What is in the housewarming ceremony of Thai people in Nghe An?

On the day of the housewarming, the male homeowner will tell his wife and children to clean everything, close all the doors, and no one is allowed inside. He must go to the “xay nghen” (day-telling master) to ask for a good day and time to hold the “moving to the new house” ceremony (hừn ưông mo). With everything ready, the whole family stands in a line in front of the stairs at the end of the house; each person brings along household items that need to be moved to the new house such as boxes, blankets, rice, bowls, pots, etc.

Thai people build new stilt houses. Photo: Ho Phuong

At the head of the line is the master, with a sword across his back, a flintlock gun (if any) on one shoulder, a plow on the other shoulder, a cooking pot (using a buffalo rope to tie the pot to the neck) and a “tay” bag in one hand. Second is the master, with a gourd on her shoulder, a small child on her back, a basket of needles and thread and seeds such as vegetables, cotton, onions, garlic, ginger, chili, etc. Next are the son, daughter-in-law (if any), daughter and relatives attending. Finally, two young men carry a cleaned pig called “mu hùn huynh” (pig going up to the house). A man in the family is chosen to be the symbolic “new house god”, secretly sneaking up to stand in the house first.

To begin, the landlord called upstairs three times:“Are you home, landlord?”The host said:“Uh… home!”.The landlord continued:“I just came from Muong (…)/ From Muong (…), Muong (…) just returned/ Good time, good day/ I would like to move to a new house!/ I will carry my belongings to lie down/ Carry my things to live/ I will move to a good house/ I will move to a big house/ I will move to this house to be rich/ I will sit in this house to have/ Silver and gold will flow in/ Rice will pile up, okay!”The master said:“Oh… go up! Go up to live in a good house/ Go up to live in a big house/ Go up to have children and grandchildren/ Go up to have longevity and happiness, okay!”

The homeowner will step on the bottom step three times, make a noise, dust it off, and then climb the ladder. Everyone else will follow. He pushes the door open, enters the house, crosses the threshold, puts down the plow, and slides the plow on the floorboards as he enters, chanting the “treat evil” spell as he goes.

The fire burned all night on the first day of moving into the new house. Photo: Huu Vi

When he got to the stove, he put down the pot, went to the main door at the front of the house, turned to the altar, leaned the plow against the wall next to the altar, took a nail and hammered it into the altar column (xau roi), and hung the "tay" bag there. Then he turned around and took off his gun and sword and hung them on the "thần chủ áo" column (xau chau xua) on the wall separating the outer room from the inner room, in the upper corner, next to the master of the house's room. Only then could everyone take down the other belongings. The pig was placed near the stove, on green banana leaves, to prepare, cook, set the altar and prepare a feast to celebrate the new house.

After cooking and preparing the food, proceed to "worship the new house" (phai huong mo). The homeowner, or invites a shaman to perform this ceremony. After about an hour of worship, the food is put down, the trays of dishes are prepared, and a happy meal is eaten to celebrate the new house. At this time, some relatives and neighbors are invited to join. After eating and drinking, the homeowner invites everyone, old and young, men and women in the village to drink rice wine and listen to songs to celebrate the new house.

Every village has artists who sing nhuon, lam, and xuoi. During a housewarming ceremony like this, they will show off their talent by singing songs like "Cung vao nha", "Duo ta", "Cung chuc"... Like that, the fun will last all day, sometimes even all night.

Thai shaman preparing to perform ceremony. Photo: Ha Ngoc Thuy

But a "house" does not have a "soul"! It is necessary to bring the soul into the house to complete it. About 10 days after the housewarming ceremony, the "nep tay" ceremony is held. "Tay" mentioned above is a bag containing "ho" (a small basket symbolizing the house for Mot - the god of the sky who comes down to guard the house and take care of the grandchildren; bamboo fan, bow [weapon for the grandson], cotton ball [weapon for the granddaughter]... "Tay" today will be brought into the room, on top of the column adjacent to the homeowner's room. "Nep tay" is the ceremony to welcome the ancestors and guardian gods into the house. In this ceremony, the ancestors are also worshiped, and the songs "kha khau huon", "xap hinh", "xong xen" as above are performed; that is, singing to celebrate the new house once again.