Unique culture of ethnic minorities in Vietnam on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2023

 Unique culture of ethnic minorities in Vietnam on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2023

The 2023 Lunar New Year has a very special meaning and is the biggest holiday of the year imbued with Vietnamese national identity. Because Tet is not only a milestone marking the beginning of the new year, but also adorned by countless traditional and cultural beauty of 54 ethnic groups across the country. Here are some unique and interesting customs of ethnic minorities that not everyone knows

Photo of the Lo To ethnic group

1. The custom of praying for good luck at the beginning of the new year

The custom of stealing for luck of the Lo To people

At the time of New Year's Eve on the night of the 30th New Year, people in the village often have the custom of stealing things to get good luck at the beginning of the new year. In particular, the amount and items the Lo To people take will vary depending on where they live. For the Lo To people living in Dong Van district - Ha Giang, they will often steal an object with the quantity of 12, which symbolizes 12 months. As for the Lo To people living in Meo Vac - Ha Giang, they love the number 3 and consider it a lucky number, so they will steal 3 each.

The custom of pasting red paper of Cao Lan people

Red is an extremely popular color in the early days of the new spring and is considered a color that brings joy and auspiciousness (See detailed horoscopes for the year 2023 of the 12 Zodiacs of the Year of the Rabbit at soivanmenh.net). Therefore, the Cao Lan people who enter before the first 2 days of the new year 2023 often decorate the door, entrance gate or cattle barn, ... stickers cut with red paper with the meaning of New Year of the Rabbit, more luck and new year. peace, prosperity, good fortune( Tu vi 2023)

The chicken yelling custom of the Pu Peo people

The Pu Peo people have a very unique New Year's custom that is "hating each other" or also known as "robbing chicken voice". Usually, on New Year's Eve, everyone will watch over the rooster in the house together. When the chickens flapped their wings and prepared to crow, they immediately set off firecrackers and threw them into the coop to startle the chickens. At this time, all young and old, boys and girls sing together, over the sound of the cock crowing. The louder the house, the better it sings, and the more it beats the chicken, the more blessings and luck you will have in the New Year.

2. The custom of praying for a good harvest

The custom of sticking ashes and throwing sticky rice on the roofs of Gie Trieng people

The Gie Trieng people live mainly in Kon Tum and Quang Nam, have a traditional New Year custom called Cha Cha (also known as eating coal). This custom originates from the concept that on New Year's Day, whoever has the most coal ashes will have more luck in the new year 2023, the wind will be peaceful, the harvest will be bountiful....

Photo of Gie Trieng people

In order to get a lot of coal ashes, the young men in the village on the 26th or 27th of Tet will go to the forest to burn wood and bring the ashes back to the village. Women in the village will blow the fire to cook sticky rice, then bring the cooked sticky rice to a dry rag tree and burn it to ashes. These two types of ashes on the 1st day of the New Year will be thrown high, the more ashes the person gets, the more blessings they will receive.

See also: How many more days until Tet 2023 - See Tet Holiday Schedule 2023

The Nung custom of not wrapping banh chung on even days

Nung ethnic people also have the custom of wrapping banh chung and banh tet to welcome the new spring like the Kinh people. However, the Nung people often abstain from wrapping the cake on even days because they believe that this does not bring good luck, which can cause some bad consequences such as landslides, crops being destroyed by birds, etc. In addition, the Nung will also stick red paper on labor tools and on the stumps around the house, for the purpose of praying to the gods to bless the new year with a smooth and bountiful harvest.

The custom of calling buffaloes to eat Tet of the Muong people

The Muong people living in Hoa Binh on New Year's Eve have the custom of knocking the stove to light the torch to call the buffalo. At the same time, they also hang cakes on farming tools such as plows, shovels, poles, ... to celebrate Tet with their families. This custom has the meaning of repaying the pets for their hard work and loyalty to the owner who plows all year round. Besides, the Nung believe that the buffalo or laborer also needs to rest after hard days in the fields.

Photo: Muong people's custom of calling buffaloes for Tet

3. The custom of asking for love

The custom of slapping the buttocks of the H'Mong people

Sai San or Gau Tao (festival for blessings) is the biggest festival of the year showing the typical culture of the H'Mong people. In which, activities such as throwing pao, singing pipes, singing love relationships, dancing shen, dancing umbrellas, etc. are the most popular activities to pray for love. Young H'mong boys and girls on the first day of the new year 2023 often gather at the foot of the mountain to welcome and celebrate Spring. If they notice a girl, the boys will pat her butt and find a place to spend all night and all morning.

Husband arrest ceremony in the Central Highlands

Ethnic people of Chu Ru, Cil, Co Ho ... living in the Central Highlands every New Year to Spring is the festival season to catch husbands. The custom of forcing the husband to take place at night, if she likes a guy, she will return to inform her family and clan. After that, the girl will go with the adult in the family to the boy's house to ask, if there is agreement of both parties, the girl will wear a ring for the boy to be considered engaged.

The festival of washing the "tang dog" of the white Thai people

White Thai people in Son La, Lai Chau, Dien Bien on the 30th day of the New Year will invite each other to the stream to let go of their hair and wash their hair. They believe that clean hair is also a bad omen.

Business information:

Website: https://phongthuyso.vn/ 

Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/tuvanphongthuysovn 

Email: phongthuyso.vn@gmail.com 

Location: Số 27 To Vinh Dien - Thanh Xuan - Ha Noi - Viet Nam