The unique jar offering ceremony of the Ede people.

According to the Ede people's beliefs, each jar contains a soul. Jars are not simply objects but also possess sacred significance. They represent the strength of the clan and are used in ceremonies to strengthen community and family bonds. Therefore, the Ede people always perform rituals to inform the spirits whenever they acquire a jar or when there are any changes related to it.

According to the Ede people's beliefs, a ceremony is performed after purchasing or before selling a jar. When bringing a valuable jar home, they must hold a ceremony to welcome it into their community. This ceremony signifies the homeowner's desire to inform relatives and villagers about the purchase of a precious jar, and to invite them to share in the joy. The wish is for the jar to officially become a member of the family, to be cared for and treated like a human being, and to live together long-term, healthy, happy, warm, and harmonious. Similarly, when they no longer use the jar and sell or give it away, they hold a farewell ceremony. If a jar is accidentally broken, they must offer a sacrifice to the spirits and the owner of the jar.

Jars are sacred artifacts in the spiritual life of the Ede people.

The offerings for the ritual include a castrated pig, three large jars of wine, six copper rings, three strings of beads, three copper cups, three copper bowls, and a copper tray… A xoan tree is essential, as it is considered a link between humans and the spirits. Inside the longhouse, a wine pillar is erected and decorated with various colors and patterns, next to which are three large jars of rice wine tied securely to the pillar with forest vines. The village's gong ensemble will play a welcoming gong piece to invite relatives and friends from near and far to attend.

The collection of teapots at the World Coffee Museum.

The shaman begins the ritual, inviting the mountain and river spirits, ancestors, and grandparents to witness and grant permission for the family to hold the ceremony. Following this is the ritual offering to the jar, with the following prayer: “O villagers of Tai, the Yang (spirits) near and far, the Yang above and the Yang below, all the Yang have agreed to allow the family to hold this ceremony for the jar. Despite our hardships and difficulties, we have saved and accumulated to buy this precious jar to brew wine for the Yang. O spirit of the jar, today we are holding this ceremony to welcome the Tang jar home. We inform and invite the spirit of the jar to join us in this feast. From now on, the family will treat the jar like a child, with kindness… therefore, we hope the jar will live happily, for a long time, harmoniously, warmly, and help the members of the family.” The shaman will then adorn the jar with copper rings and beads around its neck and ears for beautification and to treat it like a human being.

The homeowner sits and listens as the shaman (right) performs the ritual of offering sacrifices to the jar (photo: Mai Sao).

Finally, there is the ritual of offering sacrifices to the owner of the jar, asking the spirits to grant the homeowner health, good fortune, and prosperity in business, so that they can buy even more good jars… After the ceremony ends, a representative of the family thanks relatives and neighbors from near and far who attended and invites everyone to stay for a celebratory meal and drinks to congratulate the homeowner on acquiring the precious jar. According to Ms. Hoang Thi Nhat, Deputy Director of the Dak Lak Provincial Museum, in the practice of rituals, an indispensable artifact of the Ede people is the jar made of various types of pottery called "che". Especially, the wine jar plays a crucial role in the sacredness and solemnity of the ceremonies. Large ceremonies require the use of precious jars and a complete set of jars according to custom.

The jar is adorned with rings and chains, signifying that it has been consecrated and entered the family (photo: Mai Sao).

To contribute to the preservation and promotion of the cultural value of jars, the Museum has collected and presented a collection of jars of the Ede people (on display until February 20, 2019). In addition to nearly 60 jars arranged according to traditional living spaces, there are also many images, documents, information excerpts, and unique stories related to jars presented using sophisticated and modern graphic methods, helping viewers fully appreciate the cultural essence that the Ede people have "encoded" into this familiar and close-to-nature everyday object.

The Ede people divide jars into four main types, ranked from most valuable to least valuable: Tuk jar, Tang jar, Ba jar, and Bo jar. In addition, there are other types such as Jan jar, Due jar, Kriak jar, etc. Due to the diverse ethnic groups residing in the area, sometimes the same type of jar is called by different names depending on the culture of each region.

Following a self-sufficient lifestyle, the jar was traded for family products such as pigs, cows, and buffaloes to traders from other regions. The most valuable Tuk jar had to be exchanged for an elephant or eight buffaloes, and was only used in important ceremonies with sacrificial animals from castrated male pigs upwards. The Tuk jar could not be lent, and children under 18 were not allowed near it; it had to be kept in a separate, secure place.

However, nowadays, in the daily life and ritual practices of the ethnic groups of the Central Highlands in general and the Ede people in particular, due to various reasons, the ritual of offering sacrifices to the jar is gradually fading away. The restoration of the ritual of offering sacrifices to the jar of the Ede people has contributed to raising awareness of preserving and promoting the traditional culture of the Ede people in particular and the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands in general.

Kim Bao