The Tay people's perspective on the Rice Pounding Festival.
The Tay ethnic group's rice pounding festival originated and has existed in close connection with their tradition of wet rice cultivation. The Tay people believe that all things have spirits, and each type of plant has a deity residing within it, especially the rice plant. The "rice god" is clearly present in the religious life of the people, and is respected and revered by them.
The rice pounding festival emerged as an indispensable tradition after each rice harvest season, deeply ingrained in the community's traditional culture. It is a vivid way of expressing gratitude to heaven and earth, deities, the rice god, the land, and ancestors for bringing a bountiful harvest to the village, bringing prosperity and happiness to each family. This is the deep origin and core of the traditional rice pounding festival of the Tay people.
The Tay people in Thanh Tuong commune (Na Hang district) are reviving the traditional rice pounding festival.
The Tay ethnic group's rice pounding festival is considered a ritual that concludes a year of plowing and planting. It is a festival to give thanks to heaven, earth, deities, the "rice god," Mother Moon, and the ancestors of the clans for blessing the villagers with a bountiful harvest. It is also a festival celebrating the new rice harvest in October and a moon festival (Hoi Hai).
Currently, in Tuyen Quang province, several localities still organize the Rice Pounding Festival, mainly concentrated in the communes of Con Lon, Yen Hoa, Thuong Nong, Thuong Giap in Na Hang district; and Trung Ha in Chiem Hoa district. The Rice Pounding Festival is usually held in August or September of the lunar calendar each year. The date of the festival is not fixed; it is decided by the Then shaman who chooses an auspicious day to hold the event.
Rich in Tay culture
Traditionally, the ceremony begins the afternoon before. The shaman prepares an offering tray containing chicken, sticky rice, gold coins, wine, and water to ask permission from the local deities and spirits for the villagers to hold the Rice Pounding Festival. The villagers then perform the ritual of carrying the rice god from the field to the altar. The shaman lights incense and sincerely prays to the rice god, respectfully asking for permission to welcome the rice god to the ceremony.
After the shaman's prayers, the young men and women go down to the fields to select and cut large, beautiful rice stalks with plump grains, bundle them into bunches, and carry them back to the village to place on the altar. After bringing the rice god back, the villagers are then allowed to go down to the fields to harvest glutinous rice to process into rice flakes for the festival.
Sift the rice husks to obtain the rice flakes.
Besides the ritual of welcoming the rice god, the Tay people's rice pounding festival also includes a ritual of welcoming Mother Moon and the 12 fairies. As soon as the moon appears in the sky, the shaman and his assistants prepare offerings to the deities, Mother Moon, and the 12 fairies. According to the Tay people's belief, after the shaman's prayer, Mother Moon and the 12 fairies will descend to earth to attend the festival.
At the altar, the shaman performs the ritual of offering wine and freshly pounded rice, and the shaman, representing the people, expresses gratitude to heaven and earth, and the deities, for their blessings and protection, which have resulted in bountiful harvests, full granaries, and thriving livestock.
The festival part includes a rice pounding competition among teams from participating villages.
Comrade Nguyen Van Hoa - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said: In recent years, the rice pounding festival has been revived in some localities in Tuyen Quang province. However, some rituals in the ceremony are not maintained, and the number of shamans to perform the rituals in the rice pounding festival of the Tay ethnic group is no longer large, and the heritage is at risk of disappearing.
Therefore, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently restored the traditional rice pounding festival of the Tay ethnic group in Thanh Tuong commune, Na Hang district, in order to raise public awareness of the preservation of traditional cultural heritage values of the ethnic group, and it has been very well received by the people.
Thanh Phuc (Tuyen Quang Newspaper)
Source: https://baophutho.vn/le-hoi-gia-com-cua-dan-toc-226405.htm
Comment (0)