Tay and Nung people celebrate Thanh Minh festival

4/11/2019 - 10:33:38 AM

The Thanh Minh (grave-visiting) festival, which falls on the third day of the third lunar month, is one of the most important festivals of the Tay and Nung ethnic groups as it is a celebration to remember the credits of parents, ancestors and the dead.

Families preparing trays of offerings for ancestors at Thanh Minh festival

In the Tay and Nung people’s belief, Thanh Minh festival is a time for family reunion, no matter where they are living or working far from hometown, they always return home ahead of the festival to join their other family members on the occasion.

One day ahead of the festival, each family prepares a tray of offerings, the more number of households the family has, the more abundant their offerings will be.

In the northern province of Cao Bang, from early in the morning of the opening day, people flock to the hillsides and mountain sides, where the graveyard and cemeteries are located, carrying their offerings, such as boiled chicken, pork, fruits, votive papers, eggs, wine, and coloured sticky rice, including the two indispensable colours of black and red.

The colours of the sticky rice are made from leaves grown in the locales’ gardens. Not only producing natural and eye-catching colours, the leaves also bring a distinctive aroma to the dish.

As a celebration to pay tribute to the dead, the villagers also clean up and burn incense for unmarked graves during the festival.

After the visiting ritual, the family members gather together to enjoy the offerings and hold exchanges with other families.

The festival is also observed among Tay and Nung ethnic communities in Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, and other South-eastern provinces, during which worshippers prepare ‘may nhuong’ (steamed bamboo shoots filled with minced pork) as an essential offering for their ancestors.

Source: NDO

3.6 Billion VND Allocated to Preserve Traditional Cultural Values of Ethnic Minorities in Lạc Sơn District

As part of Project 6 under the national target program for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in 2024, Lạc Sơn District, Hoa Binh province focuses on diverse and practical activities to promote the project's goal: "Preserving and promoting the beautiful traditional cultural values of ethnic groups in conjunction with tourism development."

Mobilizing the power to preserve and promote the cultural heritage values

After 3 years of implementing Resolution No. 04-NQ/TU, dated October 11, 2021 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on preserving and promoting the cultural heritage values of Hoa Binh province's ethnic groups in the period of 2021 – 2025 with the orientation to 2030 (NQ04), it has mobilized the participation of the entire political system, the people from all walks of life and there have been positive changes. So far, out of the 10 targets of NQ04, 3 targets have been met and exceeded the plan set for 2025. Typically, 70% of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of ethnic groups in the province is on the list of the national ICH items and they have been protected and restored, exceeding 20% of the proposed Resolution.