Lễ Xên bản, Xên mường của người Thái
- Rites of ethnic communities
- Offerings and steps
Culture and belief A record of custom.
About this rite: when it is held and for whom
Also called: Xên mường, Xên bản, Xên đông, Cúng bản, cúng mường, Chằm Phí bàn, phí mương
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.
- When
- 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
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, 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
Offerings
| Offering | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pig's head, chicken, duck | Required |
| Rượu nếp nương (upland sticky rice wine), rượu cần (jar wine) | Required |
| Cơm lam (rice cooked in bamboo tubes), glutinous rice | Required |
| Incense, giấy bản (rough paper), plain water, salt and chili | Required |
Steps
- The ông mo calls and invites the river deity, mountain deity, Thổ Địa (Earth God), the deity guarding the fields and swiddens, and the souls of those who had merit in founding the village and mường to come and receive the offerings
- The ông mo prays for the village to be peaceful, people to be healthy, for maize and rice, and for livestock to multiply
- Festival part: ném còn (throwing a ball through a ring), tó má lẹ (a traditional game), xòe (traditional dance)
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
Offerings
| Offering | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Two black buffaloes, one white buffalo, chosen strong | 3 | Required. After slaughtering, the meat and bones are arranged back into the shape of a buffalo |
| Rượu cần (jar wine drunk through straws) | Required | |
| Perfumed water and seeds (rice, cotton, vegetables) | Required. for the part of sprinkling perfumed water and scattering seeds | |
| Buffalo meat, boiled chicken and duck, xôi (steamed sticky rice) | festival offering tray |
Steps
- The ceremony has five steps; the main ceremony at Đông xên consists of five parts
- Sprinkling perfumed water, scattering seeds according to custom, the ông Mo prays for a good harvest
- Slaughtering a buffalo to offer to the deities
- A feast with wine to enjoy the blessings, folk games
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
Offerings
| Offering | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Offering trays brought by family groups and villages | Required | |
| One white buffalo and one black buffalo, bought jointly by the whole mường, slaughtered and left whole | 2 | Required. the Xên mường and Xên đông offerings |
| Raw buffalo meat, live chickens and ducks released into the stream | for the offering to the thuồng luồng (water serpent) alone |
Steps
- The mo priest performs the offering to the ma bản (village spirits), ma mường (mường spirits) and ma rừng (forest spirits) at the forbidden forest
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
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)
Offerings
| Offering | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken, pig, xôi (steamed sticky rice) | Required. the animals must be male | |
| Rượu cần (jar wine drunk through straws) | Required | |
| A buffalo or bull contributed jointly by the whole bản | 1 | Optional. in even years, when conditions allow |
Steps
- The whole bản gathers at the shrine hut to prepare the offering tray together
- Inviting and calling all the deities to come
- Inviting them to eat and to drink rượu cần (jar wine)
- Divining with two bamboo sticks three times; if all three times one falls face up and one face down, the deities have accepted the offering
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 dataset Types of Vietnamese offering rites and Vietnamese offering procedures, licensed CC BY 4.0.
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