Dugout canoes on the Ma River are associated with the Thai people.

The Thai people are residents attached to water, good at growing rice, taking water from rivers and streams through irrigation systems: ditches, pai, lai, lin to irrigate high fields and low fields. Through practical life, the Thai people have concluded that "river bends, fish holes". Water is the source of life, with water, people "will not be hungry for rice, will not lack fish, moss soup" and "with water, there will be fields/with muong, there will be Tao".

Dugout canoe racing on Ma River (Ba Thuoc).

For a long time, the Thai people living in the western part of Thanh Hoa province have gathered into large Muongs such as Muong Ca Da (Quan Hoa), Muong Khoong (Ba Thuoc), Muong Trinh Van (Thuong Xuan)... along the banks of the Ma River, Chu River and large streams. With rugged mountainous terrain, many rivers and streams, to move, along with their feet on land, boats are a means of transport with many advantages to help them travel across rivers and streams. It is the gathering and living along rivers and streams that has brought them more advantages than other lands: "The Muong Ca Da people eat fish from three rivers/ The Ma River flows under the ladder/ Going out, they ride boats instead of horses/ Picking firewood without a knife/ Firewood floats down the river from high mountains...".

Closely connected to nature, living in a water environment, "going out on boats instead of horses", for a long time the dugout canoe has become closely associated with the Thai people from childhood until death, the boat accompanies the deceased.

Since ancient times, along with rafts, dugout canoes have been a means of transport that appeared very early to help people travel on rivers, streams, lakes and lagoons. Through archaeological excavations in our country during the Dong Son culture period, dugout canoes have existed at least 2,500 years ago. On the surface of bronze drums, there are still imprints of large boats and dugout canoes. The Thai people in ancient Thanh land must have inherited the tradition of making dugout canoes from their ancestors and until today, they still make this type of vehicle to travel on rivers, streams, fish, cast nets, transport goods and food.

To have a boat, people must first find materials and craft it. With the vast forests having many precious woods, people are free to choose good wood to make boats. For the Thai people, the popular wood used to make boats is Doi, Cho, Kien, and Xeng Le... these woods are good, do not absorb water, are light, and float easily. Before entering the forest, the owner holds a ceremony to ask for permission to go into the forest to cut wood. When they have chosen a tree they like, they hold a ceremony to worship the forest god, and the tree god gives them permission to cut the wood. Before cutting the tree, they mark the trunk of the tree, if the tree falls, they choose the half of the trunk that is not in contact with the ground to make the boat, then choose a suitable section in the newly felled tree, cut off a section, and mark the difference between the base and the top of the tree by using an axe to make a large hole in the top of the tree and thread a rope through it for the buffalo to pull back to the village. If the tree is cut near a river or stream, they make the boat right there. The Thai people use axes to hollow out the boat or light a fire to smoke it, then use axes to carve it to completion. If making a large dugout canoe, the owner must invite some relatives or experienced people to help. The Thai Khap song in Muong Ca Da, Quan Hoa district reflects the process of finding wood and building a boat: "We go up to the mountains to cut trees/ Cut long trees, cut big trees/ Kien wood, Doi wood, Cho wood/ Pulled by oxen, pulled by hand/ Kham village, Kho village come here/ Carved day and night to make a beautiful boat...".

When the boat is finished, choose an auspicious day and month, the boat owner prepares a tray of offerings, including: sticky rice, duck, grilled fish, rice wine, betel and areca nuts... and places the offerings on the boat to worship the gods of rivers, streams, and water ports... to bless the boat and its owner with good luck: "The dugout canoe, the merchant boat/ helps the village with white rice, big fish", safely overcoming rapids, deep rivers, and whirlpools: "Despite the rapids and big waterfalls/ The boat still glides along the shore, pushing the water as it goes".

For generations, the dugout canoe has been closely associated with the Thai people and it is unclear which came first, the dugout canoe or the luong? However, there are similarities between these two tools. In terms of material and design, the luong is a miniature version of the dugout canoe. The function of the luong is first a long mortar for pounding rice and then it becomes a fairly popular percussion instrument in community activities and ritual practices, not only of the Thai people but also of ethnic groups in the mountainous areas of Thanh Hoa province. If the dugout canoe user uses an oar or a pole to steer the boat across the water, the luong user uses wooden pestles to pound rice and create unique sounds that are very characteristic of the mountains and forests, reflecting the emotional levels and psychological states of each individual as well as the entire village.

