Origin and community characteristics
The Dao Quan Chet are a local group of the Dao ethnic minority, residing mainly in northern mountainous provinces of Vietnam, including Phu Tho. Their name comes from their traditional costume with tight-fitting trousers, distinguishing them from other Dao groups like Dao Do or Dao Tien. They typically live in small villages on mountain slopes, cultivating swidden fields and terraced rice paddies, closely connected to nature.
For the Dao Quan Chet, the Lunar New Year (Tet) is not just a rest after a hard working year, but also a sacred time to connect with ancestors, deities, and the community. Their Tet customs reflect their spiritual life, beliefs, and unique cultural identity, preserved through generations.
Pre-Tet preparations
Cleaning and decorating
Around the 20th to 25th day of the 12th lunar month, each Dao Quan Chet family begins a thorough cleaning of their house and yard. This act symbolizes sweeping away misfortunes of the old year and welcoming the new one. They also clean around the house and the family cemetery area. The worship space inside the house is carefully cleaned, with new votive papers placed on the ancestor altar. A neu tree (if any) is often erected in front of the house to mark the boundary between old and new year and to ward off evil spirits.
Making chung and day cakes
Chung cake (square sticky rice cake) and day cake (round glutinous rice cake) are indispensable in the Tet feast of the Dao Quan Chet. Chung cake symbolizes Earth, day cake symbolizes Heaven, reflecting the round-square philosophy common in Vietnamese culture. They wrap chung cakes with mung bean and pork fillings, using dong leaves from the forest. The cakes are boiled for many hours until tender. Day cakes are pounded from fragrant sticky rice, shaped round and flat. These activities usually take place on the 29th or 30th of the lunar year, gathering family members around a warm fire.
Main rituals on New Year's Eve and Tet days
Ancestor worship on New Year's Eve
At the moment of transition from old to new year, the head of the family lights incense on the ancestor altar. The offering tray includes chung cake, day cake, whole boiled chicken, colored sticky rice, white liquor, and local fruits. The Dao Quan Chet believe that ancestors return to earth to reunite with descendants, witnessing their sincerity and blessing the family.
Unlike the Kinh people, the Dao Quan Chet often perform the New Year's Eve offering outdoors first, facing the main door or yard, to welcome deities and ancestors from afar. Then they offer indoors. In prayers, they ask ancestors for health, prosperity, and good harvests.
Rituals to forest gods and personal guardian deities
The Dao Quan Chet practice polytheism, with forest gods, mountain gods, and personal guardian deities playing important roles. During Tet, they often hold ceremonies at the village sacred forest to thank deities for protection in the past year and pray for a peaceful new year. Offerings typically include chicken, liquor, cakes, and incense. This ritual shows respect for nature, the source of community life.
Additionally, each family performs a ritual to the personal guardian deity for each member. According to Dao belief, each person has a guardian deity since birth. During Tet, they offer sacrifices to strengthen the bond with this deity, praying for health and safety.
Warding off evil spirits and attracting luck
On New Year's Eve and the morning of the first day, the Dao Quan Chet often light fires in front of their houses, both for warmth and to drive away evil spirits. They also sprinkle ash or salt around the house to prevent bad things from entering. Some families hang green leaves or amulets at the door, following folk beliefs.
On the first day of the new year, people avoid sweeping the house, fearing to sweep away fortune and luck. Children are told not to cry or say unlucky words. Adults wake up early, light incense, and exchange good wishes. They believe that what happens on the first day influences the whole year.
Customs during Tet days
First day: Ancestor worship and New Year greetings
On the morning of the first day, each family prepares another offering tray for ancestors with traditional dishes. After the offering, the family shares the first meal of the year. The Dao Quan Chet have the custom of visiting neighbors and relatives to wish them a happy new year. Visitors often bring a bottle of liquor or small cakes, showing affection and community bonds. New Year wishes often include health, bountiful harvests, and livestock growth.
Second and third days: Visiting and gatherings
On the second and third days, the Dao Quan Chet often hold family and clan gatherings. Descendants living far away return home, sharing memories and planning for the new year. This is also an occasion to resolve any clan conflicts, if any, to promote harmony.
Visiting pagodas and graves
Although their main belief is polytheism, due to Vietnamese cultural influence, many Dao Quan Chet families also visit pagodas during Tet to pray for peace. They also visit ancestral graves, clean and light incense, showing gratitude to their roots.
Community games and activities
Tet of the Dao Quan Chet is incomplete without folk games such as spinning tops, throwing con (cloth ball), tug of war, and stick pushing. These activities often take place in the village yard or open land, attracting many young people. Especially, antiphonal singing between men and women is a distinctive cultural feature, strengthening community bonds and providing opportunities for courtship.
Typical Tet cuisine
Besides chung and day cakes, the Dao Quan Chet prepare specialties like smoked meat, sausages, pickles, and wild vegetables. White liquor fermented from sticky rice is indispensable in the feast. Colored sticky rice (red, purple) dyed with forest leaves often appears during festivals, symbolizing luck and prosperity.
Changes and preservation
In the context of modernization, many Tet customs of the Dao Quan Chet have changed. Handmade chung cakes are less common due to the convenience of industrial cakes. However, rituals to ancestors and deities remain central to the community's spiritual life. Local authorities and cultural organizations in Phu Tho are striving to preserve the intangible cultural values of ethnic minorities, including the Dao Quan Chet, by encouraging traditional festivals and passing knowledge to younger generations.
The traditional Tet of the Dao Quan Chet in Phu Tho is a vivid picture of cultural beliefs and community. Understanding and respecting these customs not only helps preserve ethnic identity but also serves as a bridge for generations to understand their roots, enriching Vietnam's diverse cultural landscape.
