Tet celebrations in Central Highlands

Hua Esei Mrao - a new rice harvest ceremony of the Ede

The Ede is an ethnic minority group residing in Dac Lac province. Their harvest ceremony is called the Hua Esei Mrao. This celebration is usually held in October.

During this time, the rice fields and milpas turn yellow and every family goes out to their fields to pick ric grains from the stalks. Then, they carry the rice in woven baskets back to the village where it is left out to dry in preparation for the harvest festival.

Each household, depending on their economic conditions, can slaughter a number of buffaloes, oxen, pig, cocks. Before the ceremony begins, the Ede arrange the offerings for worship which include one or two jars of ruou can and some plates of boiled rice in the centre of the house. The jars of ruou canare tied firmly to the pole of the house and the plates of rice are placed around them. The host or the sorcerer, the squatting in front of these offerings, presses his palms together in prayer.

The new rice festival is organized in every house hold in the village, one after another. After this festival, the Mnam Thun festival takes place. However. this festival is not obligatory, and therefore, will be held only by the households that can afford it.

A special ceremony of the Hre people

The Tet celebration of the Hre ethnic group, who lives in Quang Ngai province, last for several months. Each family must make large quantities of banh Tet and ruou can. A wealthy family will sometimes cook up to 20-40 pots of banh Tet, warm hundreds of jars of ruou can for fermentation, and slaughter a buffalo to make a feast for guests , relatives, and neighbors.

To celebrate Tet, all the villagers gather at the house of the village chief to enjoy the banquet and offer him their best wishes. Afterwards, they visit each other’s houses in the hamlet. During Tet, the locals enjoy good food and drink ruou can (wine) while dancing and singing.

To add to the excitement and merriment, the locals, both men and women, hang little drums around their necks which they beat with their palms. These drums are made of about 30-40 cm long bamboo segments.

The Hre like to dance in pair's. Aman and a woman will dance together, holding the opposite ends of a stick. The dance to the drum beats. When the rhythm changes, they turn around and hold the stick behind their backs. The Hre also perform another type of dance: A pair, face to face, dance together while singing, accompanied by the beats of a drum. At the same time, another pair sits on the ground making rhythms by hitting bars together.

The Hre have their own unique way of counting their age. Each year, when local people make banh Tet or serve guests during Tet, they wrap a plain cake without stuffing and have it as their individual portion. After eating this cake, they keep one leaf of the cake. They keep the leaves year after year, making, them into a string that they hang from the the main door of the house. The number of the leaves is equal to their age.

Nho Lir Bong festival of the Co-ho

The Co-ho mainly live in Lam Dong province. They celebrate the Lunar New Year at the same time as the Viet people in the lowlands. However, their Tet last about one month longer.

During their Tet celebration, called Nho Lir Bong, they welcome new rice grains that are brought home. Lir Bong literally means a large container made of bamboo strips woven together that is used to store rice grains after a harvest in each family.

The Coho highly value rice because they believe that rice grains are the precious pearls given by Yang, a name of the Emperor of Jade. The ceremony to welcome rice grains is held in the late afternoon at the site of the rice containers of each Coho family.

This celebration involves the participation of the villagers. It is customary that the locals use the blood of the sacrificed cock to spread on the host rice containers, the yard and the main door and windows of the storehouse and of his own home. The cock blood can also be mixed with the bark of a banyan tree, saffron roots, termites and pounded straw grass. This mixture is then rubbed on the chest and forehead of the host family members and is spread on the household tools.

According to the mythology of the Coho, the termites and the bark of a banyan tree were the ingredients used by the Genie Ndu to create the first human beings when the earth was formed. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Coho rub these two ingredients onto their bodies to remember the day that human beings were created. After the rice container worship ceremony, the villagers join one another in visiting each other house. On that day, the locals eat, drink, sings, and dance until the following day.

Tet customs of the Xo-dang

The Xo Dang in Kon Tum province celebrate their Tet in a very simple way. They have two primary Tet celebrations: Giot Nuoc (Water drop) and Lua (Fire).

However, these Tet celebrations do not take place in the first month of the Lunar New Year. The Giot NuocFestival is usually held when one harvest ends and a new crop begins, usually in March of the solar calendar.

After a crop ends, the Xo dang prepare their troughs and practice the ceremony of trough worship with the hope that the Water Genie will give the whole village an abundance of rain and a highly productive harvest in the new year.

This trough is a tool that the Xo Dang use to drain water from the stream to their water containers. These troughs are usually made of a bamboo type tree. Every household brings with them jars and bronze pots to the troughs to transport water home. After that, they have a big feast that lasts for several days. The ceremony to the village’s common trough is performed at the communal house by the village head or the sorcerer. After the ceremony, the villagers enjoy many folk games, singing and dance.

During this carefree celebration, young people can freely express their love to each other. While they are celebrating the festival, the Coho throw handfuls of cooked glutinous rice over one another to wish for a prosperous year.

When it is the right time to start a new crop, the Xo dang organize the Fire Festival to pray to the Fire Genie for the fertility of the land and high crop yields. The Xo dang usually grow their crops on the sides of the mountains, not on flatlands or terraced fields. Thus, they have their own way of planting crops.

They burn plants to clear land for farming and take the ashes to use as fertilizer, then fit the seeds into the holes that they have already dug.