Why do 4 big families in Nghe An abstain from eating felines?

(Baonghean.vn) - Born from the "love affair" between a talented hunter and a tiger queen, four families of the Thai ethnic group in the Western region of Nghe An were born: Lu, Loc, Luong, Quang. Although only mythical, the above families never kill feline animals. The legend of this "love affair" between humans and animals has been passed down for centuries in the spiritual life of the descendants of the four families of Nghe An.

Illustration photo. Source: Internet.

During our visit to Mr. Luong Van Dung's house - Secretary of San village, Tri Le commune (Que Phong district), one of the families that still preserves many traditional customs of the Thai ethnic community, we were told by him the legend about the origin of the families: Lu, Loc, Luong, Quang.

Mr. Dung said: One year, a fire completely burned down the Heavenly Court. At that time, the Heavenly Court was built with human bones, so to rebuild it, the Heavenly Court sent a group of tigers down to earth to capture people and use their bones to rebuild the Heavenly Court. In that pack of tigers, there was a female tiger who was the leader and went around the village capturing people.

Since being brought to earth, the tigers have caused terror and eaten people from village to village. The number of people still living in the village can be counted on one hand. Realizing that this tiger pack must be destroyed soon, otherwise the human race will be destroyed, a group of hunters volunteered to hunt the tigers sent from heaven.

The group of hunters went from village to village but still could not find the tigers, only the devastation they caused. One night after unsuccessfully hunting tigers, the hunter leading the group went to sleep in the largest stilt house in a residential village whose people had all been eaten by tigers.

When he arrived, the hunter was shocked to find a woman sleeping on the floor with a large tiger skin covering her body. The hunter regained his composure and approached her, pulling the tiger skin off the woman on the floor. The woman woke up and tried to snatch the tiger skin back, but the hunter quickly hid the tiger skin. It was the female tiger transformed into a human and the fox was quickly subdued.

Procession at the Nine-Chamber Temple Festival of the Thai ethnic group in Que Phong district. Photo by Ho Phuong

Through the story of the tiger queen, the hunter tore the tiger skin to pieces so that the woman could no longer transform into the evil tiger queen. Through conversation and interaction, the man and the tiger gradually developed feelings for each other and soon became husband and wife. However, fearing that the villagers would know the truth and take revenge on his wife, the hunter took his wife to live deep in the mountain ravine. Since then, the villagers have not seen the tigers come to harass and capture people again.

The hunter and the tiger king lived together and had four children named Loc, Lu, Luong, and Quang. The four children grew up, got married, and lived with their parents in the old forest in what is now the western region of Nghe An. They took their names and established four clans of the Thai ethnic group today.

The family of Mr. Luong Van Dung - Secretary of San village, Tri Le commune (Que Phong) also raises a cat like many other families of the 4 clans: Loc, Lu, Luong, Quang as a spiritual symbol of ancestral origin. Photo: Xuan Hoa.

Also from this legend, the four families Loc, Lu, Luong, Quang never catch or eat feline animals such as tigers, leopards, cats... Moreover, now every house of the four families mentioned above raises a cat as a symbol of their ancestors.

“For generations, the people of the four families Loc, Lu, Luong, Quang of our Thai ethnic group have not eaten meat or hunted animals related to tigers. But now this legend is gradually being forgotten. I am planning to record the stories and customs of our Thai ethnic group,” Mr. Dung shared.

Xuan Hoa