Cha Mun Festival of Thai people in Thanh Hoa is a National Heritage

The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism has just signed a decision to announce the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List for the Cha Mun Festival of the Thai people in Yen Thang commune, Lang Chanh district, Thanh Hoa province.

This is one of the most unique and typical folk religious festivals of the Black Thai people in Yen Thang commune.

According to the legend of the Black Thai people, long ago, people on earth (Muong Lum) suffered from an epidemic and had no cure, so the ancestors of the Black Thai people sent people to the Muong of Heaven to ask for help.

The Cha Mun Festival is reenacted by the Thai people of Thanh Hoa province at the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism. Photo: TH

Po Then (the ruler of the Muong Troi) agreed and ordered his army to open the gate of heaven and drop down to earth a silk thread to guide soldiers on elephants and horses to help earth heal and save people.

Saved by Po Then, the ancestors of the Black Thai people sent those who were capable of the craft to follow the silk thread to the Heavenly Muong to express their gratitude and learn the secret. When the Muong Lum (mo Mun) group arrived at the Heavenly Muong, Po Then agreed and passed on the secrets and remedies.

According to the promise, each Mo Mun, after practicing for 3 to 5 years or more, must give thanks to Po Then and at the same time remove the curse from his practice.

Remembering his advice, every year Mo Mun organizes the Cha Mun Festival to thank Po Then and pray for the health of the people in the region, good harvests, and happiness for all families.

The Cha Mun Festival is held in the 9th and 10th lunar months. The shaman chooses the best day and sends someone to Luc May's house (the sick person who was cured by the shaman) to inform him.

With a sincere heart and gratitude to the person who saved her from illness, Luc May prepared offerings and together with the shaman's family organized the festival. To carry out the rituals, the shaman invited 4-6 people, who were the Mun shamans, to help him organize.

On the day of the ceremony, Luc May from the villages, wearing colorful costumes and carrying offerings on their heads, came to the shaman's house to give thanks to Po Then. When Luc May and the villagers had gathered, the shaman performed the ceremony of receiving the offerings and reporting to Po Then.

The offerings must include 31 trays of food, including a main tray placed near the window in the middle of the house, and 30 side trays consisting of fruits such as bananas, sugarcane, sweet potatoes, taro, grilled fish, sticky rice, chicken, pork, wine, etc.

The center of the festival is the cotton tree (called Booc May). On the cotton tree are displayed all kinds of flowers, birds, fish, frogs, elephants, horses, boats and is placed in the main room of the Mo Chu's stilt house. Near the cotton tree are placed 2 jars of rice wine, one jar with 4 sticks for the Mo Chu to invite Mr. Then, one jar with 8 sticks to invite guests to the festival.

The festival includes a ritual to invite Mr. Then from heaven and the souls of deceased shamans to attend the festival; call the souls of the sick and everyone to participate in the festival; welcome the local ruler and festival attendees; organize games and performances; and finally send Po Then and the spirits of shamans back to the heavenly Muong, say goodbye to the festival and make an appointment for the next festival season.

The Cha Mun Festival is one of the folk and cultural festivals; it is a place where everyone in the village and the Muong unite, are happy and excited. For the Mun people, the festival is an opportunity to summarize the 3-year practice of collecting medicinal herbs and treating diseases.

The Thai people organize games, performances and send off Po Then and the spirits of Mo Mun to return to Heaven. Photo: Communist Party of Vietnam

Cha Mun contains both intangible and tangible culture. Intangible culture is expressed through words, music, and dances, reflecting the interaction between people and people, and people and nature.

The value of tangible culture in Cha Mun makes viewers admire the skillful hands of Thai artisans who weave shapes of various objects and carve decorative flowers on the festival's cotton trees...

The Vu

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/le-hoi-cha-mun-cua-nguoi-thai-o-thanh-hoa-la-di-san-quoc-gia-post309881.html