To Dong Hai
Perhaps “Thuy” and “Tong” are among the smallest ethnic minority groups in North Vietnam mountain regions, with the population of only 55 and 50 respectively.
The “Thuy” people reside in Hong Quang commune, Chiem Hoa district, Ha Giang province. Since time immemorable, they have called themselves “Sui” or “Suay” meaning water in their dialect. Yet, they have been called “Meo nuoc” (water cat) by neighboring ethnoses.
With milpa farming as their main source of livelihood, the people of this ethnic group have led a nomadic life on high mountains in far-flung and thinly- populated areas. As usual, thereafter, lunar new year festival, they start fetching new land to build their milpas and wait until the dry season (around the second or third moon) to fell trees and slash the fields. One month thereafter people choose a good day to burn such trees for milpa construction and prepare rice seeds selected from the previous harvest and stored on the kitchen shelves. It has been customary that after the third day of the third moon, the Thuy people start their new rice crop, putting seeds in holes. Within seven days after the seeding, the people of this ethnic group refrain from donating or lending rice to others for fear that the rice soul would be scarced away, thus causing crop failure. When the rice plants reach the height of 20 to 30 cm, the Thuy people make the first weeding of their rice milpa with hands. The second weeding is always made before the 15th of the seventh lunar month. They use the scissor-like tools, called “nhip”, to reap their rice plants which are bundled together and sun-dried right on the fields before being carried home.
The “Thuy” people live scatteredly on vast areas in earthen houses roofed with leaves and walled with bamboo wattles. Each family shelters in such a house which has two doors, one in the middle and the other in a house gable. The Thuy people’s traditional house is partitioned in different compartments with different functions. The first compartment is used as kitchen for cooking food and animal feed and storing cooking utensils like cooking pots, pans, bowls, plates... The middle compartment is divided into two sections: the small section is used as bed room of the house master and his wife and the larger section is used for ancestral altar decorated with a sheet of color paper.
According to former customs of this ethnic group, boys and girls aged 15 were allowed to get married. People bearing different family names could marry each other; hence, children of sisters could marry children of their brothers.
The marriage between people of this ethnic group has to go through different steps:
Step one: After agreeing to lead a married life, a young couple has to report such to their respective parents. The boy’s family shall ask the match maker to go to the girl’s family, proposing the marriage. As customary, the match- maker has to bring along two bottles of white liquor for drinking while talking to the girl’s family.
Step two: The boy’s family shall organize a rite called “ninh hieng cai” (chicken webbed foot reading). If the webbed foot shows good, the boy’s family shall present the girl with two silver coins as the engagement gift.
Step three: The “phen hec” rite (asking for the wedding presents). The girl’s family puts forth conditions before agreeing to their girl’s marriage proposed by the boy’s family. Usually such presents shall include 20 taels of silver, 4 pigs, 12 bottles of alcohol. For well-off families, the sum of money may reach 100 taels of silver. Only for one to three years after the “phen hec” rite, which mean that after the boy’s family has met all the conditions set by the girl’s family for one to three years can the wedding be organized.
Step four: The “he bec” (wedding ceremony). On the wedding day, people, including relatives, friends and neighbors come to the two families, assisting them to prepare for the wedding ceremony. The groom’s family shall organize a bride-taking delegation comprising 6 to 8 persons, going to the bride’ family. They must calculate time so that the delegation can arrive at the bride’s house just before twilight. On that night, people will join a party, singing folk songs which praise the parents’ services in bringing up the children and advise the young couple on good things.
Several days after the wedding, the newly wed and a middle-age person in the groom’ family shall bring some presents to the bride’s family for a re-visit and stay there for two days.
Patriarchy has been advocated for long by the Thuy people. In the family, the father plays the decisive role. When the father gets old or dies, the family affairs shall be administered by the eldest son. And only sons in the family are entitled to inherit assets from their deceased parents.
When women are in the family way, they must abstain from spashing water into the fire, from mending clothes in the room, from stepping over the buffalo rope..., for fear that all these would affect the to be born children. When a child is born people often plant a tree branch in front of their house as a sign that the family is having a woman in childbirth and that visitors are not welcomed.
