Ta Thi Tam
Ethnology Institute
The Dao, a Hmong-Dao language group, is the ninth largest ethnic minority group in Vietnam with a population of over 620,000.
The group, also called Trai, Man, Kim Mun and Kim Mien, which all mean mountain people, migrated into Vietnam between the 8th and 17th centuries from Fujian and Guangdong provinces of China, living in the northern mountainous provinces of Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Quang Ninh, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lai Chau, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, Son La, Hoa Binh and Phu Tho. They also live in the Central Highlands and some southeastern provinces such as Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc.
The Dao is divided into 7 subgroups, namely Dao Tien, Dao Do, Dao Quan Chet (wearing tight trousers), Dao Thanh Phan, Dao Quan Trang (wearing white trousers), Dao Thanh y and Dao Ao dai (wearing long shirts), which are distinguished from one another by their costumes. Colors and patterns are the most important elements of Dao costumes.
The Dao grows rice and subsidiary crops on hills and wet rice at the foot of low mountains. In some places, the group grows industrial crops such as cinnamon, anise and cardamom.
They also raise cattle (buffalo, cow, goat and pig) and poultry mostly for rituals and offerings and do some handicrafts such as weaving, blacksmithing, paper making and vegetable oil extraction.
The Dao lives in a patriarchal family where the husband and father make decisions on important family affairs. Nevertheless, traces of the former matriarchal regime can be seen in the power of the maternal uncle who may give decisive opinions on the marriage of his nieces.
The Dao follows monogamy even though in the past, wealthy men or those without sons often had concubines.
In a Dao family, the relation between father- and brother-in-law and daughter- and sister-in-law follows strict rules like other groups such as Tay and Nung.
Although sons are respected, daughters are loved in Dao families. Families without or with few children often adopt children who are loved and have rights like natural children.
The Dao has 12 main family names, of which Ban, Dang and Trieu are the largest. Each line has its own family annals and a system of middle names to distinguish generations. Heads of family lines play an influential role in families.
The Dao’s main residential unit is village which is often built at the foot of mountains or close to streams and forests. The group used to lead a nomadic life and thus moved their villages every two or three years. They now settle down.
Each Dao village has a temple to worship the tutelary god. Villagers make offerings to the tutelary god on the first day of every lunar February to pray for peace (which is also called the spring ritual). They hold the sowing ceremony in April, the autumn ritual in July and the harvesting ritual in October. On these occasions, villagers gather in the village wizard’s house, preparing two trays of offerings for deities under a ritual conducted by the wizard. Wizards, who are usually village heads, have great power in Dao villages.
Community spirit is relatively high in Dao society. Villagers get support from the community when they suffer misfortunes or have family affairs such as wedding and funeral.
The Dao lives in stilt, semi-stilt and ground houses. Before building a house, a Dao family must check the age of family members, especially the host’s, to see if it is the right time for such building. The formality to select land is important. At the site planned for the new house, at night, a hole as big as a bowl is dug into which rice is poured in the shapes of men, buffaloes, cows, money, rice and property. The hole is then covered with a bowl. The dream the host has during that night is believed to give the good or bad omen. If the rice stays unchanged the next morning, the house may be built.
Before marriage, a couple must go to a fortune teller who will foresee if they are a good match by seeing a chicken leg. When the groom’s family comes to take the bride, they must first sing alternate songs with the bride’s family which will stretch a string across the entrance door to keep the groom’s family from entering the house. The groom’s family must send good singers to win words challenged by the bride’s family. If they fail, they must drink wine before taking the bride. On the way to her husband, the bride is carried across three streams. From the fourth stream, she has to go herself. The time the bride arrives at her husband’s house as well as her birth time must not coincide with the birth times of her parents-in-law and her husband. If such times coincide, the bride will step over a burning cloth in a bowl or a fire in a sink together with her husband to relieve the family from misfortunes. The next morning, when washing her face, the bride will drop two coins in the family’s sink, implying that she buys water in the hope that she will get along well with her husband’s family.
A geomancer plays an important role in a Dao funeral. He is responsible for conducting rituals and finding the grave site. The Dao has a taboo on shrouding the dead at the birth times of family members. A funeral is held for three days with separate formalities. The first day is for breaking the hell to free the soul of the dead. The second day is for bathing the dead before bringing his/her spirit to the family’s altar. The last day is for granting a title to the dead. Stones are put around the edge of a Dao grave. In some places, the Dao incinerates the dead aged 12 or older.
Worshiping ancestors is the main belief of the Dao who also has agricultural rituals and other traditional beliefs. The group is deeply influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Particularly, all Dao groups worship their common ancestor father, Ban Vuong. A formality significant to the life of a Dao man is to receive a title granted by Ban Vuong, which symbolizes his maturity.
This formality must be held for boys aged between 12 and 18 who, otherwise, are not considered grown-ups. Those who do not go through this ritual are not allowed to pray before the ancestor altar and can hardly get married or become a wizard. When dying, their souls are believed to be unable to return to their native land, Yangzhou in China.
The Dao celebrates Tet, the lunar new year, like the Viet. Before Tet, villagers gather in the house of the village head or a villager to celebrate Tet Nhay (jumping festival) during which people beat drums, wave flags, sing and dance, wishing for favorable weathers, bumper crops and prosperity.
On the 29th and 30th of lunar December, wizards come to each villager’s house to conduct rituals and stick talismans on the house to prevent evil spirits. At the new year’s Eve, the Dao sticks incense in front of their houses to guide family spirits to return home for Tet and in the kitchen in the wish that the family will have abundant food in the new year.
At the Eve time, villagers go to streams to fetch water to put onto the altar and wash their face with the remaining water in hope for a happy and prosperous new year.
Early in the first morning of the new year, young men with a torch in one hand and a knife in the other hand will run outside and then inside their houses, beating into the air with the knife and shouting loudly “away the last ghost” to keep evil spirits away. Each family or each couple living in a bigger family will then prepare a new year meal to offer to ancestors. During Tet, the Dao must put on their altars a red peach blossom and a white plum blossom to prevent evil spirits and pray for happiness. They also hang parallel sentences composed in Nom (Chinese-transcribed Vietnamese)-Dao language by the host or presented by friends or relatives.
Dao folklore includes tales, the most remarkable of all is about Ban Vuong, the ancestor of the group. The group also has riddles, proverbs, verses and folksongs, reflecting social relations and human behavior towards the nature. Pictures for worship are a typical trait of Dao culture.
The Dao treasure of knowledge includes formulas of precious herbs used in bath that can treat diseases and improve health. After giving birth, Dao women have bath with herbs that help them recover quickly. Those herbs now become a popular product for tourists.-