Water-wharf offering ceremony of the Ê-đê people
Also called: Lễ cúng bến nước của người Ê Đê, Lễ cúng bến nước của người Êđê
- Rites of ethnic communities
Culture and belief A record of custom.
A ceremony of thanksgiving and prayer for the village's water source, performed by the ritual master, village elders, and the water-wharf owner; by custom it lasts three days: offerings at the water-wharf owner's house and at the water wharf, the village is closed, and the village gate is opened.
At a glance
- When it is held
- End of the twelfth lunar month, after harvest (Đắk Lắk); first lunar month (Ninh Tây, Khánh Hòa)
- For whom
- Thần Nước (Water God), the Yàng; ancestors of the water-wharf owner
Each family and each region may do it differently.
The offering tray
Central
Central Highlands, Ê Đê (Rade), buôn Ea Nur (buôn Nur), xã Pơng Drang, Krông Búk, Đắk Lắk, Folk practice
- When
- End of the twelfth lunar month, after the harvest; three days (in 2013 it began on 17 January (Gregorian calendar))
- Where the offerings are set
- The long house of the water-wharf owner, the water wharf, the village gate
- Who makes the offering
- Ritual master, village elders, water-wharf owner; the whole village contributes labor and goods
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | |||
| Black male pig | 1 | Meat or fish | Required. First day |
| Pork cut into small pieces arranged in five dishes on a winnowing tray; pig blood mixed with wine in a bronze cup | Meat or fish | Required | |
| White-feathered rooster, one jar of rượu cần (rice wine), a string to tie the rooster's feathers | Meat or fish | Required. Second day, day the village is closed | |
| Tea, rice wine, water | |||
| Rượu cần (rice wine) jars tied in a row along the long house | 7 or 9 | Required. A 2020 article records 7 jars (3 for the water wharf, 2 for the host, 2 for guests); a 2013 article records 9 jars (3 for the water-wharf owner, 3 for the host, 3 for guests) | |
| Betel leaves and areca nuts | |||
| Betel leaves and areca nuts, rice, xôi (steamed sticky rice), tobacco | Vegetarian | ||
| Other | |||
| One jar of rượu cần (rice wine), one rooster, loincloth, shirt, scarf, shield, knife, water gourd, bronze trivet, bronze cup, hoe, rice in a winnowing tray | Required. Third day, opening the village gate | ||
Central Highlands, Ê Đê (Rade), buôn Ky (Buôn Ma Thuột), buôn Ea Yông A (Krông Pắc), Đắk Lắk, Folk practice
- Where the offerings are set
- The village communal house and the water wharf at the head of the village
- Who makes the offering
- Ritual master; the water-wharf owner (the person who found the wharf, succeeding through the maternal line) presides
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | ||
| Each offering portion includes one chicken or one pig along with one jar of rượu cần (rice wine) | Meat or fish | Required. Buôn Ky |
| Offering at the water landing: one pig, rượu cần (rice wine drunk through straws), one plate of xôi nếp (steamed glutinous rice) | Meat or fish | Required. Ea Yông |
| Tea, rice wine, water | ||
| Offering to ancestors: one ché rượu cần (jar of rice wine drunk through straws), one boiled chicken, one plate of xôi nếp (steamed glutinous rice) | Meat or fish | Required. Ea Yông |
South Central Coast, Ê Đê (Rade), xã Ninh Tây, Ninh Hòa, Khánh Hòa, Folk practice
- When
- Every year in the first lunar month; nowadays it is packed into one day, formerly three days
- Where the offerings are set
- The house of the village elder, then the water landing in the buôn (village)
- Who makes the offering
- The ritual master, the village elder, the whole buôn (village)
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | |||
| Pig | 1 | Meat or fish | Required |
| A bowl of pig blood mixed with rice wine | Meat or fish | The ritual master carries it at the head of the procession | |
| Tea, rice wine, water | |||
| The rượu cần (rice wine) jars | Required | ||
What is avoided
Central Highlands, Ê Đê (Rade), buôn Ea Nur (buôn Nur), xã Pơng Drang, Krông Búk, Đắk Lắk, Folk practice
- Three days before the ceremony a cây nêu (tall bamboo pole) is erected to announce it, no water is taken from the wharf
- On the day the village is closed: no entering or leaving the village, no carrying water, washing clothes, or chopping firewood; anyone who violates is fined according to customary law
South Central Coast, Ê Đê (Rade), xã Ninh Tây, Ninh Hòa, Khánh Hòa, Folk practice
- For three days after the ceremony no one may go into the water or do anything that affects the water source; anyone who violates this is severely punished
Where the sources differ
- Number of offering parts: the account about buôn Ky tells of three parts (inviting the ancestors, offering at the water source, offering for the health of the water landing keeper); the account about Ea Yông tells of five rites (offering to ancestors, offering at the water landing, offering to the earth god of the buôn, offering of thanks on the way back with the water, offering for the health of the household head)
Communities and regions
Sources
- Lễ cúng bến nước của người Êđê ở buôn Ea Nur (baodaklak.vn)
- Lễ cúng bến nước của người Êđê: Từ ý nghĩa tâm linh đến ý thức bảo vệ sinh thái (baodaklak.vn)
- Nét đẹp văn hóa trong lễ cúng bến nước của người Ê Đê (vnbusiness.vn)
- Độc đáo lễ cúng bến nước của người Ê Đê ở Đắk Lắk (dantocmiennui.baotintuc.vn)
- Đắk Lắk: Phục dựng Lễ cúng bến nước của người Ê Đê (baodantoc.vn)
- Xôn xao bến nước đại ngàn (nhandan.vn)
- Lễ cúng bến nước của người Ê đê (thanhnien.vn)
Part of the open datasets Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
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