Cultural beauty of the Cong people in the midst of the mist and clouds

Appearing since the 17th century, the Cong people sought out remote mountains and streams to build a culture rich in identity on Vietnamese territory. From colorful, graceful costumes to festivals… all have created a cultural beauty hidden among the vast mist and clouds.

The Cong ethnic group, also known as the Xa and Mang ethnic groups, reside in the Northwest region, mainly in the provinces of Lai Chau and Dien Bien . This is one of the ethnic groups with a population of less than 10,000 people that still preserves many unique traditional cultural features.

Traditional costumes are also a beautiful identity of the Cong ethnic group. (Photo: Tran Cong Dat)

Unique cuisine , costumes

The daily meals of the Cong ethnic group are mainly rice or sticky rice, along with meat and vegetables like other ethnic groups in the area. In addition, life is closely connected to nature, so the dishes of the Cong ethnic group also come from nature. On holidays and Tet, the rice sprouts to worship ancestors must be full of dishes including pork, sticky rice, whole chicken, corn cake and wine.

According to artisan Ly Thi Giong in Nam Khao commune, Muong Te district, Lai Chau province, corn cakes, yam cakes, rice cakes, crabs stuffed with corn, dried fish, dried meat... are typical dishes of the Cong people, especially during festivals. All Cong people know how to make these cakes and invite shamans to perform rituals on each occasion. In addition, cha kha cha vang is also a popular dish of the Cong people. Cooked from pig's blood with vồn vén leaves and bitter vegetables, this dish is often used to treat stomach ailments or eaten when having a stomachache.

Stone crabs are also treated in a special way by the Cong people. Because of the belief that crabs are animals that protect crops, crabs must be caught from clear streams, cleaned, split in half, all the meat removed, then stuffed with corn flour and put back together into the shape of a crab as before, and the cooked food is placed on a tray. In the 8th lunar month, during the New Year's Eve, the Cong people often tie crabs to hunting and gathering tools so that the shaman can perform a ritual to worship the tools.

Traditional costumes are also a beautiful identity of the Cong ethnic group. Men wear indigo-black suits, with buttons tied with cloth knots. Women are more elaborate and combine them with jewelry. Unmarried women tie their hair in a bun at the back, while married women tie their hair on top of their heads. On the bun, there are symmetrical hairpins on both sides, with silver coins attached.

The Cong women's headdress is a Pieu scarf similar to that of the Black Thai. They often use silver or gold jewelry to enhance their feminine beauty and protect their health. Cong women wear two types of shirts. One type is long, consisting of alternating blue, red, yellow, and white panels combined with unique embroidered patterns on the hem. The other type has black sleeves, a shirt with a split chest, buttons along the hem decorated with silver buttons and colored threads. Cong people wear shirts combined with floral or black skirts, with ancient patterns.

When coming to Nam Khao commune, the girls here are proud that every house has a Bem. This is a dowry item from the mother to the daughter containing fabric, clothes and jewelry. The Bem is always placed under the altar and is never moved. With the excellent weaving techniques of the Cong people, the Bem does not rot or become moldy over time but is always thick and fresh.

Unique national culture

In addition to the New Rice Offering Festival, the Cong people have many other special New Year celebrations. The village offering ceremony is held in the third lunar month, before the sowing season. The village builds a gate and places a taboo sign that no one is allowed to enter the village for one day. Offerings include only fish and crabs, praying that birds and animals will not cause harm, and planting a few clumps of shallots to pray for good, green rice.

When offering tobacco to the "forest ghosts", the Cong people often take tobacco and place it on a rock. After offering it, they bathe. According to the beliefs of the Cong people, "forest ghosts" are the strongest ghosts that often harm people. When invited to smoke, the happy forest ghosts will no longer harm people. In the past, if someone in a family was sick, they would also offer tobacco to the forest ghosts. Whatever illness they had, the corresponding animal would be chosen according to the indication of that illness.

Corn Festival (late May, early June of the lunar calendar) when the corn season has been harvested. Corn has been the main food crop of the Cong people for hundreds of years, so the main offerings during the Corn Festival are mostly made from corn.

In the past, the Cong people had the custom of living with the wife's parents for 8-12 years to take care of their parents-in-law as a way to show gratitude for their parents. Nowadays, this custom has been reduced to 2-3 years, and there is no longer any custom of living with the wife's parents-in-law anymore. The wedding ceremony is held during the off-season, around November and December of the lunar calendar. The bride's parents give her a dowry including: blankets, mattresses, clothes, knives, hoes, spades, a pig, and a hen.

In addition to the New Rice Offering Festival, the Cong people also celebrate many other special Tet holidays. (Source: Lai Chau Newspaper)

The Cong people attach special importance to the ritual part: Making the ceremony. Before sending their daughter to her husband's house, the bride's family will make the ceremony with the most solemn and sacred rituals. The main meaning of making the ceremony at the bride's family is to "cut the hóng" of the girl from the altar of the bride's family (meaning the girl is no longer on the altar of the ancestors and family). After welcoming the bride home, the groom's family must also make the "nhập hóng" ceremony to "enter" the bride into the altar of the groom's family and ancestors...

Born from the forest, raised from the mountain ravine, therefore, the Cong Nam Khao people, Muong Te district, have a cultural treasure imbued with the colors of the mountains, forests, trees, flowers, birds and animals. They use songs to relieve the fatigue of work, to share their care and affection for each other, to express their feelings for the people they love. Combined with Cong folk songs are folk dances such as Py Luym dance, hoop dance, integrating members with the community, between members with each other, thereby creating a strange attraction.

Through the historical process, the Cong people (Muong Te, Lai Chau) have been promoting the values ​​of national identity to "integrate without dissolving", contributing to the promotion of the economy and society. Currently, 100% of households have land for cultivation and are supported by the State to reduce hunger and poverty, learn rattan, bamboo, and weaving for export abroad; trade in ethnic specialties such as food and traditional medicine, thereby shortening the gap with other ethnic groups.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ve-dep-van-hoa-cua-nguoi-cong-giua-dai-ngan-suong-may-255054.html