The Tày in Vietnam's Ethnic Landscape
The Tày are Vietnam's most populous ethnic minority, concentrated in the northeastern mountain provinces of Cao Bằng, Lạng Sơn, Tuyên Quang, Bắc Kạn, Thái Nguyên, and Hà Giang. With a long history of settlement in river valleys, the Tày developed a wet-rice agricultural culture closely tied to animist beliefs, ancestor worship, and a distinctive spiritual ritual system known as Then.
Then, More Than Just a Song Form
In the Tày language, Then derives from "Thiên," meaning heaven. The Tày believe Then is a melody passed down by celestial spirits, performed by Then masters (male or female) who act as intermediaries between the human and heavenly realms. A Then performance is typically an epic narrative describing a spirit cavalry's journey across rivers and mountains to the celestial court, petitioning the Jade Emperor and other deities to resolve earthly matters for the ritual sponsor, praying for peace, dispelling misfortune, calling back a wandering soul, seeking a bountiful harvest, or blessing a new house or a wedding.
Then is not mere performance music but a complete spiritual ritual combining singing, dance, dramatic recitation, and ritual props such as jingling bell bundles, fans, and swords. A Then practitioner must undergo years of training and receive formal transmission from senior masters before being authorized to perform rites for the community. On December 12, 2019, UNESCO formally inscribed "Then Practices of the Tày, Nùng, and Thái in Vietnam" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, recognizing this composite art form of folk literature, music, dance, and performance.
The Tính Lute, Soul of the Then Voice
Then cannot be separated from the tính lute (đàn tính), a plucked string instrument with a resonator made from a dried gourd shell and a long neck, typically strung with two or three strings. Its warm, mellow tone is believed to carry the Then chant toward the sacred realm. For the Tày, the tính lute's sound is not mere accompaniment but performs a ritual function: it "opens the road" for the spirit cavalry to travel between worlds during the ceremony. Beyond its ritual role, the tính lute today is widely performed in community cultural events and ethnic arts festivals, becoming an identifying symbol of Tày and Nùng culture in the Việt Bắc region.
Then takes several forms depending on purpose, Then for peace, Then for harvest, Then for healing, Then for funerals, each with its own melody, lyrics, and ritual sequence, reflecting the richness of the Tày spiritual worldview, in which people, nature, and deities are bound in harmonious order.
The Lồng Tồng Festival, Going Down to the Fields
If Then connects people to the heavens in daily spiritual life, Lồng Tồng is the largest annual community festival of the Tày, held in early spring (from the fourth day of the lunar new year through the end of the first lunar month, depending on locality). "Lồng Tồng" in Tày means "going down to the fields," marking the start of a new agricultural season after the Tết holiday.
The festival has two parts: the ceremony and the fair. The central rite is a symbolic royal plowing, a respected village elder or trusted community figure plows the first symbolic furrows and sows the season's first seeds, accompanied by offerings to the deities of agriculture, earth, mountain, and river, praying for favorable weather and an abundant harvest. Offering trays typically feature five-colored sticky rice, boiled chicken, bánh chưng, bánh dày, rice wine, and local specialties, elaborately arranged to show sincerity and prosperity.
The fair portion bursts with folk games: ném còn (throwing an embroidered ball through a high hoop, symbolizing courtship and a fruitful harvest), tug-of-war, pole-pushing, sack races, and various performances of Then singing and courtship song exchanges between young men and women. It is also an occasion for youths from different villages to meet, and many couples have found their match at the courtship markets associated with the festival.
Significance in Contemporary Life
Today, Then practice and the Lồng Tồng festival are maintained not only in the spiritual life of Tày communities in the northeastern hills but are also revived by many localities as cultural-tourism events, drawing domestic and international visitors. UNESCO's inscription of Then has become an important impetus for authorities and communities to prioritize preservation and transmission to younger generations, who face the risk of cultural erosion amid urbanization and lifestyle change. Many elderly Then artisans in Cao Bằng, Lạng Sơn, and Tuyên Quang continue to run classes teaching the tính lute and Then singing to young people, keeping this spiritual and artistic tradition flowing in Tày life today.
