#vietnameseethnicgroups

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Culture and Customs of the Nung Ethnic Group

Housing: The traditional house of the Nung people is a stilt house with a tile roof and three floors. The first floor is for livestock and production tools; the second floor is for living and household items; the third floor is for storing food and other items in a dry place. In some areas, the Nung people build earthen houses. In Nung houses, the kitchen is not only for cooking but also for heating, especially in the cold winter.

Clothing: The traditional attire of the Nung people is quite simple, usually made of self-woven coarse fabric dyed indigo without much decoration. Men wear high-collared, front-buttoned shirts with fabric buttons. Women wear five-piece shirts, buttoned on the right side, usually extending beyond the hips. Nung women wear square scarves tied in the shape of a crow's beak, while Nung men wear hats, especially during spiritual ceremonies.

Cuisine: The Nung people eat plain rice, sticky rice, and various dishes made from plain and sticky rice. From plain rice, they make cao quyển and cao xằng; from sticky rice, they make colored sticky rice (purple, black, red, yellow), sticky rice with black trám, and ant egg sticky rice; and various kinds of cakes. Besides common dishes, the Nung people have some specialty dishes for special occasions. During the Lunar New Year, they often slaughter capon chickens and make long bánh chưng cakes. At the end of January, they make wormwood cakes (sticky cakes with young wormwood leaves). On weddings and birthdays, roasted pork stuffed with mac mat leaves is indispensable.

Religion and Beliefs: The Nung people primarily follow polytheistic beliefs. They usually worship three generations (parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents). Worshiping deities is carried out through festivals such as lùng tùng and cầu mùa. Their worship practices and behavioral concepts reflect the influence of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. In Nung religious practices, the roles of shamans such as Tào, Mo, Pựt, and Then are prominent.

Art: The most distinctive feature of Nung folk art is then. This is a ritual performance that is both artistic and spiritual. The Then master creates both the lyrics and the melody. The tính guitar, which has no frets, allows the Then master to create spontaneous sounds. Although it has a spiritual element associated with many ritual ceremonies, then is also festive, connected with events in people's lives or New Year celebrations. Another very characteristic type of Nung folk song is sli. Sli is a duet love song sung by young men and women in a collective performance, often with pairs of men and women responding to each other in two-part harmony.

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History and Geography of the Nung Ethnic Group

Ethnic minorities often reside in remote areas or high mountains, sustaining themselves through hunting or slash-and-burn agriculture. Introducing tourism to these communities can boost their income, mitigate environmental damage, and provide a refreshing climate for visitors. Let's join hands to protect our environment and make our Earth greener, cleaner, and more beautiful.

The Nung ethnic group is one of the most populous ethnic groups in Vietnam, mainly residing in the northern mountainous provinces.

Historical Origin: Most of the Nung people migrated from Guangxi (China) about 200-300 years ago. Population: According to the 2019 survey of 53 ethnic minorities, there are 1,083,298 Nung people. Of these, 546,978 are men and 536,320 are women.

Language: The Nung language belongs to the Tày - Thái language group (Tai-Kadai language family). Geographical Distribution: The Nung people are concentrated in the provinces of Lạng Sơn, Cao Bằng, Bắc Kạn, Thái Nguyên, Hà Giang, Bắc Giang, Quảng Ninh, Lào Cai, and Yên Bái.

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Culture and Customs of the Dao Ethnic Group

Ethnic minorities often reside in remote areas or high mountains, sustaining themselves through hunting or slash-and-burn agriculture. Introducing tourism to these communities can boost their income, mitigate environmental damage, and provide a refreshing climate for visitors. Let's join hands to protect our environment and make our Earth greener, cleaner, and more beautiful.

Housing: Dao houses vary greatly, including ground-level houses, stilt houses, or half-stilt, half-ground houses.

Family Structure: Patriarchal.