The dugout canoe, the bed is faithfully attached to the Thai people with the bustling sound of the bed, seemingly bursting when a child - a new member of the community is born; this bed also pounded fragrant rice, white rice to raise the baby with the sweet milk of the mountain mother; the dugout canoe - a useful means that Thai boys and girls often work hard to "go to the river to eat fish, go to the field to eat rice"; the sound of the bed resonates invitingly in the bright moonlit night, for the girls of the upper village, the boys of the lower village to lead each other to the Kin gong festival, intoxicated by the dance around the five-color flower tree, the green and red fruit and the passionate words of the khập, giving love and affection to help couples who are destined to become husband and wife. Not only that, the dugout canoe, the bed also follows them when they have to leave this life and return to the world of ghosts for the Thai people who follow the belief of burial, different from the Thai people who follow the belief of cremation.

The Thai coffin is a model of two dugout canoes turned upside down. The coffin is made from a hollowed-out tree trunk, called “chung”, with wood that is not susceptible to termites such as: tram, de, vang, doi... In the past, the Thai people specialized in making coffins from a type of wood that is called “co be” in Thai. This type of tree is tall and straight, and is abundant in the forest. Later, this type of wood became rare, so the above types of wood were used.

The boat-shaped coffin is about 2.20m long, 60 - 65cm in diameter, 40 - 50cm wide, and 1.80m long. The coffin is made by splitting the tree trunk into two halves, the upper half is thinner than the lower half, then hollowing out the two halves into a trough shape, grooves are made between the two edges and a rim is created so that when the lid is closed, it fits tightly. After placing the deceased in the coffin with burial objects, it is necessary to have a dry gourd shell filled with water or a jar of wine, then use crushed brown tubers or use glutinous rice to smoothen the gaps between the two boards. Those who participate in making the coffin must eat dog meat beforehand, because the Thai believe that dogs lick the greased bridge clean, helping the deceased to cross the bridge to the ghost village without slipping and falling into the abyss, driving away evil spirits and those who make the coffin will not be "phi" taken along with the person in the coffin.

With Lung Mi burial cave in Quan Hoa district discovered not long ago on a high mountain, at the foot of the mountain is the Ma River. This burial cave has hundreds of coffins made of hollow tree trunks containing human bones and some burial objects such as swords, bronze arrows, ancient pottery. This proves that for a long time, the Thai people as well as the ethnic minorities here have had the custom of keeping the dead in boat-shaped coffins.

Nowadays, the style of burial and burial of the dead in hollowed-out tree trunks is still practiced by the Thai people in Quan Hoa, Thuong Xuan, Quan Son, and Ba Thuoc districts. The dugout canoes are still as closely associated with the Thai people as they were in the old days, helping them fish and collect moss on the Ma River, Chu River, Lo River, and Dat River... The sound of the bamboo flute still resonates throughout the villages near and far, multiplying the joy when a child is born, celebrating a new bride, a good harvest, and sharing the sadness when someone passes away and leaves the community.

From the dugout canoe, the bed to the boat-shaped coffin of the Thai people in Thanh Hoa province, we can initially draw some observations:

With a residential area in the mountainous area, many rivers and streams, the Thai people have long been attached to and understood the river environment. Water is the source of life, so from worshiping water, they have sanctified water. In rituals with objects related to water: rivers, streams, water wharves, wine jars, dry gourds containing water, boats... the Thai people always show deep respect and gratitude. Living in a water environment, moving on rivers and streams by boat to have a source of food such as fish, shrimp, moss... abundant from rivers and streams to help people maintain their lives, gradually forming faith and admiration for boats in the Thai community from ancient times to the present.

Southeast Asians in general, and the Thai people in particular, are rice-growing agricultural people who worship both water and the sun - the god of light that affects the growth of crops, so they always believe that the souls of the dead will return to the world of heaven. The Thai people's means of transportation is nothing more convenient than a boat, so the soul needs a boat to return to the other world, which is why from ancient times until today, the Thai people's coffins are still hollowed out tree trunks shaped like dugout canoes.

The dugout canoes, beds, and boat-shaped coffins of the Thai people in general and the Thai people of Thanh Hoa province in particular contain concepts about life and death and profound philosophies: people are grateful, respect and protect nature, live in harmony with streams, rivers, forests, mountains... which the ancients entrusted through dugout canoes.

Article and photos: Hoang Minh Tuong (Contributor)

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/thuyen-doc-moc-tren-song-ma-gan-bo-voi-dong-bao-thai-225562.htm