Cao Bang has a long, diverse and rich history and culture with many ethnic groups living together, creating a colorful picture of national culture. The Tay ethnic culture is rich, diverse, imbued with national identity, crystallizing beautiful human values.
The Tay people make up the majority of the population of the province. The Tay villages are usually located at the foot of mountains or along streams. The village name is usually based on the name of hills, fields, or river bends. Each village has 15-20 houses. Large villages are divided into many small hamlets. Tay houses are usually stilt houses. Usually, the Tay people build three-room houses, the middle room is the solemn place for the ancestral altar. The family's daily activities are on the floor. The floor is paved with thin planks or split bamboo, bamboo, and mai. The middle room has a table and chairs, teacups for receiving guests. The Tay stilt houses are roofed with trough tiles, also known as yin-yang tiles made from baked clay. The house has two roofs, some places have four roofs, and two side roofs on both sides. In convenient locations, people also bring water to their houses using a system of bamboo pipes to flow into a water tank, a large hollowed-out log, to wash hands and feet before entering the house. In many places, stilt houses are not made of planks or tied with trees but are built around limestone and baked bricks, the walls are very sturdy. Households with favorable conditions also build 5-room houses with 2 wings, but the interior layout is similar to a 3-room house.
The Tay people have a long, diverse and rich traditional history with many unique and interesting dishes and drinks, creating a colorful culinary culture picture. Tay ethnic dishes are often associated with rice and natural flavors available around. In particular, the Tay ethnic culinary culture shows sophistication, ingenuity and hidden artistic value. When setting foot in Tay and Nung villages, visitors will easily enjoy the sour taste of dishes such as: buffalo meat stir-fried with sour bamboo shoots, sour pork, sour marinated field fish, sour leaf fish soup and all kinds of sour fruits: star fruit, sour plum, Chinese jujube, sour ears... are all used in the Tay people's meals, or the bitter taste of dishes such as bitter bamboo shoots, bitter melon, mugwort...
Regarding costumes, the Tay ethnic group is known for its familiar indigo shirt color, made from self-woven cotton fabric, dyed indigo, almost no embroidery or decoration. The unique features in the costumes are also a special basis to distinguish the Tay ethnic group from other ethnic groups in the same living area. In addition, the Tay ethnic group also has famous handicraft products such as brocade, this product has a long tradition, used to make slings, blanket covers, bags, tablecloths... The raw materials are cotton and silk threads dyed in many different colors.
In terms of art, Then singing and Tinh lute are unique folk songs of the Tay people. This is also a form of activity that holds an important position in the Tay people's beliefs. Then singing and Tinh lute originated from the working life of the ancient Tay people. According to folk beliefs, Then means Heaven, Heaven means "sky", considered to be the singing tunes passed down from the gods. Therefore, in the life of the ancient Tay people, it is used in important events or ceremonies to pray for peace, pray for crops, call souls... The Tay people believe that Then melodies help send prayers to heaven. Then singing is a combination of many artistic activities such as dancing, playing, singing... Tinh lute is a unique folk musical instrument of the Tay people, bringing smooth, sweet and warm sounds. The instrument is made of a gourd shell, the surface is made of Vong wood, the handle is made of Khao Quang or Mulberry wood. Then singing and Tinh lute blend together, reflecting the feelings of the player and listener, creating a feeling of nostalgia.
The Tay people have many year-round festivals and celebrations that are characteristic of wet rice agricultural production, such as: Lunar New Year, New Year's Day, Thanh Minh Festival, Doan Ngo Festival, Khoan Vai Festival (buffalo festival), Full Moon Festival in July (Mid-Autumn Festival), Mid-Autumn Festival, New Rice Festival (Truong Cuu Festival), Trung Thap Festival, and Dong Chi Festival.
Regarding festivals, the Tay people have festivals: longevity celebration, long tong festival (also known as going to the field festival) to pray to the god of agriculture - the god who governs fields, gardens, livestock, and villages for green trees, bountiful crops, livestock reproduction, prosperity for everyone, and peace for the village. The Nang Hai festival, also known as Mother Moon, of the Tay people in Cao Bang is one of the traditional folk festivals, imbued with the fertility beliefs of the ancient Vietnamese. This festival was created from the daily life and production labor of the mountain farmers. The Nang Hai festival in Tien Thanh commune (Quang Hoa) was approved by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to become a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in June 2017.
The social relations of the Tay people in Cao Bang have extensive interactions, sincere feelings, solidarity, mutual love and the desire to have more friends and relatives to learn from and share joys and sorrows in life. Therefore, there are unique customs compared to other ethnic groups, including the custom of making friends "tông" and recognizing relatives. The Tay people in Cao Bang have a saying "Lạc máy tan, lac ngon ri" (roughly translated: Short tree roots, long human roots), meaning that in life, human affection is very broad and deeply attached. With this thought, the Tay people have the custom of accepting relatives, which means accepting people from afar with the same last name as themselves as brothers and sisters in the family because they believe that people with the same last name today may be people from the same ancestors but because of living conditions, livelihood, getting married far away, or working in other places, they have lost each other. Now meeting each other, although in a different locality and situation, we are very happy and want to accept them as brothers and relatives in the family.
The ceremony of accepting relatives is very sacred, held solemnly in both families on different days so that the couple receiving relatives have the opportunity to be present at each side. During the ceremony, the couple must report to the ancestors and relatives from both sides who witnessed it; review the family tree and ancestral history to increase the family bond... In particular, the couple receiving relatives clearly state each other's date of birth to determine whether they are elder or younger.
The Tay people's custom of making "tống" friends ("tống" means the same) is not based on the same family name or ethnicity, but can be of different ethnicities. Making "tống" friends is mainly based on similarities in many aspects, compatibility in personality or also understood as harmony in many aspects between two people. "Tống" friends (same age); "Tống" friends (same name); "Tống" friends with the same aspirations (same aspirations in studying, taking exams, career...); "Tống" strengths; "Tống" circumstances...
The Tay people only make one or two “tông” friends in their lifetime, even though they have many close friends. To make “tông” friends, in addition to similarities, it is necessary to perform an official “tông” ceremony in each family. At the ceremony, the “tông” couple is recognized by grandparents, parents, relatives of both families and witnessed by friends and neighbors. After the solemn ceremony, the two people are officially like blood brothers in the family, sharing joys and sorrows, hardships, and hardships together... Currently, the custom of making “tông” friends and recognizing relatives is still preserved because it contains profound humanistic meanings, demonstrating the tradition of national solidarity of the Tay people inherited from ancient times to the present day.
Minh Duc
Source: https://baocaobang.vn/net-van-hoa-truyen-thong-cua-dan-toc-tay-3175550.html
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