakes.
Three indispensable gifts
For the Dao people, the worship ceremony is the most important, there will usually be 3 shamans who are fluent in the ancient Dao language to perform the ceremony. They are the first to arrive to take care of the offerings and the altar to ensure that the ceremony is not lacking. The Dao people do not care about the offerings, the family offers whatever they have, depending on the economic conditions of each family, the family that can afford to make the bigger the better, but pig's head, rooster, and sticky rice cake are indispensable.
Ancestor worship ceremonies usually have 3 shamans performing the rituals.
In worship, the Dao people are deeply influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism and especially Taoism. Three trays of offerings are respectfully displayed to worship ancestors, to worship Ban Vuong (the ancestor of the Dao people) and to worship the ancestors (younger people in the family such as wife, children...).
In the ancestor worship ceremony, the Dao people do not use incense bought from the market to burn, but use incense made from fragrant tree bark collected from the forest, bought and put in a small bowl. Each time a piece of bark is burned, a piece of hot coal must be burned together, until the bowl is full of charcoal and incense bark.
After using the head to worship ancestors, the pork will be processed into dishes.
The shamans will, on behalf of the homeowner, report to the ancestors, the King, and the ancestors about the work that has been done and the work that has not been done during the year, and at the same time pray for good luck and favorable things to come in the new year.
Strengthening the spirit of family and community solidarity
According to custom, the "five-year-old" Tet worship ceremony will be performed by the shamans for more than 1 hour. After the worship ceremony, all the offerings are taken down and laid out for the children and grandchildren to celebrate Tet together.
All dishes are displayed on a tray lined with banana leaves.
According to Dao custom, all food must be served on fresh banana leaves. Before eating a meal together to show solidarity, the head of the family goes around to invite relatives to drink, wishing everyone good health, and working together to make the next Tet more prosperous and joyful. Even more special, the shaman and the village dignitaries, the sons of the family sit at separate tables in the main house. The young men and women of the family eat in the yard or downstairs.
The Dao people believe that families with many guests visiting their home and celebrating Tet together will have more luck in the new year, so during the Tet holidays, the Dao community always lives in an atmosphere filled with joy.
When the ceremony is over, the food is set out for all the family, relatives, and neighbors to celebrate Tet together. For the Dao people, the more guests come to attend and celebrate Tet, the luckier the Tet will be that year.
"We are very excited to wait for our nation's Tet holiday. The custom has been ingrained in each generation here, so every time this day comes, everyone is excited to return home to celebrate Tet with their families," said Mr. Duong Kim Khoa, Binh Son village, Cam Binh commune.
According to the People's Committee of Cam Thuy district, there are currently nearly 4,000 Dao ethnic people living in Cam Binh, Cam Lien, Cam Chau communes and Phong Son town. Every year, Dao ethnic people celebrate 3 Tet holidays: the 15th of July, "Nam Cung" Tet and Thanh Minh Tet. This is a unique cultural feature of Dao people, so in recent years, Cam Thuy district has always paid attention to and encouraged Dao people to preserve, conserve and promote these unique rituals and cultural beauties.
Tet "together" is a unique cultural feature, expressing the spirit of solidarity of clans and communities.
In the days approaching the traditional New Year, if we have the opportunity to visit Cam Thuy, Ngoc Lac, Muong Lat districts (Thanh Hoa province), where the Dao ethnic people live, we will be able to live in an atmosphere filled with the colors of Spring, enjoying the New Year "together" with the Dao ethnic people here.
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