TL;DR: According to Vietnam's State nomination dossier to UNESCO (inscribed 2019), Then is a ritual practice central to the spiritual life of the Tày, Nùng and Thái peoples, led by Then masters (ông Then, bà Then). The rites cover cầu an, healing, cầu mùa, New Year greetings, housewarming, cấp sắc and giải hạn; the Then master sings in his or her own ethnic language while playing the tính tẩu, shaking the chùm xóc nhạc and waving a fan. The nomination dossier is a State document: it establishes the official definition of the heritage, not the efficacy of the ritual.
Is Then singing, a ritual, or a belief?
According to Vietnam's State nomination dossier to UNESCO, Then is a ritual practice indispensable to the spiritual life of the Tày, Nùng and Thái peoples in Vietnam, reflecting concepts of the human being, the natural world and the cosmos[1]. In other words, Then is not only singing and not only ritual, but a composite belief practice: it includes ritual, singing, musical instruments, dance and community participation. Singing and the đàn tính are the means by which the Then master performs the ritual, not an end in themselves.
UNESCO nomination dossier No. 01379 (2019) describes Then ceremonies as enacting the journey of the Then master commanding a troop of spirit soldiers from Mường Đất up to Mường Trời to present offerings and petitions[1]. The Then master begins the journey by singing and plucking the tính tẩu (a two- or three-stringed lute)[1]. Depending on the purpose of the rite, the Then master arranges an offering tray and invokes before the Then altar different local deities, of whom Ngọc Hoàng is the highest[1].
The dossier's understanding: Then is a ritual practice, not a purely vocal art form. Then ceremonies take place at the sponsor's home, outdoors, or at the Then altar in the Then master's own house[1].
Who may practice Then, and how does one become a Then master?
According to the nomination dossier, Then practitioners are male and female Then masters, believed to be chosen by deities and fated to become Then masters[1]. The dossier records families with two or three people practising Then, for example Mr. Lưu Đình Bạo (Tày, former Bắc Kạn province, now part of Thái Nguyên), Mrs. Nông Thị Lìm (Nùng, Lạng Sơn province), and the family of Mr. Vàng A Thức (Thái, Điện Biên province)[1]. Some Then masters perform around 200 Then ceremonies a year and transmit the craft to two or three people, such as Mrs. Chu Thị Hồng Vân (Nùng, former Bắc Giang province, now part of Bắc Ninh), Mr. Bế Sơn Trung (Tày, Cao Bằng province) and Mr. Chu Hồng Phương (Tày, Lào Cai province)[1].
Each Then ceremony is led by one Then master, together with a group comprising disciples (assistants), the sponsor, a dance troupe, members of the Then master's family and the community, sometimes including a Tào master (a ritual specialist)[1]. These people take part in preparing and performing the ritual, thereby learning the craft, and some later become Then masters[1].
The dossier states clearly: a Then master must know the customs of his or her own ethnic group, have a good memory, be able to sing and pluck the tính tẩu, and handle the chùm xóc nhạc skilfully in order to describe the journey of the spirit troop in an engaging way[1]. Then masters teach disciples directly: orally transmitting the invocation texts, teaching the playing of the tính tẩu and the shaking of the chùm xóc nhạc, transmitting Then melodies, and performing the rites and procedures of a Then ceremony[1]. Disciples must memorise the invocation texts, be proficient with the instruments, and skilfully use the seal, the summoning board, the sword, the fan and the yin-yang objects in the ceremony[1]. Male Then masters teach the male way of practising, and female Then masters teach the female way, to both male and female disciples[1].
Beyond learning at ceremonies, disciples also go to the Then master's house to learn more about playing instruments, singing, the rules of ritual procedure, and to study for themselves the customs and traditions of their community[1].
What kinds of Then ceremonies are there, and what does each aim at?
The nomination dossier lists the different purposes of invocation in Then ceremonies[1]. The table below summarises them according to the dossier text; where the dossier is silent, the cell is left blank.
| Type of Then ceremony | Purpose according to the nomination dossier | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cầu an | To pray for peace for an individual or family | The Then master arranges an offering tray and invokes before the Then altar[1] |
| Healing | To pray for a sick person to recover | Recorded in the dossier as one of the purposes of invocation[1] |
| Cầu mùa | To pray for a good harvest | Recorded in the dossier as one of the purposes of invocation[1] |
| New Year greetings | To pray for good fortune at the start of the year | Recorded in the dossier as one of the purposes of invocation[1] |
| Housewarming | To pray for peace in a new home | Recorded in the dossier as one of the purposes of invocation[1] |
| Cấp sắc | A rite of ordination recognising a Then master | Recorded in the dossier as one of the purposes of invocation[1] |
| Giải hạn | To pray for the averting of misfortune | Recorded in the dossier as one of the purposes of invocation[1] |
The dossier also notes: in recent decades a performance form of Then singing and đàn tính playing has developed out of the music of Then ritual, making Then melodies widely known and enriching artistic performance activity[1]. This is a branch that grew from the ritual; it does not replace the ritual.
What does a Then master use in the ceremony?
According to the nomination dossier, Then masters commonly use a summoning board, a seal, a sword for exorcism, a yin-yang block, a bell, a fan, and offerings such as pork, chicken, wine, rice, fruit and votive paper to perform a Then ceremony[1]. The Then master wears ceremonial robes, sings in his or her own ethnic language while plucking the tính tẩu, shaking the chùm xóc nhạc and waving a fan; some ceremonies also feature a group of women dancing in accompaniment[1].
