The Bo Y Ethnic Group: Residence, Language, Worship Customs and Main Festivals

Who are the Bo Y and what is notable about their name?

Bo Y is the self-given name of this ethnic group. In older documents they also appear under names such as Chung Cha, Trong Gia, Trung Gia, Pau Y and Pu Di. These variations reflect how the group's name was recorded across different sources and periods before being standardised under the official state list.

According to the official list of Vietnam's ethnic groups, the Bo Y have two local subgroups, Bo Y and Tu Di, living in Ha Giang and Lao Cai. It is important to distinguish clearly: Bo Y and Tu Di are two local subgroups of one ethnic group, not two separate ethnic groups. This matters because ethnic classification in Vietnam rests on an official list of exactly 54 groups, issued with Decision No. 121-TCTK/PPCD dated 2 March 1979.

Population figures change with each census. The 2009 Population and Housing Census recorded 2,273 Bo Y people. The 2019 Survey of 53 Ethnic Minorities on 1 April 2019 recorded 3,232. This is one of the smaller ethnic groups in the country.

Where do the Bo Y live?

The Bo Y live in concentrated communities in Quan Ba (Ha Giang) and Muong Khuong (Lao Cai). Both are highland districts with divided terrain, located in the northern border area.

According to descriptions in materials on Vietnam's 54 ethnic communities, Bo Y houses are earthen-walled, with two roofs covered in thatch, wood or tiles. Houses usually have three bays, with a loft above set on crossbeams, used for storing grain and as sleeping space for unmarried sons. This house type reflects both highland terrain conditions and the way living space was organised by gender and age within the family.

One notable record is that Bo Y villages have been settled for many generations, and most buildings are fairly sturdy, with yin-yang tiles (trough tiles) or wooden tiles often seen on rammed-earth houses. This detail shows the community was not fully nomadic, but had settled in one place over a long period.

Which language family do the Bo Y speak?

The most distinctive point about Bo Y language is that the two local subgroups speak languages from two completely different families. The Bo Y subgroup speaks a Tay-Thai language of the Thai-Kadai family. The Tu Di subgroup speaks a Chinese language of the Sino-Tibetan family.

This difference matters when studying the community. It shows that the formation of the Bo Y in Vietnam was not a single uniform migration, but the result of several groups with different linguistic backgrounds settling together in the northern border area and being classified into one ethnic group under the official list.

As for writing, records note that some Bo Y people formerly used Chinese characters to record genealogies, write ritual texts and cast horoscopes. This fits the context of living near the border and having long cultural contact with communities using Chinese characters.

How is the historical origin of the Bo Y recorded?

According to materials from the Digital Transformation Centre (formerly the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs), the Bo Y migrated from China to Vietnam about 150 years ago. This is a relative date, consistently recorded in widely circulated materials on Vietnam's 54 ethnic communities.

It should be noted that the 150-year figure is an approximate number in introductory materials, not the result of scientific dating. Ethnographic studies generally use it to indicate a relatively late migration compared with many other groups in the northern mountains, rather than asserting a precise starting year.

Production and economic life of the Bo Y

The Bo Y were traditionally skilled at wet rice farming. However, on arriving in Vietnam and settling in highland areas, they mainly had to rely on slash-and-burn cultivation, with maize as the main crop. This is a clear example of how traditional production skills may need to be adjusted when terrain and soil conditions change.

Besides cultivation, each family usually has a small garden for vegetables. The Bo Y raise livestock and poultry, keep fish in rice fields, and know many crafts such as weaving, blacksmithing, pottery, stone carving, silver engraving, basketry and woodwork. This diversity of crafts shows that the community's economic life was not purely agricultural, but combined farming with side crafts serving local needs.

As for food, the characteristic dish mentioned is men men: finely ground maize, boiled until partly cooked and then steamed. This is a common way of preparing maize among many highland groups in the north, suited to conditions where maize is the staple crop.

What is notable about traditional Bo Y women's clothing?

Bo Y women's clothing is recorded as distinctive for its cool colour palette, the technique of creating patterns with beeswax on skirts, and a long chest bib. In the past, women wore flared skirts similar to those of Hmong women, with patterns made by applying beeswax to the fabric surface before indigo dyeing. The short five-panel jacket has detachable sleeves, with a bib covering the chest and belly.

Women wear silver jewellery including necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Hair is coiled up on top of the head, covered with an indigo scarf embroidered with coloured thread. Tu Di women dress in Chinese style but with detachable sleeves.

Records also note that today the Bo Y dress like the Nung in the same area, and their traditional weaving, dyeing and sewing are gradually fading. This is a descriptive record of the current situation, not a judgement of cultural value.

How was traditional Bo Y social relations organised?

According to the materials, traditional Bo Y society had clear class differentiation. The upper stratum included village heads (called pin thau) and helpers (called xeo phai). These terms were recorded in ethnographic materials, reflecting a stratified social structure in the past.

