The Tay and Nung people have many beautiful community-building customs that have been maintained for generations. Among them, the "To Pang" custom is still preserved today, becoming a beautiful cultural feature with profound humanistic significance.
"Tò pang" means contributing together, helping each other, and sharing difficulties and hardships. When there is a major event in the village, other families will proactively bring their produce to contribute to the host family. For joyous occasions such as weddings, baby celebrations, and housewarming parties, other families will contribute rice, wine, chickens, ducks, and pigs. For funerals, they also have the custom of contributing white cloth and ashes (used to line the coffin when embalming the body). This custom has become a beautiful tradition that demonstrates the spirit of solidarity and mutual support in daily life, contributing to the strong bonds within the Tay and Nung communities.
In the past, when life was difficult and materially scarce, with the belief "The whole village is our home. If the village is not strong, then our home will also fall apart," whenever there was a funeral or wedding in the village, the entire village would stop all other work to focus on helping each other. This custom has become a unique cultural feature expressing the solidarity and mutual support among villagers. Before a family event, they would announce it to everyone in the village several days in advance so that everyone could prepare. When there was a wedding in the village, they would announce it 9 days in advance ("slắng lẩu cẩu vằn") so that everyone would remember and prepare offerings to contribute to the celebration. There's no need for extravagant gifts; people can bring whatever they have at home, perhaps a chicken, a bottle of wine, or sometimes a sack of rice... Besides providing goods, villagers also pitch in to help the host family with setting up tents, gathering firewood, cooking, preparing the ground, and lending each other items like bowls, chopsticks, tables, and chairs... This helps the host family reduce their workload, allowing them to focus on the main tasks such as shopping, inviting relatives, welcoming shamans, and performing rituals...
The "Tò pang" custom has become a bond that strengthens community ties in the lives of the Tay and Nung people.
In the past, many families in the mountainous regions faced hardship. Thanks to the "Tò pang" custom, many couples got married, and many families had money for funerals, ceremonies, baby showers, and ancestral worship. Each person in the Tay and Nung communities here consciously contributes both resources and labor to ensure village affairs run smoothly, easing the financial burden on the host family. Whenever a family has a major event, the host will send one or two members to receive the goods brought by the villagers. The quantity of these goods is recorded in a ledger. When another family has an event, they will return the full amount, or more if the host family can afford it. "Tò pang" has become an integral part of the culture of the simple mountain people, demonstrating a spirit of mutual support and assistance, and becoming a beautiful cultural practice within the community.
The "Tò pang" custom has become a bond that strengthens community ties among the Tay and Nung people. Today, with societal development, this beautiful custom still retains its humanistic value, profound meaning, warmth, and spiritual connection within the village community.
Linh Nhi/ Cao Bang Newspaper
Source: https://baophutho.vn/phong-tuc-to-pang-net-dep-gan-ket-cong-dong-cua-nguoi-tay-nung-228369.htm
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