The story of the buffalo horn in the traditional rice wine drinking custom of the highlanders in Nghe An.

Start the fun with a buffalo horn.

In Nghe An province, there are two communities that consider rice wine an indispensable part of their households: the Thai and the Khmu people. Each family keeps several jars of rice wine at home in case of honored guests or for certain spiritual rituals.

Accompanying the wine jar are straws called "hammers" or "vessels," and, most importantly, a buffalo horn. This slender, neat buffalo horn is always carefully held by the person leading the drinking party, usually a young man. The Thai people call the horn containing the wine "phoong," while the Khmu people call it "huoi." A small hole is usually drilled in the pointed end to allow water to drain, much like a funnel.

A celebration around a jar of rice wine among the Thai ethnic group in Nghe An province. Photo: Huu Vi

According to a book by Dr. Vi Van An, who works at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, the Thai people in Nghe An province used to have the custom of drinking rice wine. Besides buffalo horns, the Thai also used ladles and bamboo tubes to pour the wine. However, in reality, buffalo horns were the authentic tools for pouring rice wine in the highlands. When starting a drinking contest, the leader would fill a horn with water, cover the hole at the bottom with their hand, and shout "cham moi" (a traditional drink). After the shout, the leader would release their hand, allowing the water to flow out, and at the same time, the competing group would begin drinking. When all the water had flowed out and after the shout "thoi" (stop), the contestants would also stop, giving their turn to the opposing group.

After one group finishes drinking, the leader pours water into the buffalo horn and then fills the wine jar. The next group performs the same task. The winning group is the one that drinks more wine within the time it takes for the water to empty one buffalo horn.

The writer Thai Tam once provided subtle descriptions of the custom of drinking rice wine in a book published in 2014. He wrote that, in the traditional custom of drinking rice wine, the Thai people usually use two types of buffalo horns to hold the wine.

“The smaller horn-shaped ones are used for small wine jars, called ‘hay bach’ in Thai, and are only used in families; the larger horn-shaped ones, sometimes as long as two handspans, are used for large earthenware jars. There are some earthenware jars where the person sitting on one side cannot see the person opposite,” Mr. Thai Tam recounted.

Choose the right horn, hold the left horn.

According to the elders in Quy Chau district, buffalo horns are used to pour rice wine for a simple reason: buffaloes are animals that are close to the mountain farmers and are also easily found. When slaughtering a buffalo for a feast or for a ceremony, people often carefully select the horns to use as the "phong" (a container) for the wine.

The Thai people in Chau Hoan (Quy Chau) region often use the right horn of the buffalo and also create and paint motifs of cranes, dragons, phoenixes, etc., onto the horn. When pouring wine, they usually hold the buffalo horn in their left hand, with the most beautiful part facing outwards.

Photo: Huu Vi

For the Khmu community in Ky Son district, the use of buffalo horns in the traditional rice wine drinking ritual also has certain principles. Mr. Moong Van Nghe, a well-known figure in the Khmu community in Nghe An, shared: “In ancestral worship ceremonies, or when honored guests visit, as well as many other rituals, the Khmu people often open rice wine. When opening rice wine, the Khmu people absolutely must have a ‘phoong’ (a type of bamboo pipe). If it is missing, the traditional rice wine drinking ritual of the Khmu people is considered to have lost a beautiful aspect.”

The Khmu people have a traditional ritual called "phan th-rac" (buffalo slaughter) to worship their ancestors. During the buffalo slaughter ceremony, people usually make sure to cut off the buffalo's horns to use as "phoong" for making rice wine. Choosing a buffalo about 3 years old is best, because at this age the horns are shinier and more beautiful than those of older buffaloes.

Generally, both the Thai and Khmu people value buffalo horns in the ritual of drinking rice wine. However, nowadays, many places use plastic cups and ladles as substitutes for buffalo horns when drinking rice wine. This substitution is also reasonable because buffalo horns are no longer as readily available as they used to be. Because of this, the traditional rice wine celebrations no longer retain their full flavor.