Some taboos of the Mong people

(Baonghean) -Taboos are quite common in many communities, including the Kinh people. In ethnic minority communities in the highlands, these taboos sometimes seem difficult to understand, but behind them are interesting stories related to the process of establishing villages and towns...

Tomb visiting ceremony on Tet holiday of Mong Na Ngoi - Ky Son.

For the highlanders, each clan has a different taboo. For the Thai, the Luong clan does not eat tiger or cat meat. This clan considers them its ancestors. The Vi clan abstains from eating the zebra. The Ngan clan abstains from snake meat. For the Khmu, the Moong clan abstains from weasel meat... These stories are all related to the ancestors of the clan, who led their descendants from far away to establish new villages and new Muongs. The Ha clan abstains from eating the cuckoo bird. There is a story about this taboo: While searching for new land, in the middle of the deep forest, the ancestor of this clan fell and broke his leg. That night, the forest god came to tell him in a dream to break the cuckoo bird's leg and follow its treatment method to recover quickly. The ancestor of the Ha clan followed suit and the bone healed to continue his work. The taboos of the Thai and Khmu have been discussed a lot through press documents, research projects...

For the Mong community in the districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Que Phong, there are also taboos that are rarely mentioned. Like the Thai..., Khmu, many Mong clans have quite strange taboos.

Na Ngoi Commune (Ky Son) has 19 villages, of which 17 are Mong. The whole commune has 6 clans: Xong (the most populous), Lau, Mua, Vu, Gia and Ha. These clans are often concentrated in one village. Here, there are 3 clans: Xong, Mua and Ha. Apart from the common taboos of the Mong people, there are no special taboos.

In Na Ngoi, the Lau, Vu and Gia clans have a taboo. The Lau clan is distributed in many villages of Ka Duoi and Ka Tren. This clan is also one of the most populous in this commune bordering Vietnam - Laos. For the Mong people in general and the Lau clan in particular, men over 40 years old are well-versed in their ethnic customs. Teacher Lau Ba Co, a citizen of Ka Tren village, said that the Lau clan has a taboo that their daughter-in-law during her entire life in her husband's house, no matter what happens, is not allowed to enter the bedroom of her parents-in-law. The cleaning is done by the parents-in-law or by other family members. Conversely, the parents-in-law are not allowed to enter the bedroom of their daughter-in-law for any reason.

Before bringing the daughter-in-law home, the father-in-law can go into the forest to cut wood to build a partition to make a bedroom for his son and daughter-in-law. But when the daughter-in-law comes home, the bedroom is a "forbidden zone" for the parents-in-law. As for the Vu family, married women are not allowed to step on the stairs, even the stairs to the rice barn. That is why Vu women rarely step on the rice barn on the field. This taboo custom probably only exists among the Mong people?!

We do not know the origin of these taboos. However, the Gia family in Huoi Xai village has a custom of abstaining from eating animal hearts. Whether it is the heart of a chicken, duck, fish or large animal they hunt, they throw away the heart or share it with people of other ethnicities or clans to eat. The Gia family believes that if they eat animal hearts, they will become blind or deaf. There is a legend about this taboo: In the past, when the Mong people first fled from the North, they were chased away by the natives. After the battle, the Gia family won. The head of the family slaughtered a cow to treat the villagers and first of all, to worship the gods. The cow was slaughtered and boiled. The master of ceremonies searched for a long time but still found that the animal's heart was missing. No one knew what to ask. At this time, the whole village focused all their suspicions on a young man in the village. No matter how much they interrogated him, he did not admit his guilt. This young man had been mute since childhood and could not plead his innocence.

At this point, the villagers’ anger reached its peak. There was no greater crime than violating the offering to the gods. “If you have already eaten the cow’s heart, then take out your own heart instead!” shouted the celebrant, who was also the chief of the community. Then the villagers killed the innocent young man, took out his heart and put it on the offering tray. After the ceremony, people discovered that the heart of the cow offered to the gods had fallen into the stream. Perhaps the villagers were careless while butchering it. Only then did they understand the injustice of the mute young man!

After the ceremony, the village chief, who was also the chief of the Gia clan, gathered the villagers to make an oath. From now on, if you are a Gia clan member, you are not allowed to eat the heart of any animal. If you violate this rule, you will become blind and mute like the innocent son who just died unjustly.

From then on, the Gia family never touched an animal's heart with chopsticks. When eating with other relatives, if they accidentally touched one, they would immediately put it away and pray to the gods to forgive this unintentional mistake...

You Wei