Tet holiday of black Tay people in Ha Giang

Ha Giang is a province belong to the Northeast with many ethnic groups lived and Black Tay people are also a majority ethnic group with many beautiful customs that express traditional and culture of their region. If we learn customs in Tet holiday of Black Tay people, we will see many beayties in worship ancestors, community connection as well as their emotions for country.

Black Tay people enjoy a Tet holiday in the way that different from other ethnic groups. In their opinion, they worked hard all year, so Tet are happy days for visiting or caring each others. Each family must have a pig that use as food in Tet holiday. From 15 of december(Lunar calendar), they will kill their pig and invite relatives, neiberhoods in village to enjoy meat. After killed the pig, the host burn incense on altar and report to their ancestors that they feeded a fat pig and they want to invite ancestors back to home and enjoy Tet holiday with them. Head, tail and visaces of this pig is boiled and spread out with sticky rice on the altar as a meal for ancestors. Other parts of the pig, they cut on big pieces, mix with salts and hang on the stair of the kitchen, they will become dry meat that use as food on Tet holiday and gift for relatives. Every body come, eat meat and sing “Luon” songs, this meal usually pass from afternoon to next day. After meat meal, tools for work as plough share, hoe, mandrel is cleaned and put in the coner of kitchen.

On the 30, every family make Chung cake. Chung cake has shape like a shrimp long and curved. There are two kinds of Chung cake : black and white and they add cadamon nut inside Chung cake to avoid rotten. After boiling Chung cake, they clean altars, trim incense rod, kill a capon to make a meal for ancestors and decorate two sides of altar with two sugar-cane. Black Tay people believed that who can stay awake and wait to hear “cock-crow” on the first day of the year will be intelligent and resourceful.

On the first day of New Year, each family eat tea with sugar and wash their face by water of peach-blossom. Bufalow and cow are also eat Chung cake. After breakfast , they visit parent’s home of the man in family first, eat a cosy meal with them, then go to visit other family in village. Young people take part in some activities as: throw “con”, shoot with a crossbow, tug of war.

On the second day, they wake up early and wash leg and head of chicken, bring chicken to before altar, pray ancestors and kill chicken, they use votive paper absorb bloods of chicken and put these paper on the altar. After that, they arrange a meal with twelve disks as a symbols of twelve months in year. In the Tet meal, every body must wait until grands eat and give blesses for them and then they can eat and bless grand. Lucky money for children usually are 2000 to 5000 VND or Chung cakes. Tet meal continue with happy atmosphere and songs, wishes. In the evening of third day, each family kill chicken again to make a meal to see off ancestorscome back the world of the dead and burn votive papers. In the fourth day, they prepare a meal and bring to the farm to worship Land God, Water God and take the first hoe up ground.

After fourth day, all family come back to visit parents of the woman and take part in a meal as a thank for bring up his wife.

Through out Tet holiday, the husban must cook meal, feed cattle, the wife take care of chldrens and the older not need do housework. In three days of Tet, they abstain bring vegetables or trees in to their house, so vegetable for meal on Tet must be cut from 30. Black Tay people will invite neighbohoods or relatives eat e meal if in 3 days of Tet they can’t invite them. In 15, January, they will kill chicken and make Chung cake again and worship Forest God on 30, February. In the end of worship forest, Tet holiday really end.

Through these customs on Tet holiday, we can see the respectability of Black Tay people to the old, emotion, aid, close-knit with each other, appreciation nature, woman. From cattle to production tools are also take a rest on Tet holiday. These customs really beautiful and typical for cultural of Viet Nam.