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| Every spring, the San Chi people in Khau Dang often organize a harvest festival, attracting a large number of local people and tourists to join in the festivities. |
Power in every stroke
Khau Dang is a village inhabited entirely by the San Chi ethnic group and is located only about 2km from the center of Bang Thanh commune. Following the winding concrete road along the mountainside to reach Khau Dang village, what impressed us most was the fact that the cultural identity of the San Chi people has been preserved almost intact.
In the low-lying stilt houses nestled amidst the mountains and forests, people wear traditional clothing when going to the fields; women skillfully weave and embroider; and young people still preserve the dances and songs of their ancestors…
Among those cultures, what particularly impressed us were the wooden masks. The San Chi people in Bang Thanh commune believe that wooden masks are closely associated with their spiritual life and beliefs, representing mystical power that can ward off evil spirits and bring peace to every home.
The wooden masks of the San Chi people are made from the wood of certain trees that are soft, light, and easy to shape. The people usually choose lightweight wood so that the wearer does not feel the mask heavy or tired when wearing it for extended periods.
To make a wooden mask, one must select a piece of wood the same length as the face, then hollow it out deeply enough to fit the face. Afterward, the eyes, nose, and mouth are carved, eyebrows and beard are attached, and teeth are shaped. The craftsman uses techniques of carving, sculpting, and polishing the wood to create a mask that resembles the faces of saints and deities as recorded in ancient San Chi texts.
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| Mr. Hoang Van Cau, from Khau Dang village, Bang Thanh commune, is redecorating his wooden mask. |
In the San Chi community, each man representing his family must possess a wooden mask to participate in the cultural and religious activities of the village. During the mask-making process, the craftsman not only recreates the form but also imbues the mask with the spirit, beliefs about deities, and the wishes of the family and community.
Mr. Hoang Van Cau, a respected village elder of Khau Dang hamlet, Bang Thanh commune, said: "In the old days, when I was 16 years old, my father taught me how to make wooden masks. Families who didn't know how to make them had to ask a shaman to come and 'perform rituals' on them. My father and grandfather were shamans in the village, so they made many wooden masks for families."
Unique spiritual and cultural characteristics
The masks of the San Chi people have a rather fierce appearance, representing the strength of the men in the family and community. These wooden masks are considered sacred objects, used in festivals related to the deities and village guardian spirits of the San Chi people.
In the spring, wooden masks are also used as props for dancing in religious ceremonies, especially the Tac Xinh dance in the harvest festival. When wearing the masks, San Chi men use a tarpaulin scarf to cover the back of their heads and tie it securely to the mask so that it doesn't fall off during the dance.
In the harvest prayer dance, San Chi men wear masks, holding two crossed wooden sticks in their hands, swaying to the rhythm of gongs and drums while striking the sticks in all directions.
The San Chi people believe that wearing masks while dancing is a way to meet the spirits, offer gifts, and pray for good fortune for their village, a bountiful harvest, and happiness. Masks not only possess elements of folk art but also play an important role in their religious culture.
Hoang Van Thanh, a young man from Khau Dang village, Bang Thanh commune, said: "For us, wooden masks are very important to men. We often wear wooden masks on our coming-of-age day and on harvest festivals to protect the villagers, ward off evil, and pray for good fortune. Every San Chi family must have a mask so that the man can represent the family in the mask dance during the ethnic group's harvest festival."
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| Wooden masks hold significant importance in the cultural and religious life of the San Chi people. |
Some studies suggest that the San Chi people used wooden masks in their cultural and religious activities to reenact their arduous migration history to new lands for survival and to conquer nature. Later, these masks became a unique spiritual and cultural feature, distinct from other ethnic groups. Regardless of the reasons for their preservation, the San Chi wooden masks are a highly unique cultural beauty that deserves to be preserved and protected in contemporary life.
Amidst the changes of modern life, Khau Dang village in Bang Thanh commune still preserves the unique and original cultural features of the San Chi people. The elders of the village still pass down to their descendants the technique of carving wooden masks, as if engraving into them the spirit of their ancestors and the distinct identity of their ethnic group.
Mysterious stories about the sacred mask, a symbol of the connection between the real world and the spiritual realm, have been passed down through generations, contributing to a rich and distinctive cultural tapestry. All of this creates an experience not just of viewing, but of feeling, of immersing oneself in the cultural flow, and listening to the whispers of the past.
Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/202511/huyen-bi-mat-na-go-27c11b0/
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