Then ritual of the Tày, Nùng, Thái peoples
Also called: Then cầu an, Then cầu mùa, Then gọi hồn, Lẩu Then, Then Kin Pang, Then pang, Thực hành Then
- Rites of ethnic communities
Culture and belief A record of custom.
The Then master both sings and plays the đàn tính (tính lute), leading the Then army from Mường Đất up to Mường Trời to present offerings and state the household's petitions: cầu an (prayer for peace and safety), giải hạn (rite to ward off misfortune), cầu mùa (prayer for a good harvest), cấp sắc (ordination rite). The heritage was inscribed by UNESCO in 2019; the Then lyrics are not copied by newspapers.
At a glance
- When it is held
- According to the household's needs; lẩu Then and Then Kin Pang in spring
- For whom
- Ngọc Hoàng and the deities of Mường Trời; the patron spirits of Then
Each family and each region may do it differently.
The offering tray
North
Tày, Nùng, Thái, Rites led by Then, Tào and Pựt masters (Tày, Nùng, Thái)
- When
- According to the household's needs: cầu an and giải hạn at the start of the year, nàng hang on the occasion of Tết Trung thu (Mid-Autumn), cúng mụ on đầy tháng (first-month ceremony), thôi tang, cầu mùa, cầu tự, cấp sắc
- Where the offerings are set
- At the tín chủ (the person making the offering)'s house, outdoors, or before the Then altar at the Then master's house
- Who makes the offering
- The Then master (male Then, female Then), sometimes with an additional group of female dancers
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| Other | |
| Offering tray arranged according to the purpose of the ritual | Required |
| Objects | |
| Đàn tính (tính lute), chùm xóc nhạc (bell cluster), fan | Required. The tools of the Then master |
| Sword, yin-yang blocks, bell | |
Northeast, Tày, Lạng Sơn, Rites led by Then, Tào and Pựt masters (Tày, Nùng, Thái)
- When
- The great lẩu Then thăng sắc ritual lasts three days, about once every three years depending on the master
- Where the offerings are set
- The Then master's house
- Who makes the offering
- The Then master together with fellow initiates in the Then lineage; the Tào master performs the cấp sắc (ordination rite)
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit | ||
| Fruit, cakes and sweets, and other offerings prepared by the family together with the assisting ritual helpers | Vegetarian | |
| Objects | ||
| New Then hat, yin-yang blocks, sword, fan, bell, robe, đàn tính (tính lute) | Required. Granted by the Tào master to the Then master in the ritual; the number of tassels behind the hat indicates the master's rank | |
Northwest, Tày, Văn Bàn, Lào Cai, Rites led by Then, Tào and Pựt masters (Tày, Nùng, Thái)
- When
- Three days and two nights
- Where the offerings are set
- On the stilt house, around the flower tray
- Who makes the offering
- Then master (singing with the đàn tính), thầy mất (singing with the khèn and pí lào), assistant masters
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | |||
| Offering of flowers made of bamboo and nứa, hanging rau bò khai, paper cut-outs of birds and fish, eggs dyed pink, bamboo shoots, củ đao, củ mài, banana tree, winter melon | Required | ||
| Meat and savoury dishes | |||
| Four trays of savory offerings: two trays covered with red cloth (the mâm nàng han, the mâm trời), two trays covered with black cloth (the mâm ruộng, for the spirit soldiers) | 4 | Meat or fish | Required. Offered on the second night |
| Objects | |||
| Branches and leaves from the forest hung in the side bay (boóc va) | A place of grass for the dragons and horses of the mandarins | ||
Northwest, Thái, bản Khổng Lào, Phong Thổ, Lai Châu, Rites led by Then, Tào and Pựt masters (Tày, Nùng, Thái)
- When
- The 10th day of the third lunar month (year 2025)
- Where the offerings are set
- The house of the Then
- Who makes the offering
- Then master; the lụ liệng and lụ hương (godchildren whose souls have been called back and illnesses cured by Then) make offerings of thanks
What is avoided
- The Then master and fellow initiates eat vegetarian food for 7 or 21 days before the great ritual
Communities and regions
More about Then ritual of the Tày, Nùng, Thái peoples
Sources
- Then là di sản văn hóa phi vật thể thứ 13 của Việt Nam được UNESCO vinh danh (sggp.org.vn)
- Triển lãm di sản văn hoá Then trong đời sống các dân tộc Tày, Nùng, Thái (baovanhoa.vn)
- Giữ hồn Then, tiếng Then (baoquocte.vn)
- Tín ngưỡng Then của người Tày, Nùng (dantocmiennui.baotintuc.vn)
- Độc đáo đại lễ lẩu Then thăng sắc của người Tày Xứ Lạng (baolangson.vn)
- Tái hiện Nghi lễ Lẩu Then của đồng bào dân tộc Tày (dantocmiennui.baotintuc.vn)
- Độc đáo nghi lễ Then pang của người Tày (baothainguyen.vn)
- Lễ hội Then Kin Pang, nét văn hóa đặc sắc của người Thái ở Lai Châu (baovanhoa.vn)
- Then Kin Pang, nét văn hóa độc đáo của người Thái ở Phong Thổ (baovanhoa.vn)
Part of the open datasets Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
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