The key ritual of the Tay people

Then Khoi (then Cau Tho) is a rather special form of key-making, because the person who can do the key must be people over 50 years old, and the Tay people call it the old. Recently, the Tày people's key ritual in Van Ban has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national intangible cultural heritage.

In order to please parents, the children and grandchildren in the family asked Mr. Then to find a good day to hold the Then Khoi ceremony. The Tay people usually choose a three-day date (suitable to the age of the landlord), the owner of the Pig's age chooses a Rabbit or Goat day to organize. In particular, the Tày people do not organize on tiger day, because according to the Tày people's conception, the tiger is the lord of all species, is a bad day, on this day everything is uncommon, evil, bad, souls of all creatures cannot enter the field.

Master Then uses rattan as a gear ring to prolong the life and health of people who are made Then Khoi (Longevity).

The time to hold the Then Khoi ceremony lasts 1 day and night, starting from the afternoon of the previous day and continuously until noon the next day with many different rituals and scenes taking place. Mr. Then presided over and coordinated with the two main assistants and the rowing team, The Oyster dance team and the people and guests to attend the ceremony.

The most important offerings and props must have 3 Then houses, of which one is the 12-compartment Then house made of bamboo stems and banana trees. There must be bamboo trees, banana trees because the Tày people think that the bamboos planted in front of the house, the bananas planted behind the house are easy to grow trees, easy to live, the many burning bamboo trees symbolize longevity, the tall bananas symbolize health. . Since this is a key ceremony to pray for longevity, the homeowner must prepare a lot of food, paddy, pig, chicken, fish, duck, fruit cake, fruit, sugarcane, wine, incense, gold coin, cloth flower fabric), the swallow, the bird, the colored sticky rice, the minced fish, the silver ring, the betel areca ... The props also include wooden boats, rowing sticks, rice grabs, ring tones, drums ... The Tay people cut blue paper, red, purple, and yellow decorated the outside of the food baskets, the color of the person made Then, the colors look colorful and eye-catching. All are set up in front of the temple (Mr. Then hangs the red cloth in the outermost space, adjacent to the stairs up and down). In particular, there are cloth rims used to connect numbers, rattan strings to pull numbers (increasing the life of those who can make Then). Having a house to give to my mother taboo, term mother ...

Teacher Then works the spirit of transferring soul, making the client do the key, who can do the key have more health, live longer.

The process of a Then Khoi ceremony includes the full steps: Mr. Then burned incense and asked permission to worship Then's ancestor and invited Then's ancestor to help him perform the ceremony during the process of making Then. Then Teacher welcomes the dragon (it is a symbolic harp), welcomes horse music (the symbolic ring of music is a horse) to enter the Then ceremony. After that, the group of 2 people welcomed Mr. Then and the 2 assistant Then went to the host family to practice Then Khoi ceremony.

When he reached the home of the homeowner, Mr. Then entered the house first, and the family representative went to the door to welcome him. Two people picked up the master's tools and placed them inside the house. After that, the family members set up the water and invited Then Sensei and Then's parents to drink and rest. Father Then Nam told the householder to prepare a rice tray to prepare the ceremony and I used red cloth to set up the altar for Master Then to perform the ceremony.

The maids prepare the 12-room house to welcome souls and return home to their clients.

Starting at 15 o'clock, the ceremony tray was prepared to be placed in front of the door of the throne. Then, Then's assistant burned incense and planted it on the tray and then spread the mattress for Mr. Then and Then's two assistants to sit. Then Sensei sat on the right hand side, Then Nam's assistant sat on the left hand, and then behind was Mrs. Then's lady. Mr. Then, wearing a black ao dai with a belt, and with the head of a black scarf sitting in front of the altar, began to pray. At first, Mr. Then asked permission from the household's ancestors and reported the reason for organizing the Then Khoi ceremony to the householder.

After that, Mr. Then dressed in general clothing (a red shirt, the head was wearing a ka hat), with a elastic hand, prayed to welcome the dragon (it is a symbolic lute), and received horse music (the symbolic ring of tones was horse) to enter Then. When Then Sensei sings, Then two of Then's assistants hold the sound of music to match the chord and lyrics. Master Then sang each song one by one, when he sang, he had to do a ceremony to join the field to sing, he welcomed Mr. Then's soldiers to protect and assist him when entering the Muong Thien realm; giving offerings to the ancestors; urged the army, urged the soldiers to carry offerings to Muong Thien, then Teacher Then sang 16 songs (16 chapters, paragraphs) ...

At 9:00 a.m., 10:00 p.m., Mr. Then and the two subordinates continued the evening rituals. Then Mr. Then started wearing a red shirt, wearing a ka hat (wearing a shirt), and holding a bunch of bronze music squirrels symbolizing for riding. Mr. Then continued his journey to find and collect souls for the homeowner. Then Mr. Then sang songs to lead the group to ask Kho's mother, call to Kho's mother, please bring Khoi mother home, food offerings, rice, salt, add oil, add candles, add fire ... invite Kho's mother. eat. During the ceremony, there is a dance to the Kho's house, including more than 10 people, holding music in their hands, following the beat of the drum to perform the dance move on the Kho's house ...

The maids are performing the boating dance to the river (Kham Thong) to pick up the soul and bring home the troubled person.

When he found the soul for his client, then he called out the name of the person who could be the Then to sit in front of the altar, the descendants would help to keep his limbs so that Mr. Then could cut off the isometric method (cut off bad karma), use the string. rattan pulls more numbers, adds age to live longer. The children and grandchildren who come to attend the ceremony bring more rice, wine, fruit cakes, chicken, and cloth to the householder. By doing so, the homeowner will be peaceful, his descendants will be happy and happy.

The person who can become the Then is allowed by Mr. Then to tie the wrist to the wrist. Family members and descendants are all tied to the wrist by Then Sensei just to pray for good health and luck. At noon the next day, two men, one of them paternal and maternal relatives, help the householder tie the Commandments, the wages (grains) on the rafters to keep the soul of the householder. .

Then Khoi ritual is a unique and unique traditional culture that has been preserved and promoted in the Tay community in Van Ban district. 

According to LCĐT

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