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Lễ cúng cơm mới của làng, bản (new-rice offering ceremony of the village, bản)

Culture and belief A record of custom.

About this rite: when it is held and for whom

Also called: Thường tân, Mừng lúa mới, Tết cơm mới, Chôm khảu mớ (người Thái)

By the custom of many communities, the first rice of the season must be offered to the deities and ancestors first, and only then may the whole household and the whole bản eat. Available sources have described the ceremony of the Thái in Sơn La, Thanh Hóa, Đắk Lắk and of the Thổ in Thanh Hóa; the offering tray and the taboos differ from one bản to another.

When
After the harvest: the 9th and 10th lunar months; where two crops are grown, also around the 5th month
For whom
Deities (Thổ Địa (Earth God), the earth god, the rain god), ancestors, the rice spirit

Offerings and how the rite is done

As commonly practised and recorded by the sources. Each family and each region may do it differently.

Northwest, Thái, Mộc Châu, Sơn La, Folk practice

When
Yearly, in the rice-ripening season
Where the offerings are set
The Thổ Công (Earth God of the house) altar and the ancestors' altar inside the stilt house
Who makes the offering
The ritual master of the household; relatives and representatives of the households in the bản join in

Offerings

OfferingNotes
Offering tray to Thổ Địa (Earth God)Required. to respectfully announce and invite them to come and witness
Offering tray to the ancestors: rooster, pork, glutinous rice, xôi (steamed sticky rice), rượu cần (jar wine), betel leaves and areca nuts, votive paper, a bowl of new riceRequired. the bowl of new rice is indispensable; a rooster is set aside specifically for the ancestors
Offering tray to the rice spirit: grasshoppers, forest ratsRequired. consists only of the animals that often destroy the crops

Steps

  1. Arrange three offering trays
  2. The ritual master says the prayer inviting the deities and ancestors to come and enjoy the offerings, and gives thanks for the harvest
  3. The prayer text wishes the children and grandchildren good health, safety when going to the forest and the stream, and another good harvest next season
  4. Brothers, in-laws and villagers eat the new rice together

North Central Coast, Thái, Nam Xuân, Thiên Phủ, Phú Lệ, Folk practice

When
At the end of the 5th or the 10th lunar month, after the harvest; an auspicious day is chosen; in Phú Thanh the offering is made in the evening
Where the offerings are set
At home, before the altar
Who makes the offering
The whole household joins in; the whole bản goes together to catch fish and pick mushrooms in preparation

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
New rice cut from the family's fieldRequired
Chicken meat, pork, fish, stream crabs, long snails, eggs, mushroomstwo offering traysbản Bút, Nam Xuân commune
Fish wrapped in sour bamboo shoots, forest vegetables cooked by steamingin the past the whole bản went out to the Luồng river to scoop up fish from early morning

Steps

  1. Early in the morning, go to the field, choose ripe rice ears and cut them to bring home
  2. Make two offering trays to give thanks to heaven and earth, the deities and the ancestors
  3. The whole bản eats and celebrates together

Things to avoid

  • Bản Páng (Phú Lệ commune) absolutely does not offer chicken and does not offer buffalo, according to an old story about a mother hen

Where the sources differ

  • All are Thái people in Thanh Hóa: bản Bút (Nam Xuân) has chicken meat on the new-rice tray, while bản Páng (Phú Lệ) avoids offering chicken and buffalo.

Central Highlands, Thái, Ea Kiết, Đắk Lắk, Folk practice

When
In mid-ninth lunar month, when the upland rice has been brought into the granary; the article also writes of the last days of the tenth month.
Where the offerings are set
In the buôn (village).
Who makes the offering
The ritual master in the buôn (village) on behalf of the community.

Offerings

OfferingNotes
A bowl of rice cooked from new rice.Required
Produce of the harvest.

Steps

  1. The ritual master sets out the offering tray for the new rice.
  2. The ritual master chants the ancient words in the Thái language to thank the spirits and ancestors.
  3. The festival part: quành loòng (pounding rice with pestles), gongs and cymbals, sạp dance, xòe dance; the whole buôn (village) eats the new-rice feast.

North Central Coast, Thổ, Như Xuân, Thanh Hóa, Folk practice

When
Twice a year, around the fifth and tenth months, after each harvest; a day is chosen.
Where the offerings are set
At each household or done together by the whole community.
Who makes the offering
The mo priest.

Offerings

OfferingQuantityNotes
New rice, a plate of xôi (steamed sticky rice), boiled chicken, wine, well water or rainwater, fish, betel leaves and areca nuts.Two trays: one tray for offering to the spirits, one tray for offering to the ancestors.Required. Words of a local person in the article: whether poor or rich, there must be.
Produce made or caught by the people in the household themselves.Required. On the tray for offering to the ancestors.
Three to five beautiful rice ears.Chosen before harvesting, hung beside the ancestors' altar to keep the soul of the rice.

Steps

  1. Before harvesting, choose beautiful rice ears and hang them beside the altar.
  2. The mo priest chants for each tray: the tray for the spirits thanks heaven and earth, the rain god, the earth god; the tray for the ancestors recalls the merit of the forefathers in clearing the land.
  3. After the ritual, rice is set out in the yard, the whole village eats new rice, beats gongs, sings and dances, and plays ném còn (throwing a ball through a ring).

Things to avoid

  • The ancestors must eat the new rice first; for the descendants to eat first is disrespectful.

Sources

  • Lễ Chôm khảu mớ của đồng bào dân tộc Thái (baovanhoa.vn)
  • Men cơm mới của người Thái xứ Thanh (baovanhoa.vn)
  • Lễ ăn cơm mới của người Thái giữa đại ngàn (nhandan.vn)
  • Người Thổ ở Thanh Hóa giữ gìn nghi lễ cúng cơm mới: Tri ân tổ tiên, cầu mùa bội thu (baovanhoa.vn)

Part of the open dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.

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