Chopsticks in Thai people's life

(Baonghean) - Since ancient times, the Thai people's farming method has alternated between wet rice cultivation and slash-and-burn cultivation. After harvesting the upland rice and pounding it into white rice, the Thai people use steamers to make sticky rice, and store the sticky rice in "eep khau". The eep khau has a special structure consisting of two different compartments, of almost equal size, allowing the two compartments to fit tightly together like a lid when storing sticky rice at the right temperature. Each compartment is woven with two separate layers of rattan, creating an air space, preventing heat from escaping to the outside, keeping the sticky rice warm for a long time, and allowing steam to circulate through so that the sticky rice does not get steamed and become mushy quickly... When eating sticky rice, the sticky rice is squeezed into handfuls, dipped in "cheo" - a special sesame salt made by the Thai people, and there are also many different types of "cheo".

However, that has not made the use of chopsticks strange to the Thai people. In Vietnamese proverbs and folk songs, one can find proverbs about chopsticks: Collect chopsticks in a handful, Moldy chopsticks on a red tray, Compare a bunch of chopsticks and choose a flagpole... For the Thai people, chopsticks are not simply utensils for eating and drinking, they also represent a spiritual aspect in daily life and in the cultural beliefs of the community.

Nowadays, Thai people have made many changes in house architecture, clothing and even in... chopsticks on the dinner tray. The stilt house is still considered by Thai people as a traditional cultural feature and they try to preserve it, but it is only suitable for some people with economic capacity. Industrially woven clothes are more convenient and durable than dresses made from homegrown and homewoven cotton. As for chopsticks used on the dinner tray, most of them are made by machines, however, the chopsticks whittled by the elderly and brought to the market to sell are still consumed regularly. Nowadays, Thai people also grow rice all year round and use rice like Kinh people; on the dinner tray there are always soups, stir-fried dishes... and using chopsticks has become a natural thing.

The proverb Moldy chopsticks on a red tray shows the difference and awkwardness in the status of marriage relationships between men and women - in which the image of a pair of (moldy) chopsticks is criticized as not being compatible with a beautiful tray. In the lyrics expressing the feelings of Thai men, chopsticks are used to compare and glorify the beauty of their lover. Listen to what they sing on the night of courtship "Quam púc xoa" (waking up a lover): "Your skin is like a peeled egg/ Like a Muong Thanh grapefruit flower/ Your figure is like a pair of ivory chopsticks or jade chopsticks/ Inlaid with gold and silver, sparkling...".

The shaman is "casting a spell",

In the ancestral worshiping tray on holidays, in the wrist-tying ceremony (hang van), or even in the "xang khan" or "xen ban, xen muong" ceremonies, the shamans or sorcerers who perform the ceremony must not omit the following words of worship to honor the precious chopsticks chosen to be used on the offering tray: "Mi tang thu may hia may hang pong bang/ Thù may hoc may xang pong nen pong xu". Roughly translated: "These chopsticks are whittled from a bamboo tree with beautiful tubular shape,/ Writted from may hoc, may xang (bamboo family) with straight and slender tubes".

In particular, with the offering tray tied with a wrist string for a specific person, the chopsticks placed on the offering tray are picked up by relatives such as father/mother or wife/husband, siblings… randomly (only once). If the number of chopsticks is not an odd pair, then the offering ceremony can be carried out; otherwise, another relative must come and choose until the number is equal. Choosing the number of chopsticks that is not an odd pair is considered a manifestation of a “mysterious message” from the soul, that the soul of the person being offered is ready to participate in the offering ceremony.

In fairy tales, there are always stories about wizards with magic wands, magic wands... Thai shamans when performing rituals also have at least a dozen pairs of "magic wands". Actually, those are their "magic" chopsticks. These chopsticks are smaller and longer than normal chopsticks, made of ebony, horn or other important materials (these materials sometimes also have a mysterious nature and can suppress evil spirits). Shamans use these chopsticks to "magically" perform their shamanic rituals, helping them "decode" information related to shamanic rituals, but they never use these chopsticks for eating and drinking... When performing shamanic rituals, when it comes to the stage of needing to grasp the wishes of the gods, the shaman shakes the tube of magic wands, randomly chooses a part of them and then holds each pair between his fingers. After doing this a few times, according to their own calculation, the shaman will know the wishes of the gods or the results of the mole. If it is not complete, the prayer must be reread, the missing offerings added, or the number of existing offerings increased, or etc., until the mole is considered complete, then the shaman will give his or her verdict.

In funerals, the rice bowl offered to the deceased is placed right at the head of the coffin, with a single pair of chopsticks stuck vertically in the middle of the rice bowl. A separate offering tray for the deceased, but not yet carried out to be placed in the family line, also uses only one pair of chopsticks. Therefore, in a Thai family, when serving rice to anyone, even if there is only one person sitting to eat, there must be two bowls and two or more pairs of chopsticks on the tray, to avoid taboos...

Thinking about it, the way of using a simple pair of chopsticks in the family along with the way of connecting their meaning in love songs, with the worshiping ceremonies and spiritual activities of the Thai people has shown a community's outlook on life and the universe; it is a cultural feature that has always been passed down and continues to be present in the daily life of the Thai people. The unique features in the "knowledge base" of the customs of a community (including the Thai people) will help us find the best way to integrate with our compatriots, promote the positive aspects, eliminate the negative aspects, and contribute to making the lives of people in the villages always peaceful and prosperous!

Sam Van Binh

(Yen Luom, Chau Quang, Quy Hop)