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Fire-jumping festival of the Pa Then
The Pa Then, one of three Hmong-Dao language groups in Vietnam, live in the northern mountainous provinces of Ha Giang and Tuyen Quang.

PHAM THI THU HA

Ethnology Institute

The Pa Then, one of three Hmong-Dao language groups in Vietnam, live in the northern mountainous provinces of Ha Giang and Tuyen Quang, with a population of around 5,600.

The group, which calls itself Pa Hung, originally lived in China and was called Hung Dao or Thau Dao. Pa Then legend told that eight family lines of the group immigrated into Vietnam, crossing big rivers and straits by boat. When reaching present Mong Cai of Quang Ninh province, a member of a line died and this line had to stop to hold burial rites for him for three days. The other lines continued going, leaving behind green branches at crossways as signs for the other group. Unfortunately, running wild boars pushed the branches to the north, leading the following group to the northern region, which finally settled in present Hong Quang and Chiem Hoa areas of Tuyen Quang province. From Tuyen Quang, the Pa Then moved to Quang Binh and Bac Quang districts, Ha Giang province. Living in a strange land with language barrier, the Pa Then, who were absconders afraid of revenge, chose a nomadic life in remote areas.

The Pa Then, also called Meo Lai, Meo Hoa or Meo Do, live on upland cultivation, growing mainly rice and maize. They also grow taro and bean. Elderly or experienced people are responsible for choosing land for cultivation. Picking up forest products used to be a main economic activity.

The Pa Then raise cattle to serve farming work and poultry for food and rituals. The group’s handicrafts are mainly weaving and knitting and pro-ducts are bartered with other groups.

Pa Then people have two main meals a day with rice and boiled or fried food. The group celebrates Tet (lunar new year festival) like other ethnic minority groups in the northeastern region.

The costume of a Pa Then woman includes a shirt (ke tu), a skirt (ket tanh) and inner and outer scarves (khan). Patterns on Pa Then clothing are mostly shapes of crosses and lozenges.

Pa Then villages are located at the foot of mountains close to big streams. They live in stilt, semi-stilt and ground houses.

The Pa Then have different family names, including Phu, Tan, Tay, Hung and Sinh. A family name is transcribed in two ways: in Chinese and Pa Then language.

In Pa Then patriarchal families, the father or oldest son makes decisions on all affairs.

The Pa Then follow monogamy. Men hardly have concubines unless they do not have children. Pa Then people get married at the age of 15-16. Marriage between family line members is prohibited.

A Pa Then man can temporarily or permanently live with his wife’s family. The duration for a man to temporarily live with his wife’s family is 12 years. A man who does not want to stay for a full 12 years can pay for his stay, i.e., he can pay a silver coin for each year of leaving earlier. Still, he must stay for at least six years. A man who permanently lives with his wife’s family must worship ancestors of his own family and his wife’s.

Having many children is the wish of all Pa Then families. Children in a family are called after their order, i.e., first, second, third, etc. Only when being grown up, they have official names, which will be used for their whole life. The naming of boys often goes together with certain formalities while that of girls does not. A married woman is called after her husband’s name until she dies.

Pa Then people believe that death is followed by life in another world. Therefore, they carefully hold burial rites for the dead in the hope that they will live happily in the after world. When a person dies, a member of his/her family will fire three shots. After being bathed and dressed by other family members, the dead is placed on a bamboo plank in front of the family altar. At a head of the plank is placed a bowl of rice with a shelled boiled egg. On the corpse are put 12 bowls, which symbolize 12 souls of human. The coffin, which is made of two halves of a hollow trunk, is buried together with 12 cans of fried rice, covered by tissue paper and then a mat or blanket. Hoes and shovels used in the burial must be put on the trees for three days.

The Pa Then only worship ancestors even though the group believes in the existence of supernatural spirits. A Pa Then altar is a piece of wood in the shape of an upside-down U, on which is placed a covered bowl of water and an incense burner.

The most important agricultural ritual of the Pa Then is the annual new rice ceremony during which, they pick up some new rice, then dry, pound and cook it. The cooked rice is offered on the altar in three bowls together with other food such as gourd and wild vegetables. After being offered to ancestors, the rice and food are given to such livestock as dog, cat and pig and other family members.

The group also has a rite to pray for rain during which, crabs and tortoises, regarded as representing the king of river, are offered, or men create sounds like falling rain with bamboo bars and women in wet clothes go around the village.

Pa Then folklore is rich with numerous fairytales, folksongs and musical instruments such as khen be (pan-pipe) and sao truc (bamboo flute).

The Pa Then still preserve many traditional festivities and customs, the most original of which is nhay lua (fire jumping), a harvesting festival. Nhay lua, which is held sometime between the 15th of lunar December and the 15th of lunar January, starts with lighting a fire for a deity worshiping rite conducted by a wizard. Offerings for the rite, which lasts several hours before nhay lua, include an incense-burner, an iron musical instrument, a chicken, 10 cups of wine and paper money. The wizard, who is surrounded by young men, sits on a bench, beating two iron objects to create repeated sounds. The young men then sit on the bench in turn, starting to get into a trance. Bending down and shaking their bodies, the young men started jumping. Within moments, they turned strong and jumped into the fire without feeling hot. Some even lay down in the fire before jumping out. Pa Then people believe that the duration a man can jump in a fire depends on his strength bestowed by deities, which keeps him from being burned. Nowadays, nhay lua is still held in Pa Then villages during Tet, being an attractive cultural trait for tourists.-

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