The dossier records: Then is always transmitted orally during ritual practice, expressing continuity between generations, and Then masters play a principal role in handing on the related skills and secrets[1].
Where is Then concentrated?
According to the nomination dossier, the heritage of Then practice among the Tày, Nùng and Thái is concentrated mainly in the provinces of the Northeast (as they stood when the dossier was prepared in 2019: Bắc Giang, Bắc Kạn, Cao Bằng, Hà Giang, Lạng Sơn, Quảng Ninh, Thái Nguyên, Tuyên Quang), the Northwest (Điện Biên, Lai Châu, Lào Cai) and a number of other localities in Vietnam[1]. The dossier also notes that the Then heritage of 11 provinces was successively entered in the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage from 2012, with the list most recently updated in 2017[1].
On 12 December 2019 (local time), at the 14th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Bogotá, Colombia, the heritage of Then practice among the Tày, Nùng and Thái in Vietnam was officially inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity[2].
How does Then differ from lên đồng and shamanism?
In the book Đạo Mẫu và các hình thức Shaman trong các tộc người ở Việt Nam và châu Á (2004), Ngô Đức Thịnh and colleagues place the lên đồng of the Kinh people alongside shamanic forms of ethnic minorities in Vietnam, Korea, Siberia and Southeast Asia. The book gathers researchers from within and outside the country, comparing forms of spirit possession and ritual performance across ethnic groups.
Within that comparative frame, Then is a ritual form with a presiding master, a journey up to Mường Trời, and instruments and sung texts guiding the ritual. The lên đồng of the Kinh people is also a ritual form with a practitioner, but with a different ethnic context and pantheon. Ngô Đức Thịnh's book (2004) is comparative scholarly material, not a document prescribing who may practise Then.
Kirsten W. Endres and Andrea Lauser (eds., 2011) place modern Southeast Asian belief practices, including lên đồng and spirit mediumship, in the context of modernisation and globalisation. The volume argues that modernisation comes with a re-enchantment of religious life rather than the erasure of belief. This is a general anthropological frame, not a study specific to Then.
The nomination dossier is a State document: what does it establish?
UNESCO nomination dossier No. 01379 is a document prepared by the Vietnamese State and submitted to UNESCO, inscribed by UNESCO in 2019[1]. This document establishes the official definition of Then practice: who performs it, what the ceremony includes, what it aims at, how it is transmitted, and where it is distributed. This document does not establish the efficacy of the ritual, nor that praying for peace will bring peace, nor that praying for a harvest will bring one. The dossier itself describes that Then ceremonies can be effective as a treatment therapy[1], but this is the wording of the nomination dossier, belonging to the layer of a State document, not the result of independent research.
Within the sources gathered for this article, no independent field research is cited to verify the efficacy of Then ritual. The nomination dossier is a State document and cannot substitute for independent research. This article presents exactly what that document says, and states clearly where evidence is lacking.
What is notable about the current network of Tày and Nùng ritual masters?
An article by Hoàng Thị Thu Hường, Hoàng Thị Lê Thảo and Hoàng Hồng Đức (2026) in the Journal of Science and Technology, Thái Nguyên University, studies the network of Tày and Nùng ritual masters in the context of present-day exchange and integration[5]. The authors conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng provinces during 2024 and 2025, combined with analysis of digital media materials[5].
The article abstract states: in the belief life of the Tày and Nùng, the system of Tào, Mo, Pựt and Then ritual masters plays an important role and forms connections and networks in ritual practice[5]. At present, the structure and operating mechanism of this network are undergoing changes under the impact of migration, globalisation and digital media[5]. The findings show that the network of ritual masters in Tày and Nùng communities operates not only within the family, lineage and village, but also extends across ethnic groups, regions and borders, including digital space[5]. This network plays an important role in maintaining spiritual life, community cohesion and the preservation of Tày and Nùng cultural identity, especially in migrant communities[5]. However, the integration process also poses challenges such as the commercialisation of ritual, the decline of the sacred, and the transmission of knowledge[5].
The article proposes several directions for preservation and promotion suited to the contemporary context[5]. These are the results of field research in Lạng Sơn and Cao Bằng during 2024 and 2025, and do not represent all provinces with Then heritage[5].
What do readers commonly ask about Then?
Is Then singing?
According to the nomination dossier, Then is a ritual practice in which singing and the đàn tính are the means by which the Then master performs the ritual[1]. Then singing and đàn tính playing are a performance form that developed from the music of Then ritual in recent decades, making Then melodies widely known[1]. Then singing is thus a part of Then, but Then is not only singing.
Who may practise Then?
According to the nomination dossier, Then practitioners are male and female Then masters, believed to be chosen by deities and fated to become Then masters[1]. A Then master must know his or her ethnic group's customs, have a good memory, be able to sing and pluck the tính tẩu, and handle the chùm xóc nhạc skilfully[1]. Then masters teach disciples directly through oral transmission and practice at ceremonies[1].
What ceremonies does a Then master perform?
According to the nomination dossier, Then ceremonies include cầu an, healing, cầu mùa, New Year greetings, housewarming, cấp sắc and giải hạn[1]. Each ceremony aims at a different purpose; the Then master arranges an offering tray and invokes before the Then altar different local deities, of whom Ngọc Hoàng is the highest[1].