Traditional Clothing: Historically, men wore their hair long, tied in a bun at the nape of the neck or kept a long tuft on top with the sides shaved. Different Dao groups have distinct ways of wearing headscarves. There are two types of shirts: long and short. Dao women’s attire is diverse, often including long aprons, skirts, or trousers. Their clothing is very colorful, with intricate embroidery created from memory on the fabric's underside, resulting in raised patterns on the front. Patterns include swastikas, pine trees, birds, humans, animals, and leaves. The Dao people create patterns on fabric using beeswax, drawing with brushes or printing with beeswax-coated stamps. After dyeing the fabric with indigo, the patterns appear sky blue due to the beeswax resisting the dye.

Cuisine: The Dao mainly eat rice, with some areas consuming more corn than rice or porridge. They enjoy boiled meat, dried meat, fermented meat, and sour bamboo shoot soup.

Festivals: The Dao celebrate Tet in January, worship ancestors in January, July, and December, with specific days for ancestor worship varying among different Dao groups. They also have life cycle ceremonies like the Cap Sac ceremony, weddings, funerals, health prayers, and spirit worship.

Beliefs: The Dao follow both primitive beliefs, agricultural rituals, and are significantly influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism, and especially Taoism. Ban Vuong is considered the progenitor of the Dao and is worshiped alongside each family's ancestors. Traditionally, all men of age must undergo the Cap Sac ceremony, which is a Taoist ritual with traces of ancient initiation rites.

The Dao have polytheistic beliefs, worshiping ancestral spirits, kitchen gods, local deities within families, and clan spirits within lineages or clans. At the village level, they worship village spirits, including protective deities and local gods, and conduct rituals for rain or sun prayers, pest control, etc. Historically, they also worshiped field, hill, and water source spirits.

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Culture and Customs of the Dao Ethnic Group

Ethnic minorities often reside in remote areas or high mountains, sustaining themselves through hunting or slash-and-burn agriculture. Introducing tourism to these communities can boost their income, mitigate environmental damage, and provide a refreshing climate for visitors. Let's join hands to protect our environment and make our Earth greener, cleaner, and more beautiful.

Housing: Dao houses vary greatly, including ground-level houses, stilt houses, or half-stilt, half-ground houses.

Family Structure: Patriarchal.

Traditional Clothing: Historically, men wore their hair long, tied in a bun at the nape of the neck or kept a long tuft on top with the sides shaved. Different Dao groups have distinct ways of wearing headscarves. There are two types of shirts: long and short. Dao women’s attire is diverse, often including long aprons, skirts, or trousers. Their clothing is very colorful, with intricate embroidery created from memory on the fabric's underside, resulting in raised patterns on the front. Patterns include swastikas, pine trees, birds, humans, animals, and leaves. The Dao people create patterns on fabric using beeswax, drawing with brushes or printing with beeswax-coated stamps. After dyeing the fabric with indigo, the patterns appear sky blue due to the beeswax resisting the dye.

Cuisine: The Dao mainly eat rice, with some areas consuming more corn than rice or porridge. They enjoy boiled meat, dried meat, fermented meat, and sour bamboo shoot soup.

Festivals: The Dao celebrate Tet in January, worship ancestors in January, July, and December, with specific days for ancestor worship varying among different Dao groups. They also have life cycle ceremonies like the Cap Sac ceremony, weddings, funerals, health prayers, and spirit worship.

Beliefs: The Dao follow both primitive beliefs, agricultural rituals, and are significantly influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism, and especially Taoism. Ban Vuong is considered the progenitor of the Dao and is worshiped alongside each family's ancestors. Traditionally, all men of age must undergo the Cap Sac ceremony, which is a Taoist ritual with traces of ancient initiation rites.

The Dao have polytheistic beliefs, worshiping ancestral spirits, kitchen gods, local deities within families, and clan spirits within lineages or clans. At the village level, they worship village spirits, including protective deities and local gods, and conduct rituals for rain or sun prayers, pest control, etc. Historically, they also worshiped field, hill, and water source spirits.

[odctravel]

Culture and Customs of the Dao Ethnic Group

Ethnic minorities often reside in remote areas or high mountains, sustaining themselves through hunting or slash-and-burn agriculture. Introducing tourism to these communities can boost their income, mitigate environmental damage, and provide a refreshing climate for visitors. Let's join hands to protect our environment and make our Earth greener, cleaner, and more beautiful.