It should be noted that this describes the traditional social structure in the materials, not the present situation. The materials do not provide detailed figures on the degree of stratification or the number of people in each stratum.

How is the Bo Y worship altar arranged?

This is one of the most concretely recorded aspects of Bo Y religious life. On the altar are three incense bowls for heaven, the Kitchen God and ancestors. Under the altar is one incense bowl for the land deity.

This structure shows a combination of ancestor worship (common among many groups) with deities tied to living space and cosmology, namely heaven, the Kitchen God and the land deity. The Kitchen God in folk belief is usually associated with the hearth and watching over household affairs, while the land deity is tied to the land where one lives. Placing the land deity's incense bowl under the altar, not level with the three bowls above, reflects a hierarchy within the worship space.

Records also note a special case: if the wife's parents die with no one to worship them, the son-in-law sets up a small altar beside the door to worship them. This detail shows the son-in-law's role in maintaining worship when the wife's side has no one to take it on. This is a cultural practice to be described as it is, without attaching any claim about spiritual efficacy.

Which festivals do the Bo Y celebrate?

The Bo Y calculate days and months by the lunar calendar and have many festival occasions during the year. According to the materials, the main festivals include: New Year (Nguyen dan), the fifteenth of the first month, the thirtieth of the first month, Cold Food (Han thuc), Doan ngo, the sixth of the sixth month, the fifteenth of the seventh month, and New Rice.

The New Rice festival is held in the eighth or ninth lunar month, with banh chung, banh chay and coloured sticky rice. This occasion is tied to the agricultural cycle, usually held by farming communities after harvest.

Notably, the Bo Y festival system overlaps in many points with the seasonal calendar and customs of neighbouring communities, such as Cold Food, Doan ngo and the fifteenth of the seventh month. Sharing these occasions does not mean one community copied another, but reflects long cultural exchange in the border area.

Marriage, childbirth and funerals as recorded

On marriage, the traditional Bo Y wedding has three steps. First, the groom's family sends two matchmakers to the bride's house to ask for the girl's horoscope to compare ages. The bride's family usually shows goodwill by giving the groom's family ten red-dyed chicken eggs. If the ages are compatible, the groom's family sends two male matchmakers to return the horoscope and ask the bride price. The second step is the betrothal ceremony, after which the marriage is considered settled. The third step is the wedding, when the groom's family brings betrothal gifts to the bride's family, including food and a set of women's clothing.

One notable detail is that the groom does not go to fetch the bride. On moving to her husband's house, the bride rides a horse led by her husband's younger sister, carrying a pair of scissors and a small hen, which she releases into the forest halfway. These are specific ritual details, to be recorded as a description of custom, without reading further symbolic meaning when the materials do not explain it.

On childbirth, records note that women formerly practised sitting childbirth, cutting the umbilical cord with a bamboo sliver, and burying the placenta under the bed. Three days after birth, a ceremony was held for the midwife goddess and a childhood name given; the official name came at two or three years old. If the child was often ill, a godparent had to be found so the child's spirit had support.

On funerals, the materials describe the belief in bringing the deceased's soul back to the old homeland. Before the procession, four shots were fired, and when carrying the coffin the deceased's feet went first. From house to grave, three stops were required if the spouse was still alive, or four if the spouse had died. The family observed three years of mourning, during which sons could not drink alcohol, daughters could not wear jewellery, and children could not marry.

Music, performance and games at festivals

Among the Tu Di subgroup, the Bo Y often sing antiphonal songs at spring markets or at home, with lyrics in Chinese, accompanied by leaf horns. This is a cultural activity tied to the market and community living space.

At festivals, the Bo Y play games such as swinging, Chinese chess, spinning tops and khang. Going to market is also a regular need for highland border residents, both young and old, and market days are also occasions for meeting, exchange and cultural activity.

What should be kept in mind when learning about the Bo Y?

First, the Bo Y consist of two local subgroups, Bo Y and Tu Di. When reading materials, it is important to distinguish what is common to the whole group and what is specific to each subgroup. For example, language and women's clothing differ clearly between the two.

Second, population figures differ between censuses. The figure of 2,273 in the 2009 Census and 3,232 in the 2019 Survey of 53 Ethnic Minorities do not conflict, but reflect different times and survey scopes.

Third, many customs are described in the past tense, such as sitting childbirth, cutting the umbilical cord with a bamboo sliver, and traditional dress. These describe past or changing practices, and should not be taken as the present situation of the whole community.

Fourth, introductory materials on Vietnam's 54 ethnic communities are highly general. For a small group spread across two provinces, detailed ethnographic studies by locality may record differences that overview materials do not fully reflect. Where sources differ, this should be noted as a difference rather than assuming one source is standard.