1. New Year of Muong ethnic minority 
In term of sequence and customs, the New Year of Muong ethnic minority people is quite similar to the New Year of Kinh people. There is a unique tradition of “sac bua” singing that is being preserved. This is a kind of singing to wish Happy New Year. On the first and second days of the first month of the Lunar New Year, Muong children gather together to beat gongs and sing “sac bua”. They go through any household, which opens its doors to give children some money or cake.The popular games during the New Year of the Nung ethnic minority are the “con” ball throwing game, shuttle cock kicking, duet singing between male and female, and traditional martial arts. Children usually play humming-top and lion dance.
2. New Year of Tay ethnic minority
The New Year of Tay ethnic people starts on the 30th of the last lunar month to the morning of the third day of the New Year. On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, they go to work in field, but only as a formality. On the 15th day of the first lunar month, they celebrate New Year again.
Different from Thai ethnic people, Tay ethnic minority’s taboo is that a person who is not invited to come their home on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The first caller on New Year’s Day chosen is a virtuous person or a person well respected in the hamlet, and they especially refrain anyone in mourning. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Tay ethnic men usually go to their parents-in-law to wish a Happy New Year and the third day of the New Year to wish magician.
Some folk games are also played during the New Year such as con-ball throwing game. After the New Year, Tay ethnic group organize Long Tong festival, meaning going to the rice field.
3. New Year of Cham people minority
Like other ethnic groups, the Cham ethnic people also celebrate their New Yearsumptuously. They kill pigs, poultry and enjoy a variety of fruits and cakes. During the Lunar New Year Festival, the Cham ethnic group has no taboo so their friends and neighbours can share happiness with them easily. During the New Year, the Cham ethnic people also organize games such as fan-dancing, gong-beating, singing, drinking and archery.
4. New Year of Co Tu ethnic people
On the Lunar New Year festival of the Co Tu people, the crossbows, spears, broadsword, cymbal, drums and gongs are carefully cleaned. Many cultural activities take place in Guol house (communal house) such as telling stories, dancing, singing folk songs. Co Tu girls have chance to exchange feelings and invite each other to play spring for a month-long.
5. New Year of Dao ethnic minority
New Year of the Dao ethnic minority usually takes place in the first month of the lunar calendar, beginning a new year with good weather and a lush green harvest. This is a nice traditional culture of Dao people.
Before the festival, Dao people usually prepare an altar. Altar column is made of four timbers, surrounded with bamboo. Inside the altar are three big round tubes, used as thuribles symbolizing sky, land and people. There is votive paper money in the censers. Space under of the alter is a bundle of sugar-cane to wish for sweet things.
At the festival, four youths wearing good clothes carry offerings on their heads to selected position from four different sides. Offering are boiled chicken, sticky cake, sweet cake and votive money paper. The offering tray must have male and female, so necessity has both cock and hen. The wizard reads aloud prayer for good weather, lush harvests, children’s successful study and happiness.
At the end of the ceremony, the people together take part in festival activities with folk game such as tug of war, pushing stick, con throwing. For con throwing, Dao people believe that if someone successfully throws at the first round they shall have much good luck.
6. New Year of Sedang ethnic minority
The Sedang in Kon Tum province celebrate their New Year in a very simple way. They have two primary New Year celebrations: Giot Nuoc (Water drop) and Lua (Fire).
The Giot Nuoc festival is usually held when one harvest ends and a new crop begins, usually in March of the solar calendar. After a crop ends, the Sedang prepare their troughs and practice the ceremony of trough worship with the hope that the Water Genie will give the whole village an abundance of rain and a highly productive harvest in the New Year.
This trough is a tool that the Sedang people use to drain water from the stream to their water containers. These troughs are usually made of a bamboo type tree. Every household brings jars and bronze pots to the troughs to transport water home. After that, they have a big feast that lasts for several days. The ceremony to the village’s common trough is performed at the communal house by the village head or the wizard. After the ceremony, the villagers enjoy many folk games, singing and dancing.
When it is the right time to start a new crop, the Sedang organize the Fire Festival to pray to the Fire Genie for the fertility of the land and high crop yields. The Sedang usually grow their crops on the sides of the mountains, not on flatlands or terraced fields. Thus, they have their own way of planting crops.
They burn plants to clear land for farming and take the ashes to use as fertilizer, then fit the seeds into holes they have dug.
7. New Year of H’mong ethnic minority
In December 25th and 26th, H’mong people start resting for New Year. Formerly, H’mong people didn’t make sticky rice cake but they consider meat, wine and corn cake to be necessary for the New Year banquet.
In the 30th evening of midnight, they worship their ancestors with a pig, a cock (a virginal one is the best). After that, they kill the pig and the cock. The cooked meat is worshipped then they enjoy the meal with wine until hearing the first crom of the cock.
From the 1st day of the Lunar New Year on, H’mong people wear new clothes and shoes to go out. Con (còn) throwing is one of folk games that they are very interested in. Besides, there are more activities such as khon (khốn) dancing, u (ụ) dancing, pipe singing, folk music singing, horse racing and cross-bow shooting.
Especially, talking about H’mong New Year, it can’t be lack of Sai San Festival, also known as Gau Tao Festival (praying festival), which is organized to respect ancestors of harvest, cattle and to pray for babies, happiness or longevity. If a family in the group has no children or their children are all either male or female, then the master of that household may ask the wizard to celebrate the Gau Tao festival- this is to ask for happiness. If another family whose members are always ill, the children are not living well or the crops often fail may also ask the wizard to hold the Gau Tao festival – this is to ask for luck for health and longevity.
8. New Year of Hre ethnic minority
New Year of the Hre ethnic group, who live in Quang Ngai province, lasts for several months. Each family must make large quantities of cylindrical glutinous rice cake, can wine and slaughter a buffalo to make a feast for guests, relatives and neighbours.
To celebrate New Year, all the villagers gather at the house of the village chief to enjoy the banquet and offer him their best wishes. Afterwards, they visit each other’s houses in the hamlet. During New Year, the locals enjoy good food and drink can wine while dancing and singing.
The Hre have their own unique way of counting their age. Each year, when local people make cake or serve guests during New Year, they wrap a plain cake without stuffing and have it as their individual portion. After eating this cake, they keep one leaf of the cake. They keep the leaves year after year, making them into a string that they hang from the main door of the house. The number of the leaves is equal to their age.
9. New Year of Thai ethnic minority
The Thai people in Son La and Lai Chau Provinces have a New Year season. The first one is Soong Sip New Year (New Rice New Year): when the rice is ripe in the field, the Thai people kill buffaloes and pigs, and cook new rice to make the offerings.
After Soong Sip New Year, they have Kim Mao Lao New Year (Drinking New Year), Ong Tao New Year (Kitchen God New Year) and Lunar New Year. The most joyful festival is the Xoe Thai dancing festival which lasts until the middle of January.
10. New Year of San Chi ethnic minority
When spring comes, the ethnic San Chi people start preparing for lunar New Year. They make traditional food to offer to their ancestors during the holiday. Like other ethnic groups, San Chi people also erect Neu poles from Vau trees – symbols of spring – to pray for peace and prosperity. High Neu poles, they believe, will bring good business. Any house without a pole is not considered to be really celebrating New Year.
Before lowering the Neu poles, the San Chi ethnic group select an auspicious direction to pray for support from the spirits. Then the New Year ends, the festival season begins.
New year of Vietnam ethnic minorities
No comments:
Post a Comment