Muong people celebrate Tet

New Year is the most important and biggest festival of the year for the Muong people in Tan Son district. Tet does not start on December 23 of the lunar calendar (the day of worshiping Kitchen gods) but starts on December 27. From December 27 to 30, Muong people do necessary preparations for Tet such as: Planting a Tet pole in front of the house, slaughtering pigs, cleaning the house, cleaning agricultural tools... This practice is considered a form of cleansing dirt to welcome a new year with good luck and peace.

“For the Muong people, the most important custom on Tet is the worship of ancestors. The altar of the Muong people on New Year’s Day cannot lack a tray of five fruits and especially two sugar cane trees placed on both sides of the altar with the meaning of allowing the elders to walk with the canes to visit their descendants, leading the ancestors' souls from heaven to earth.

The offerings to ancestors on Tet include a boiled chicken, traditional cakes (tube cakes, con cakes, croissants, family love cakes), wine, sticky rice, boiled meat, grilled fish, money, a bowl of water, betel, areca nuts and salt..., expressing filial piety and remembrance to the deceased,” shared Mr. Ha Van Quang - Mo Muong artisan in Chieng Nho area, Kiet Son commune, Tan Son district.

During Tet, Muong ethnic families are very warm and bustling. In addition to the custom of the first lucky foot entering the house, celebrating the coming of a new age, being filial to parents, priests, etc., Muong people also congratulate each other with deep, heartfelt Vi and Rang melodies. The last day of Tet for Muong people is the 7th day of the first lunar month (i.e Field Opening Day). After this day, Tet celebrations officially end and people start going to the fields to plow and plant the first rice crop of the year.

Nowadays, the customs of celebrating the New Year of Muong people have also changed a lot. In many places, Muong people also begin to celebrate Tet on December 23, and worship rituals have also become more compact. However, the Lunar New Year of the Muong people still carries many unique marks, is a beautiful custom containing many cultural features passed down from ancient times, has noble humanity, is preserved and passed on to the future.

Bich Ngoc