Housing: Dao houses vary greatly, including ground-level houses, stilt houses, or half-stilt, half-ground houses.

Family Structure: Patriarchal.

Traditional Clothing: Historically, men wore their hair long, tied in a bun at the nape of the neck or kept a long tuft on top with the sides shaved. Different Dao groups have distinct ways of wearing headscarves. There are two types of shirts: long and short. Dao women’s attire is diverse, often including long aprons, skirts, or trousers. Their clothing is very colorful, with intricate embroidery created from memory on the fabric's underside, resulting in raised patterns on the front. Patterns include swastikas, pine trees, birds, humans, animals, and leaves. The Dao people create patterns on fabric using beeswax, drawing with brushes or printing with beeswax-coated stamps. After dyeing the fabric with indigo, the patterns appear sky blue due to the beeswax resisting the dye.

Cuisine: The Dao mainly eat rice, with some areas consuming more corn than rice or porridge. They enjoy boiled meat, dried meat, fermented meat, and sour bamboo shoot soup.

Festivals: The Dao celebrate Tet in January, worship ancestors in January, July, and December, with specific days for ancestor worship varying among different Dao groups. They also have life cycle ceremonies like the Cap Sac ceremony, weddings, funerals, health prayers, and spirit worship.

Beliefs: The Dao follow both primitive beliefs, agricultural rituals, and are significantly influenced by Confucianism, Buddhism, and especially Taoism. Ban Vuong is considered the progenitor of the Dao and is worshiped alongside each family's ancestors. Traditionally, all men of age must undergo the Cap Sac ceremony, which is a Taoist ritual with traces of ancient initiation rites.

The Dao have polytheistic beliefs, worshiping ancestral spirits, kitchen gods, local deities within families, and clan spirits within lineages or clans. At the village level, they worship village spirits, including protective deities and local gods, and conduct rituals for rain or sun prayers, pest control, etc. Historically, they also worshiped field, hill, and water source spirits.

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Culture and Customs Gia Rai Ethnic Group

Food

Rice is the main food; corn is a supplementary food. Meals include vegetables, salt, chili, vegetable soup, and occasionally meat and fish. Festive meals revolve around a jar of rice wine, accompanied by dishes served on bowls, plates, or banana leaves. When tipsy, they sing, dance, and play gongs.

Clothing

Men wear white loincloths with multi-colored stripes (toai). For festivals, they wear a 4-meter long, 0.30-meter wide indigo loincloth with decorative patterns and colorful fringes. They also wear black short-sleeved shirts with decorative borders. Chiefs or village leaders wear indigo shirts that cover the hips, with long sleeves and a red patch as a sign of distinction. Women wear long indigo skirts with decorative borders and fringes. Both men and women often go shirtless due to the year-round heat.

Housing

The Gia Rai live in stilt houses with two types:

Long houses: Average dimensions are 13.5m x 3.5m, divided into two sections. The north-facing section is for women. The house has two stoves.

Small houses: Dimensions are 9m x 3m, with a height of 4.5m. The main door faces north. Inside, there is one stove.

Funeral Practices

All members of the same maternal line are buried in a communal grave. Men are buried in their mother's grave. Coffins are arranged horizontally and vertically until they reach the grave's mouth. After several layers, a major ceremony called "abandoning the grave" is performed.

Worship

The Gia Rai practice animism, believing in various spirits (Yang):

House spirit (Yang sang): Protects the home and is worshiped during housewarming ceremonies.

Village spirit (yang ala bôn) and water spirit (yang ia): Protect the village and are worshiped at the water source and mountain foot.

King spirit (Yang pó tao): Kings perform ceremonies to pray for good weather and harvests.

They also believe that souls become ghosts after death and that some people possess harmful magic.

Arts and Culture

The Gia Rai have many epic poems like Đăm San, Xinh Nhã, and Đăm Di, performed with Tưng nưng musical accompaniment. Their traditional dances include war simulations between tribes. Popular musical instruments include the Tơ rưng, Krông put, and Tưng nưng.

