Thai people in Nghe An and their belief in buffaloes

Buffalo horns are carved on the door of a Thai house. Photo: Ho Phuong

I went to elementary school, from home through the Pa Dong forest (the graveyard), waded a small stream, and went up the hill and immediately saw the “buffalo head”. Honestly, I was scared. Who carved the buffalo head so skillfully? Each door was a curved horn, in the middle, where the nose (scar) was tied, was a big, black iron lock. The two buffalo eyes stared as if they wanted to gore to death anyone who dared to come near to steal.

But gradually I was no longer afraid! I thought of my buffalo, the beloved buffalo under my floor. It knew how to kneel down to let me climb on its back. It knew how to swim to the Nam Huong river to play with me... And when my father took it to plow, it made straight furrows... Without a buffalo, it would be difficult to farm! "The buffalo is the head of the family fortune", that is the proverb of the Kinh people, and the Thai people too!

Statues of cows prostrating, including 6 black cows and 3 white cows, are placed in front of the Nine-chamber Temple. Photo: PV

And more! The buffalo is also a belief of the Thai people. The Thai people worship and honor the buffalo. In the prayer to invite the buffalo to celebrate Tet, there is a passage:“Don’t let the striped tiger catch you/Don’t let the buffalo eat near the edge of the cliff and get startled/Don’t let the buffalo eat near the yam pit and fall/Don’t let the lice get between your toes/Don’t let the snail crawl into your nose/Buffaloes eat reed grass and cogon grass to grow big/Buffaloes eat grass on the flat ground to be strong/Let each tree root have a rope/Let each tree root have a buffalo/Let the buffaloes return to the village with a rustle like a storm/Buffaloes rush under the floor like pouring rain/Let there be a male buffalo with tapered horns/Let there be a buffalo with curved horns rubbing their backs under the ladder/Let there be a buffalo with twisted horns that is a good buffalo/Let them go down and get the reputation of being a good buffalo/Let them go up and get the reputation of being a good buffalo/To be beautiful thanks to the god of the ancestor/To have an old buffalo and a young buffalo thanks to the god of the ancestor who herds the buffaloes…”.

I remember the buffalo sacrifice ceremony at my uncle's funeral half a century ago. People built a small bamboo church in the yard. They led the buffalo to be tied to a pole buried in the middle of the yard. The celebrant read the prayer, offering the buffalo to the ghost. After the buffalo was slaughtered, people tied its nose to the church pole. The bride and groom wore red shirts (ghost shirts), green belts, walked around the buffalo, sprinkled water on the buffalo, and lit torches on the buffalo (to show that they would slaughter it). When finished, the buffalo was slaughtered. People cut off the buffalo's head and placed it on the altar (in that church).

The pair of buffalo horns, called "husband's horns, wife's horns", are often used by Thai people on their wedding day. Photo: Ho Phuong

At the Nine-Chamber Temple (Que Phong), the sacrificial object is also a buffalo. And the buffalo becomes the central object of the sacrificial activities:“Look, the root cha (leader) is about to lead the buffalo/The tip cha (member) is about to carry the sugar cane/Carry the small sugar cane to lure the buffalo down/The grandson goes down to the middle dock to bathe the buffalo of the “heavenly lord”/The small cha returns to the wide dock today to bathe the Then (heavenly) buffalo/Seeing the Dam men (ancestors) coming down to the dock today in droves/Silver and gold pipes to bathe the buffalo of the “heavenly lord”/The root cha leads the buffalo to the stake/Let’s tie the buffalo to the fork/Tie it tightly to the stake with many turns/But when the buffalo hasn’t collapsed, we - you here, get up to catch it/When the buffalo hasn’t died, get up to chase it/That white buffalo, we will surround it tightly/That black buffalo, we - everyone, chase it tightly/Tie it tightly to many, rest!/The small-bladed spear is raised over the shoulder/The sharp-bladed sword is raised to slash the buffalo/But don’t slash the buffalo and it falls back into the water, or you will lose your fish spirit!/Don’t slash the buffalo and it falls back into the field, or you will lose your rice spirit/If you fall back into the village, you will lose your livestock and wealth In the house/Cut, cut skillfully so that the old buffalo falls down on Pu Cam mountain".

Thai people believe that when a person dies, their soul returns to live with their ancestors in Heaven, so they must have buffaloes to make a living.

Buffalo procession ceremony. Photo: Dang Cuong

Back to the funeral of my uncle mentioned above. The shaman read the buffalo offering: Descendants must:“Give the buffalo with crooked horns to your father (mother) to go to Heaven to plow the fields and plant rice seedlings/Your children and grandchildren give you buffalo with crooked horns/Go to Heaven to plow the fields and plant rice/Take one buffalo, and bring out the herd of buffaloes/Father (mother) lead the buffalo in front/I (the shaman) carry a sharp sword and escort behind/Lead the buffalo and walk with a clatter/The buffalo will go straight/The whip (of the shaman) will be swung behind”.

Now it has been industrialized. There have appeared "iron buffaloes" working in the fields, but in many rural areas of Nghe An, buffaloes will forever be associated with the lives of the Thai people.