Lễ Xên bản (village offering ceremony), Xên mường (mường offering ceremony) of the Thái people
Also called: Xên đông, Cúng bản, cúng mường, Chằm Phí bàn, phí mương
- Rites of ethnic communities
Culture and belief A record of custom.
The village offering and mường offering are performed by the mo priest in the sacred forest of the village and mường, to thank the deities and to cầu mùa (prayer for a good harvest). Offerings vary by region: pig's head, chicken and duck in Sơn La; white buffalo, black buffalo in Mường Thanh, Mường Lò; male livestock in Nghệ An.
At a glance
- When it is held
- Spring, from the end of the first lunar month to the third lunar month, depending on the place
- For whom
- The village deity, the mường deity, the deities of rivers and mountains, the forest deity, and the souls of those who had merit in founding the village and mường
Each family and each region may do it differently.
The offering tray
Region:
North
Northwest, Thái, Sơn La, Folk practice
- When
- The end of the first lunar month, the beginning of the second lunar month, when the ban flower blooms; early morning
- Who makes the offering
- The mo priest (ông mo) leads the ceremony
| Offering | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | ||
| Pig's head, chicken, duck | Meat or fish | Required |
| Tea, rice wine, water | ||
| Rượu nếp nương (upland sticky rice wine), rượu cần (jar wine) | Required | |
| Xôi (steamed sticky rice) and cakes | ||
| Cơm lam (rice cooked in bamboo tubes), glutinous rice | Vegetarian | Required |
| Incense, lamps, candles | ||
| Incense, giấy bản (rough paper), plain water, salt and chili | Vegetarian | Required |
Northwest, Thái, Mường Thanh, Điện Biên, Folk practice
- When
- The second lunar month, the third lunar month
- Where the offerings are set
- Đông xên (sacred forest for offerings); the Xên Mường ceremony has four chiềng and seven Đông xên
- Who makes the offering
- The ông Mo presides over the ceremony
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | |||
| Two black buffaloes, one white buffalo, chosen strong | 3 | Meat or fish | Required. After slaughtering, the meat and bones are arranged back into the shape of a buffalo |
| Buffalo meat, boiled chicken and duck, xôi (steamed sticky rice) | Meat or fish | Festival offering tray | |
| Tea, rice wine, water | |||
| Rượu cần (jar wine drunk through straws) | Required | ||
| Perfumed water and seeds (rice, cotton, vegetables) | Vegetarian | Required. For the part of sprinkling perfumed water and scattering seeds | |
Northwest, Thái, Nghĩa Lộ, Mường Lò, Folk practice
- When
- Spring
- Where the offerings are set
- The sacred forest of the village, of the mường (Đông cắm, forbidden forest)
- Who makes the offering
- The mo priests
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other | |||
| Offering trays brought by family groups and villages | Required | ||
| Meat and savoury dishes | |||
| One white buffalo and one black buffalo, bought jointly by the whole mường, slaughtered and left whole | 2 | Meat or fish | Required. The Xên mường and Xên đông offerings |
| Raw buffalo meat, live chickens and ducks released into the stream | Meat or fish | For the offering to the thuồng luồng (water serpent) alone | |
Central
North Central Coast, Thái, Nghệ An, Folk practice
- When
- At the start of the sowing season on the swidden fields
- Where the offerings are set
- The communal shrine hut of the bản, beside the ancient tree at the head of the bản
- Who makes the offering
- A respected elderly man of the bản (mó sơ)
| Offering | Quantity | Vegetarian or not | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat and savoury dishes | |||
| Chicken, pig, xôi (steamed sticky rice) | Meat or fish | Required. The animals must be male | |
| A buffalo or bull contributed jointly by the whole bản | 1 | Meat or fish | Optional. In even years, when conditions allow |
| Tea, rice wine, water | |||
| Rượu cần (jar wine drunk through straws) | Required | ||
Where the sources differ
- Number of buffaloes sacrificed: the article on Mường Lò records one white buffalo and one black buffalo; the article on Mường Thanh (Điện Biên) records two black buffaloes and one white buffalo
Communities and regions
Sources
- Đặc sắc lễ Xên bản của đồng bào dân tộc Thái (dantocmiennui.baotintuc.vn)
- Xên bản, xên mường: phong tục độc đáo của người Thái ở Pắc Ngà (baovanhoa.vn)
- Lễ Xên Mường của người Thái đen (nhandan.vn)
- Lễ Cúng bản của người Thái tỉnh Điện Biên là Di sản văn hóa phi vật thể quốc gia (baovanhoa.vn)
- Tục thờ cúng ngày xuân của người Thái Mường Lò (baolaocai.vn)
- Độc đáo tục cúng thần bản, thần mường của người Thái (baonghean.vn)
Part of the open datasets Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
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