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The History and Ethnology of the Gia Rai Ethnic Group

The Gia Rai are one of the five ethnic groups belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian language group and are one of the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands (Vietnam).

Historical Origin

The Gia Rai are one of the earliest inhabitants of the Central Highlands, extending into part of Cambodia. In ancient Gia Rai society, there were Pơtaoia (Water King) and Pơtaopui (Fire King) who specialized in offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, praying for favorable weather, etc. Before the 11th century, the E De and Gia Rai were collectively known as Rang Đêy.

In the 15th-16th centuries, Vietnamese feudal historical records noted the titles Thủy Xá (Water King) and Hỏa Xá (Fire King). Only men of the Siu family could become fire kings or water kings, and only women of the Rơchom family could become the second wives of these kings. Perhaps the term Pơtao is synonymous with Mtao of the Cham, Tạo of the Thai, and Thao of the Lao, all referring to a leader.

Alternative Names

Giơ Ray

Chơ Ray

Local Groups

Chor

Hđrung (including Hbau, Chor)

Aráp

Mthur

Tơbuân

Population

According to the 53 Minority Ethnic Groups Survey as of April 1, 2019:

Total population: 513,930

Male: 252,234

Female: 261,696

Percentage living in rural areas: 89.5%

Language

The Gia Rai are one of the five ethnic groups belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian language group and are indigenous to the Central Highlands, Vietnam.

Geographic Distribution

The Gia Rai primarily reside in:

Gia Lai province

Western Phú Yên province

Southern Kon Tum province

Northern Đắk Lắk province

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Culture and Customs of the Sán Chay Ethnic Group:

Religion and Beliefs: The Sán Chay households have many altars. In addition to ancestor worship, they also worship heaven and earth, the land deity, midwives, the agricultural god, the livestock god, etc. The Sán Chay altars are quite simple, often just a bamboo tube for incense sticks. However, every year before the Lunar New Year, the altars are cleaned and decorated with a piece of red paper.

Housing: The traditional houses of the Sán Chay are usually stilt houses and half-stilt, half-earth houses (the latter are now very few). The living space in a stilt house is divided into different areas. The front half of the house, from left to right, includes the daughter’s room with stairs going down to the underside, the central part with the cooking stove and sleeping area for the elderly in winter, and finally, the daughter-in-law’s room on the right. The back half of the house, on the left side raised about 30cm above the common floor level, contains the ancestor altar, the sleeping area for the elderly in summer, and the reception area for male guests; on the lower right side is the reception area, dining area, and sleeping area for young male family members. The space under the stilt house is for the rice pounding mortar and previously for keeping livestock and poultry.

Clothing: Women wear indigo skirts and long shirts decorated with patterns under the armpits and back. Daily, they use an indigo belt, but on festive and ceremonial days, they wear more beautifully decorated indigo outfits with white fabric patches interspersed with indigo ones on the chest, red and white patterns on the back, and red and light blue belts. They wear a square indigo-black scarf on their heads. Men wear long or short indigo shirts and brown or white trousers.

Cuisine: The primary food sources are glutinous and plain rice; alongside maize, sweet potatoes, and cassava. These foods are prepared in various ways, such as cooking, grilling, steaming, grinding into flour for cakes, and making noodles.

Art: The Sán Chay’s folk music is highlighted by lyrical love songs called "sình ca," featuring two types: night singing in the village and singing on the road or in the market. The Sán Chay also have various dances, including drum dance, shrimp catching dance, bird dance, fish stabbing dance, and lantern dance. Their musical instruments include gongs, cymbals, drums, bells, and flutes, with the unique clay death drum and bamboo mouth organ being particularly notable.

Education: According to the 2019 survey of 53 ethnic minorities, the literacy rate for those aged 15 and older is 89.7%; the overall school attendance rate for primary education is 101.1%; for lower secondary education is 96.6%; and for upper secondary education is 70.5%. The rate of those aged 15 and older who can read and write their ethnic language is 7.1%. Notably, 99.68% of Sán Chay children over 5 years old attend school.