According to the Thuy people’s customs, dead persons are buried in flat areas with their heads not turning to their houses. Like people of other ethnic groups, children have to be in mourning for their parents for three years, during which they must not join in any happy occasion such as wedding or entertainment activities. The Thuy people worship their ancestors for five generations. The worship offerings shall be roaster for the parents, chow meat for the grandparents and pork for the great grandparents or senior.
Also residing in Ha Giang province (Trung Son and Kim Quan communes, Yen Son district) is the Tong ethnos in the same language family of Tay - Thai with the Thuy ethnic group. However, now the Tong people do not use their mother tongue but only the Dao language in their daiy life.
For the Tong people, milpa farming is only second to wet rice farming which they have practiced for long now. The yields from their milpa are used only for husbandry.
The Tong people live in stilted or earthen houses, each sheltering a patriarchal family where the father is the true master playing the decisive role. If he dies, his eldest son will undertake such role, administering all family affairs. Like the Thuy ethnic group, only sons in the families are entitled to inherit assets from their deceased parents.
According to the Tong customs, women, when pregnant, must abstain from stepping over the buffalo or horse ropes for fear that problems may arise when they give birth to their children. After childbirth, they must also abstain from eating banana, wild-animal meat except flesh of black pigs. They are also not allowed to receive visitors in their own rooms. Married women must not give birth to their children in their parents’ home as people of this ethnic group avoid letting others to give birth to children at their houses.
Funeral is organized by the Tong people in a fairly complicated manner. The dead persons are dressed up with new clothings while their own clothings must be buried together with them. When carrying the dead persons to the graveyard, their family members must place on top of the coffin a bowl of rice and a boiled chicken. The graves also turn to the northeast. When lowering the coffin, people mince the chicken, mixing it with rice for sprinkling the mixture around the coffin. To the Tong people, that is the food to be used by the dead person on his/her way to the other world. When the grave is filled up, the sorcerer is the first person to throw a lump of earth into the grave, who is followed by the eldest son and the younger brother of the dead person.
While the dead body of their parent still lay in state in the house, the children must abstain from eating pork until the end of the funeral service.
Children shall mourn their parents for three years. The wives mourn their deceased husbands also for three years but the husbands do not have to wear the mourning crepe for their deceased wives. The mourning dresses worn by the people of this ethnic group are white. It is therefore in the wedding ceremony, they abstain from wearing white dresses.
Ancestral worship is their belief. Besides, the Tong people also worship the kitchen ghost. In their houses, they put up two altars: one at the door called “chui ke to” to worship their forefathers of 4 or more generations; and the other is placed in the middle compartment, called “coong pu” to worship their ancestors for under four generations, including their parents. The kitchen ghost altar, called “chui ke pi”, is placed in the kitchen. The rites for worshipping the kitchen ghost must be conducted secretely at mid-night without letting people outside the family know. Only the family members and the sorcerer are allowed to enjoy this worshing party. The Tong people also abstain from pouring water or drying wet clothes on the kitchen for fear that the kitchen would be filthy and jumbled up, hence they shall be punished by the kitchen ghost.
Besides ancestors and kitchen ghosts, the Tong people also believe in the existence of forest ghosts, mountain ghosts, water ghosts. In a year, the people of this ethnic group see different festive occasions such as new year festival, the fifteen of the first moon festival (called “nham chiu sap ngo”), the grave-visiting festival (called “nham nhi xin minh”) in the second lunar month, the ancestor- and kitchen ghost- worshipping festival (called “nham dooc so dooc”) on the sixth of the sixth lunar month, etc.
Private property ownership has been fully respected by Tong people. Those who infringe upon such right would be considered thieves and burglars and subject to severe punish-ment including expulsion from the community. The Tong customary laws also punish those who have close blood ties (within three generations) but marry each other.
Though with very small populations, the people of Thuy and Tong ethnic groups have firmly maintained their own customs and practices, which have contributed to preserving their own ethnic identities. So, it is necessary now to protect and bring into full play the fine customs and practices of these ethnoses so that they can build their abundant and happy life together with people of other ethnic groups throughout the country.-