Spiritual concept of chicken offerings of the ethnic minorities in Nghe An highlands

Unique fruit offering tray of Thai people for Tet

(Baonghean.vn)- According to the customs of the Thai people in the southwest of Nghe An, the 7th lunar month of each year is considered a taboo month, because all ancestors still go to heaven to attend the death anniversary of "Po Then", which means God of Heaven, so the deceased ancestors stay there for a whole month, and can only return to the lower world in the 8th lunar month.

The offering tray cannot lack a chicken.

There are still more than 4 months to go until Tet, but Ms. Luong Thi Cang in Xieng Nua village, Yen Na commune, Tuong Duong district has prepared a batch of chickens for Tet offerings. In addition to serving her family, she also sets aside more than a dozen chickens. Near Tet, if anyone asks to buy them, she will sell them, hoping to have money to buy new clothes for her two children. Like people in the lowlands, the Thai people in Xieng Nua village are quite picky about choosing chickens for Tet offerings.

The chicken is the most important item appearing in most Thai worshiping occasions. When calling the spirit, each Thai family needs 1 or 2 chickens or more, depending on the number of altars in the house. When there is a wedding, the chicken is also the first thing people think of.

The red-crested rooster is also a must-have in the offering tray to the gods in the village worship ceremony. When a person dies, meaning he goes to heaven, in addition to the chicken offering on top of the coffin (the Thai call it “cáy tằng hua”), people must also bring a chicken to let loose in the haunted forest, where the burial place is, so that the dead person can have a pet like the living.

The chicken, in the Thai spiritual concept, is as important as the paper used for worship of the Mong people or the dried squirrel meat in the spiritual rituals of the Khmu people in Ky Son district. They are simple but people believe that they cannot be absent. With those things, the ceremony will be complete.

How to choose chicken for traditional offerings

Thai people also have a rather elaborate traditional concept about chicken offerings, expressed in how to choose the chicken, how to slaughter it, and how to shape it to suit specific offerings.

Shaman Lo Van Hoan, residing in Khe Kien village, Luu Kien commune, Tuong Duong district, shared that in tradition, especially during feudal times, people chose chickens for offerings quite carefully.

Chicken on the offering tray. Photo: Huu Vi

“In the past, people looked at the chicken’s comb. The comb had to be red and high. Then they considered the feathers, wings and legs of the chicken,” said Mr. Hoan, adding that in the Thai people’s concept, choosing a chicken is not as important as butchering and shaping the chicken when placing it on the offering tray. After slaughtering the chicken, people often cut a small line in the tail. The knee joint is also cut but not separated, then the beak is split and the wings are locked. The intestines are wrapped around the gizzard and put into the chicken’s belly before being boiled.

When arranging the offering tray, there are also some things to pay attention to. The chicken is usually placed with its head facing the inside of the altar. In front is wine and tea; next to the chicken are bowls and chopsticks. Nowadays, this principle is no longer strictly followed, but there is one thing that few people forget: when offering to the living, people place the chicken face up and only place it face down when offering to gods or the deceased.

The Thai people are like that, but for some Mong communities in Ky Son district, chicken is also an important item for the custom of worshiping souls and gods. The Lau family in Ky Son district often slaughters a rooster when worshiping children and it must be a rooster. The appearance of ugliness, beauty, size, or smallness is not important. When worshiping adults, one male and one female must be slaughtered. The Lau Mong people often place the chicken face down, whether worshiping gods or worshiping the souls of living people.

The Lau Mong people usually make offerings twice. This applies to both the local god and the spirit. The first time they make an offering of a live chicken, after it is slaughtered and boiled, they make an offering again.

The chicken is an indispensable offering in the Chieng Ngam Temple ceremony, Quy Chau district. Photo: Huu Vi

For the Khmu people in Bao Thang commune (Ky Son), offering chickens is also very important in spiritual rituals, second only to rice wine. People usually only offer roosters during New Year celebrations. When calling the spirit of men and boys, roosters are used, and when offering to women, hens are used.