Preserving the cultural beauty of the Black Thai people in Lai Chau through the Then Kin Pang festival

At the age of over 70, shaman Lo Van Luong (Tan Uyen, Lai Chau) is the main celebrant for the local people. However, with the Then Kin Pang ritual (in Thai, meaning Then descending to earth to play at the pole festival), he said that each shaman cannot organize it too many times in his lifetime as a shaman.

According to the Thai people's concept, Then means "fairy", "heavenly person"; "Kin" means to eat, to celebrate; "Pang is ceremony, the person attending the ceremony". Simply put, Then Kin Pang is a festival to celebrate the adopted children of the Thai people organized annually by a Then shaman in the village. In addition, Then Kin Pang is also a festival to pray for blessings for the family and descendants.

The festival is held every year in the second lunar month, when flowers bloom and trees sprout throughout the northern mountainous regions.

Since ancient times, in the spiritual world of the Thai people in the Northwest, the concept of Muong Thien is governed by gods. Humans on earth are under the control of heaven and the gods. The people of heaven, through their representative Then, will come down to earth to meet the villagers, giving them favorable weather, good crops, and peaceful villages. Then is also the representative of the lower world to express the thoughts and aspirations of all people to heaven and the gods.

Kin Pang Festival consists of 2 parts: ceremony and festival. The ceremony part includes rituals of worship, incense offering, expressing gratitude to heaven, earth, and gods; praying for the gods to bless, protect, and be a spiritual support for the people in the region to overcome difficulties and have a prosperous and happy life such as: "Thinh Doan Quan Mo", "Thinh Than Linh Ban Muong", "Diem Mam" or "Dang Ruou Can"...

Master Luong said that there are not many Then masters in the area. Then masters are prestigious people in the community, often from families with a tradition of Then practice and are knowledgeable about customs, and can perform all traditional spiritual rituals, from funerals, weddings to longevity celebrations...

“Only those who have received the sacred power from the gods can erect the pole and perform Then Kin Pang. Otherwise, everyone would be a shaman,” said shaman Lo Van Luong happily.

The rituals are mainly performed by the Then shaman. Before and during the Then Kin Pang ceremony, the Then shaman avoids the death anniversary of his or her biological parents, abstains from sexual intercourse, avoids eating white pork, white buffalo, catfish, eel, shrimp, does not eat or drink leftovers, and does not walk over clotheslines or water troughs.

According to Thai custom, on the day the Then shaman performs the ceremony, Then's adopted children from all the villages near and far come, each bringing an offering to assist the shaman. That is probably the most joyful and meaningful part of a big ceremony like Then Kin Pang.

Accordingly, Mr. Luong also said: Thai people are not particular about offerings. Everyone contributes whatever they have. Therefore, on the Then Kin Pang festival, people prepare chickens, pigs, rice, white sticky rice, red sticky rice to offer. Offerings are for the country, the village, and relatives to be safe, happy, healthy, and prosperous. The most important part is the festival, when people in the village meet and have fun together.

To have a joyful festival and please Then, the Thai people erect a pole and decorate it beautifully with objects that Then and the gods love.

The pole is made from a wild banana tree and two wild areca trees joined together. It is decorated with banana flowers, fresh fruits, colored thread flowers, paper insects symbolizing the favorite items of the spirits, wild animals that come to enjoy the blessings and two dyed eggs which are the favorite toys of the rain god and the sun god.

The chosen pole must have a beautiful, straight trunk, no broken top, and fresh green leaves. When the pole is chosen, the Then practitioner must pray to the mountain god and the tree god for permission to bring the pole back for the ceremony. The pole is the center of the ceremony, with 6 banana trunks at the base symbolizing a herd of buffaloes. The pole is painted with lime water on the trunk, branches, etc. The intention is to keep the souls of the participants from wanting to go to the Then world to play and get lost and not return to the mortal world.

After the ceremony, the shaman offers chicken to thank Then at image one. Image one is a small altar, hung with flower strings made of colored fabric that the Thai people call hoong may. This is the place where Then, the heavenly mandarins and the souls of the adopted children reside when the shaman hears them return. Invite Then, the water god, the earth god, the rain god, the sun god, the gods who govern the earth to receive blessings and bestow blessings.

In the Then Kin Pang worship song, there is a passage: "Inviting Then, the water god, the earth god, the rain god, the sun god/The gods who govern the world/The 3, 4 rows of servants here are mortals/I, Mo, here, clasp my hands and kneel to greet the mandarin/Offering the offering tray - the Muong mandarin must eat enough/Offering the offering tray to the master, no one is missing/Ten people have a tray, nine people also have a tray/Then created the Muong and heaven, so that there are pairs/Blessings and blessings for Mo/So that adopted children and villagers will not be sick or ill".

The festival includes dances and performances that create an attractive and fun atmosphere such as: "Tang Pang", "Thuong luong drinking water", "Voi drinking water", "Nguoi Xa smoking", "Curing blindness", "Curing deafness", "Treatment of buffalo plowing the field", "Genital energy"... Thai people believe that as soon as the festival takes place, Then and the gods of heaven are also joining the dance team, drinking wine and dancing and singing enthusiastically. The more joyful and bustling the scarf dance is, the more pleased the Gods will be and they will bestow the best things on the villagers.

Simple in offerings but solemn in preparation and rituals; containing folk beliefs and also a place where people gather, perform many traditional cultural features, folk games... It can be seen that the Then Kin Pang festival is a meaningful festival, carrying spiritual and religious values ​​and containing many unique artistic values ​​of the Thai people in general, and the Black Thai people in Lai Chau in particular.