Han Khuong, where ancient souls gather

Along with xoe dance and folk songs, Han Khuong is a very unique form of traditional cultural activity, passed down through many generations of the Thai people in the Northwest region, and is recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Couples sing love songs on the floor during the Han Khuong festival.

HAN KHUONG in Thai means "sàn Sàn", meaning a floor built in the yard to organize cultural activities. It is just an environment for communication, confiding, and exchanging life experiences, but the Thai people have to elaborately build a floor in the middle of the central land, because in the past, the village population was sparse, the wild mountains and forests had many wild animals and insects.

The floor is paved with bamboo or reed, about seven meters long, five meters wide and 1.2 meters high, surrounded by lattice-shaped bars, with stairs leading up and down. In the middle of the floor is a fire, next to it is a pole called "lac xay chinh" made of bamboo, with the top still intact, with cicadas and birds woven with bright red and green strings, similar to the pole on Tet holiday of the Kinh people. The four corners are four "lac xay" poles, symbolizing the four directions: east-west-south-north.

The main activity of the Han Khuong is the love duet singing. Each Han Khuong has a "xao lac xay" group consisting of five to 10 Thai girls with beautiful hair, wearing Pieu scarves, going up to the stage and pulling up the ladder. The group leader (called "xao ton khuong") lights the fire, then sets up the spinning wheel, the other girls take turns spinning or embroidering. The group leaders are seniors who have played the Han Khuong for many years and have experience in singing duet singing, and will "untangle" the "xao noong" (young girls) who have little experience. The boys play the khen and pi and sing "khap" duet with the girls until they agree to go up to the stage.

Usually, girls sing "khập" lines to refuse guys who have wives or lovers. They keep singing like that, until the guy confirms that he is not married and gains the girl's trust, then the girl lets the guy go up to the Han Khuong stage. However, if the guy wants to do something, he has to sing "khập" to ask for the girl's permission, like if he wants to sit, he has to sing to ask for a chair, if he wants to drink water, he has to sing to ask for water, if he wants to smoke, he has to sing to ask for a cigarette...

The boy goes to the girl he likes and sings back and forth, expressing his feelings and hoping to get married. At the end of the singing session, they exchange farewell songs and do not forget to make an appointment to meet again the next day to dance with bamboo poles, play spinning tops, dance xoè... Couples who fall in love with each other confess their love and exchange their love, after a period of getting to know each other, they ask a matchmaker to go to the two families to talk and ask to become husband and wife.

HAN KHUONG is not only a place for cultural activities, a place for young people to get to know each other, but also a place for the whole community to exchange and discuss work. Elderly people come to Han Khuong to teach and instruct their children and grandchildren in beautiful words and beautiful songs. Children come to Han Khuong to learn to sing, spin, and spin...

The restoration of the Han Khuong festival in recent years has not only created a useful playground for people to have fun and exchange after tiring working days, but also created community cohesion, with the awareness of preserving traditional culture for the young generation of the Thai ethnic group.

Source: https://baolaichau.vn/v%C4%83n-h%C3%B3a/h%E1%BA%A1n-khu%E1%BB%91ng-n%C6%A1i-k%E1%BA%BFt-t%E1%BB%A5-h%E1%BB%93n-x%C6%B0a