(Fatherland) - On the afternoon of February 15, within the framework of the activities of the festival "Spring colors across the country" spring At Ty 2025, at the Cultural - Tourism Village of Vietnamese ethnic groups (Dong Mo, Son Tay, Hanoi), Thai ethnic people from Nhu Thanh district, Thanh Hoa province organized a reenactment of an excerpt of the unique singing and dancing ritual under the cotton tree (Kin Chieng Booc May festival). The festival was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2018.
The Kin Chieng Boọc May Festival is held by the Thai people to express their gratitude to the gods of heaven, mountain, river, and earth, to pray for good luck and health for the villagers and a peaceful life.
The shaman performs rituals at the ceremony
Kin Chieng Boọc Mây is a folk ritual with a long history, preserved and passed down through many generations of Thai people in Như Thanh district, Thanh Hoa province. The ceremony is popular in Mường villages with talented and prestigious Shamans or Tay women, many children and adopted children (those who have been cured by the Shaman).
Kin Chieng Boọc May originated from the shamans and Tay women in the Muong villages who specialized in curing and saving people's health using leaves, flowers and grasses in their gardens or in the forest and praying to the gods to drive away forest and mountain ghosts so they would not come to disturb the village.
The forms and beliefs in the Ceremony reflect many aspects of Thai social life such as: Production culture, customs, habits, behavioral relationships; relationships about nature, society, people, and the operation of village institutions.
The Kin Chieng Boọc May Festival is held in January or February of the lunar calendar every year. Every five years, a big festival is held, and every year a small festival is held. During the festival, many people living in the area such as Muong, Kinh... attend the festival and eat new rice.
Offerings to perform the worship ritual
To conduct the ceremony, the Thai people hold the "Tem Pha" ceremony from the 9th lunar month, every household must hang green and red strings to mourn the Heaven for 3 days. During the ceremony, the shaman or the Tay woman plays the role of presiding over and leading the ceremony. Small ceremonies are held within the family, while large ceremonies are held at the village's tutelary god's shrine with the wide participation of the whole community.
The ceremony cannot be without a cotton tree, a religious symbol erected by the people up to 9 stories high with thousands of gerbera daisies about 40 petals thick, the tree trunk is made of cassava, mulberry or cassava, decorated with birds, animals or labor tools.
The roles in the Ceremony in the form of "gods" and "heavenly beings" borrow the power and spirit of "gods" to teach the villagers to do good and kind things, to love each other. The prayers to the gods, the advice to cotton and medicinal plants, or the games and performances help satisfy the religious needs of the community, expressing humanistic thoughts in life.
The cotton tree - a religious symbol built by the people up to 9 floors high with thousands of flowers
The items in the Kin Chieng Booc May Festival include many types of agricultural products, including farming, animal husbandry, hunting, and gathering. Especially forest trees, forest leaves, and forest roots in cotton trees related to the collection of folk medicine to serve daily life, enriching the traditional medicine of the Thai people.
The sound of gongs in the festival creates a unique feature of the Kin Chieng Booc May festival.
The Festival space has the participation of many art forms such as singing, dancing, musical instrument performance... In the festival space, the people are the cultural subjects, they play, dance, sing and sublimate their creativity. After a long time of formation and development, Kin Chieng Boọc Mây has become a folk activity closely associated with the spiritual life of the Thai people in Thanh Hoa.
Coming to the Vietnam National Village for Ethnic Culture and Tourism with his family, Mr. Pham Trong Nghia (76 years old, Kim Lien, Dong Da, Hanoi) shared: Coming to the Village with my family and children to celebrate spring, it was by chance but also very fortunate to have the opportunity to witness the Kin Chieng Booc May festival, to learn about a unique cultural feature of the Thai ethnic group in Thanh Hoa. Each ethnic group in Vietnam has its own identity that we can learn, study, and improve our understanding of the culture of the ethnic groups, thereby loving more the rich cultural treasure of Vietnam.
The festival ritual takes place to the sound of drums and gongs.
Dances under cotton trees simulate the labor and production activities of the people such as plowing, sowing, harvesting...
The reenactment attracts many tourists
Source: https://toquoc.vn/tai-hien-le-kin-chieng-boc-may-dac-sac-cua-dong-bao-thai-xu-thanh-20250215211306318.htm
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