The ethnic group that celebrates Tet the longest is in Nghe An.

(Baonghean.vn) - Each ethnic minority in the highlands of Nghe An has its own customs during the traditional New Year. As for the Mong people, although their traditional New Year has long since passed and has been integrated into the Lunar New Year of the nation, the customs of this community have not been lost. They are considered the ethnic minority with the longest New Year in the Western region of Nghe An.

We went to Nam Khien village (Nam Can, Ky Son) to visit Lau Xai Phia's family on the occasion of the approaching Lunar New Year. In the house, his wife and daughter-in-law were arranging the newly dried papers to use during Tet. By the red fire on a cold day in the remote border region, he thoughtfully told us about the customs of the Mong people in the past, which according to him have now somewhat faded away.

The current New Year of the Mong people in Laos has similarities with the traditional New Year of the Mong people in Vietnam in the past. Photo: Dao Tho

The Mong people's Tet begins on October 30, now December 30 (lunar calendar) and lasts depending on each clan. His Lau clan celebrates Tet for 7 days, while other clans usually celebrate only 3-5 days. Because in the past, Tet often coincided with the days when people harvested rice and opium, so after celebrating Tet, they immediately went back to the fields.

Now that life is better, Tet is extended, sometimes until the full moon of the first lunar month. During the days of Tet, the Mong people must abstain from working and from touching knives and machetes. That is why they prepare everything from food to firewood to use during the Tet days.

Mong people's village worship ceremony during Tet. Photo: Dao Tho

On the afternoon of the 30th, people cut new pieces of paper and stick them everywhere in the house, on tables, chairs, and on the pillars to pray for good luck for a peaceful new year. At around 4 pm, everyone in the clan gathered at the village stadium to perform the village worship ceremony. The clan leader held a chicken and led the villagers around a large pile of cogon grass in the middle of which was a tung xong tree (a type of softwood) to worship and bid farewell to the old year and invite the gods of the new year to celebrate Tet. After that, everyone went home to prepare the altar and kill a chicken to call the spirits to welcome the new year. According to Mr. Lau Xai Phia, this custom is somewhat similar to the current New Year's Eve ceremony.

However, in those days, the Mong people did not have clocks and time-telling devices like today to know the new year. That is why everyone in the village took turns to be on duty, and when they heard the first rooster crow, they would signal to the villagers to wake up together to welcome the New Year. In those days, most Mong people had flintlock guns in their houses, so everyone took them out and fired them into the sky to signal the sacred moment of the year had arrived.

Each person holds a bamboo tube and invites each other to the stream to get water to drink and wash their faces, praying for a peaceful, lucky new year and a bountiful harvest. According to the concept of this community, the first tube of water contains the purest and coolest things, like the Mong people's hearts towards their ancestors.

Mong men and women throw pao during Tet. Photo: Dao Tho

On the morning of the first day of Tet, everyone in the village visits each other and brings their best wishes. The elderly sit around the fire, eat sticky rice cakes, drink corn wine, and chat about the old year and advise each other on how to do business in the new year; men and women dress up in their best traditional costumes and go out to the yard to play the flute and throw the pao to find a wife or husband.

The sounds of leaf pipes, lip pipes, and tree pipes echoed throughout the mountains and forests. Thus, the Tet holiday lasted from one day to the next. On the last day, the homeowner took down the piece of meat that had been hung on the house pillar a few days before to offer to the gods and ancestors, announcing that the Tet holiday was over and that everyone could start a new day of work.

Spring peach blossoms in Mong village. Photo: Dao Tho

Mr. Lau Xai Phia mused: “Now those customs have faded away a lot. In the age of information technology, there are no longer people playing the flute happily or taking bamboo tubes to the stream to get water on Tet like before.” His eyes shone with a distant feeling. Outside, the ancient peach trees have begun to bud. A new year for the nation is coming./.

Dao Tho