>>“Pu Peo” ethnos - its customs, practices and customary laws
Ta Thi Tam
Ethnology Institute
Pu Peo is one of the smallest ethnic minority groups in
The Pu Peo, also called La Qua, Pen Ti or Pen Ti Lo Lo, is a Ka Dai language group living in the northwestern region since the 18th century.
The group lives mainly on swidden farming combined with rice cultivation on terraced fields. Apart from rice, maize and soya as the main crops, the Pu Peo grows kohlrabi, cabbage and some herbs for traditional medicine.
In the past, the Pu Peo lived in stilt houses but now changes to earthen houses. A house with thatched or tiled roof and earthen or bamboo walls usually has three or four compartments without a lean-to. The ancestor altar is placed in the most solemn part of the house. By two sides of the altar are beds.
Pu Peo family names include Cung, Trang, Phu, Vang, Thao, Chung, Lung, Cho, Giang, Lu and Leng. Family lines keep ties with one another, usually in pair, such as Ka bu-Ka bowng, Ka ru-Ka rua and Ka cung-Ka cum.
A Pu Peo man wears an indigo short-sleeve shirt split in the chest and trousers in the same color. In festive occasions, they wear indigo turbans and indigo or white shirts split in the right underarm.
The costume of a Pu Peo woman includes a byron collar undershirt, and a blouse and a long black skirt, both embroidered with the same patterns in the fringe. A Pu Peo woman has her hair rolled on the forehead and wears a colorful kerchief falling on her shoulders.
The Pu Peo follows monogamy which requires the wife to live with her husband’s family. Unlike other groups, a Pu Peo groom is not required to stay with his wife’s family for a certain time, but can live with her family if it does not have a son.
The Pu Peo forbids marriage among people of the same family line, or endogamy. However, marriage between the son of a sister and the daughter of her brother or between children of two sisters is allowed because they bear family names of their fathers.
According to Pu Peo custom, after his wife dies, a man can marry her sister. The brother of a man can also marry his sister-in-law after his brother’s death provided that she does not have a child with her husband. But two brothers are not allowed to marry two sisters of the same family.
A Pu Peo wedding undergoes many formalities. First, a matchmaker (mni) must go to the bride’s family to ask for its permission for the marriage, offering sticky rice wrapped in green banana leaves in square shape and some money in an even amount. With her family’s consent, the groom’s family chooses a good date for the engagement ceremony (kham chung) in which the matchmaker and the groom’s family bring offerings to the bride’s family, including a bamboo basket containing sticky rice and pork rib, red cloth, a pair of bowls, a bead necklace and a pair of bracelets. The bride’s family receives the offerings which will be offered to the family ancestors. The matchmaker then gives money (in an even amount) to all relatives of the bride present at the ceremony, with her parents and maternal uncles receiving bigger amounts. After the engagement, the groom’s family has to visit the bride’s family every lunar new year and new rice festival until the wedding party is held.
Before taking the bride home, the groom’s family must go through another formality called le xe xa in which the matchmaker brings to the bride’s family wedding offerings being two baskets of sticky rice, money and other offerings and, together with her family, choose the date to take the bride (van dua pua). On this day, the groom’s family comprising 14 or 16 people (in an even number) bring 5 baskets of sticky rice (one as food on the way), 2 meters of red cloth, a bead necklace, a pair of bowls and a cock. The bride’s family arranges a small table of wine and tea in front of the house. When the groom’s family arrives, the bride’s family sends its best singers to join the groom family’s in responsive singing. The two sides drink wine and tea and sing for 3 hours. After that, the groom’s family brings offerings to worship the bride’s ancestors. The matchmaker gives offerings and money to the bride’s parents, including tien cam pau (offering money) and tien pin me (payment for giving birth to and raising the bride). The bride’s relatives also receive money from the matchmaker. The parents then give the bride presents and dowry, asking the couple to be faithful to each other and live together in harmony. The two families then sing throughout the night. The next morning, the bride and groom kowtow to the ancestors and set out. The bridesmaid carries the bride on her back out of the house.
Under Pu Peo custom, at the bride’s first meal in her new home, the bride, groom and all family members must eat with their hands, picking up rice and food from a flat basket. After the meal, the groom’s relatives give wedding presents to the young couple. Three, seven or thirteen days after the wedding, the newlyweds visit the bride’s family, bringing offerings to show gratitude to her parents.
The new daughter-in-law is treated like a distinguished guest in her husband’s family. After giving birth to the first child, she has to return to her parents’ home to worship her family’s ancestors. If not, she is not allowed to enter the house through the main entrance door when she visits her family.
A Pu Peo funeral also has different formalities. When a person in a family dies, the family puts worshiping terra jars (long ten) slanting on the altar. The coffin is placed in the middle part of the house. The family invites a sorcerer to conduct a ritual in which the sorcerer reads worshiping speeches telling tales and legends of the Pu Peo. During funeral days, the family is not allowed to cook in the main kitchen, but in the middle part of the house, using a stove made from three stones. After carrying the coffin out of the house through the main entrance door, a family member sticks a star-shaped bamboo object onto the entrance door to prevent evil spirits. Before throwing the first handfuls of earth into the grave, the oldest son steps onto the coffin, kneeling down to greet the dead. He then hoes two times at the two sides of the grave and knocks on the coffin with the hoe. This act, which shows grief for the dead, is repeated by the brother or another relative of the dead. In the front, middle and end of the grave are placed with stones. The gravestone inscribed in Han (Chinese) is placed at the end of the grave. After the burial, the sorcerer prays for the dead’s spirit to unite with his ancestors. Arriving home, funeral participants must light a big fire outside the house to boil water to wash their hands. Hoes and shovels used to dig the grave must be kept in the barn for three days before they can be used again. The Pu Peo believes dead persons will be reborn in heaven (nhen vang).
The Pu Peo worships three generations of ancestors: parents (pe mai), grandparents (te ngan or gia ngan) and great grandparents (te ngao or gia ngao). On the altar are placed small terra jars, each symbolizing a generation. Although there is not a separate jar for worshiping great great grandparents, they are invited to return home in every offering ritual. A person who dies of drowning or falling from a tree is not worshipped on the altar and is regarded as an outside spirit (ma ngoai). Therefore, in every worshiping ceremony, the Pu Peo makes two trays of offerings, one for the ancestors and the other for outside spirits.
At present, the Pu Peo still use bronze drums in funerals or special festivities. The group possesses a rich folklore literature with many fairy tales and legends telling about its history, typically the tales of the Flood and the Mother gourd.-