Strange funeral customs of the Mong people in Western Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) – The Mong people living in the Western part of Nghe An have many unique cultural features. One of those cultural features is the stone tomb used in funerals.

Arriving at Lien Son village (Nam Can commune - Ky Son), we met Mr. Va Chay Xa. His father, Mr. Va Pa Denh, passed away more than a year ago at the age of over 90. We expressed our wish to visit his grave, and Mr. Chay Xa immediately accepted.

Va Pa Denh’s grave was buried on a hill about a kilometer from his house. Along the way, we noticed that there were many Mong graves buried here, some were made of stone, some were beautifully built. Mr. Denh’s grave was made of earth level with the ground, with stones piled high on top like many other graves. Above, trees had grown lushly because no one had visited for a long time. Mr. Va Chay Xa said: “When Mong people die, those who have money build new brick graves, those who don’t have money just build stones and leave them like that. Everything is worshiped at home.”

Mr. Va Chay Xa said that in those days, the Mong people lost the battle because the enemy used roosters to replace all the crossbow triggers, so they fled to the border of Vietnam and Laos. When the Mong people fled, they were pursued very closely, and whoever they encountered was killed. The Mong people who were still wearing their clothes were killed and stripped naked. Some were luckier because their families were poor and wore torn clothes, so when they were killed, their clothes were not taken away.

Therefore, nowadays in Mong funerals, when putting the body of the deceased into the coffin, people often use knives and scissors to cut off all the clothes so that when they reach the other world, "Tua So" meets the enemy and says "I am a poor person, do not have enough food, my clothes are torn" so that they will not be disturbed and the soul will be at peace.

Stone tomb of Mong people in Nghe An.

Traveling to all the Mong villages in Ky Son district, we saw that this ethnic group has one thing in common: when burying the dead, their graves are made of stone. Explaining this, village elder Lau Xai Phia (Nam Khien village, Nam Can, Ky Son) told us that the Mong people's stone graves originated from their struggle for survival with other ethnic groups centuries ago.

Most of the Hmong stone tombs are covered by trees.

Another village elder, Lau Xai Phia, explained that: On the way of migration from the North to Vietnam and Laos, countless Mong people died. When chasing Mong people, the enemy encountered earthen graves, knowing that they were Mong graves, they dug them up and exposed the bodies to the rain and sun. To avoid this, Mong people thought of making stone graves that resembled the graves of their enemies. From then on, the enemy could not distinguish between Mong graves and their own graves, and Mong graves were left in peace.

From the North to the “Tua la chua gua” mountain, the Vietnam-China border area, there are high mountains, cold climate and many thorny worms. The Mong people without sandals cannot cross this mountain range. They took flax bark to strip the fibers and weave them into sandals to wear. The flax sandals have helped the Mong people go deep into the Vietnam and Laos areas.

Since then, when Mong people die, whether old or young, male or female, they use flax fibers to weave sandals so that their souls can pass through the "Tua la pagoda gua" mountain to return to their ancestors in "Tua so".

Dao Tho