Wedding traditions of the Dao Tien people in Phu Tho province

                                                           Unique wedding customs of the Dao Tien people

Dao Tien people in Phu Tho province often live in rugged mountainous areas with difficult transportation such as Xuan Son, Dong Son, Thu Cuc, Vinh Tien (Tan Son district); Thuong Cuu, Kha Cuu, Tan Lap, Yen Luong, Yen Son (Thanh Son district).

The especially interesting thing is that on the wedding day of the Dao Tien people, the bride's wedding dress can weigh up to 30 kilograms to 40 kilograms.

The Dao Tien people of Phu Tho still preserve many traditional cultural customs and practices that have unique characteristics of the semi-mountainous region, especially rituals marking the maturity of a person's life, including wedding ceremonies.

The tradition of monogamy in marriage has affirmed a marriage principle of the Dao Tien people in the clan. When getting married, choosing a wedding date and considering the age of the bride and groom are very important. If the couple is of the right age, the boy will occasionally go to the girl's house to help with the fields, garden, and housework for 3 months, sometimes even a year. This is a form of paying the wife's parents for raising their daughter to marry her and seeing if the bride's family approves of the future son-in-law.

The traditional ceremony of the Dao Tien people includes an engagement ceremony and three main rituals: The bride asking ceremony, the marriage ceremony and the ceremony of entering household registration for the bride.

The custom of “dreaming”: The groom's family appoints a male matchmaker (a reputable shaman in the clan) and a female matchmaker (a niece who is a descendant of brothers in the clan, aged from 8 to 12 years old). The niece is the female matchmaker who goes to the bride's house to "dream" and pick up the bride. If she dream of a good omen, she will be able to bring the bride home and hold the wedding the next day. If she see a bad omen, the wedding must be postponed to another day.

Bride asking ceremony

Bride asking ceremony is performed at the bride's house. The groom's family prepares offerings to take to the bride's family, placing them in the middle of the house so that the shaman (the male matchmaker) can perform a ceremony to report to the groom's ancestors, asking for permission to bring the wedding offerings to the bride's family. After dressing, the bride sit on a chair at the door and looks out at the gate. Next to her is bridesmaid and the female matchmaker. The shaman stands behind the bride and reads the blessings for her to be safe, healthy and lucky when returning to her husband's house. If a couple has a child, they will perform the ceremony for the child first. The shaman or the elders in the family will pray for the child to be healthy, lucky and have a peaceful journey, then the groom's family will take the child home first, and then bring the bride home later.

The ceremony of cutting the bride's household registration

The ceremony of cutting the bride's household registration is held in the evening at the bride's family along with the ceremony of receiving wedding offerings from the groom's family. The bride's family prepares an offering tray including pickled meat, rice and wine to report to the ancestors. After the offering, the groom's family brings the ceremony into the house, then they take some boiled pork (brought from the groom's family) and add them to the tray of meals the bride's family is eating (to serve the bride's family), then sit down to eat together. After the meal, the bride's family places two tables in the middle of the house, in front of the ancestral altar, displaying the offerings brought by the groom's family.

The groom wears traditional clothes, offers wine, holds a ceremony to ask for the bride and receives biological brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law from the bride's side.

The worshiper bows 12 times asking the ancestors to accept the groom, reporting that the ancestors bless the bride and groom with a full, healthy, happy life, with wise and harmonious children.

The head of the groom's family gives money for the ceremony to the bride's family, then the bride's family gives the bride's family members to the groom's family (symbolized by 2 bunches of raw pork and 2 bowls of wine). Nextly, he teaches the bride and groom how to behave and treat their parents and relatives.

                        The ceremony to enter the bride's household registration

The ceremony to enter the bride's household registration is carried out in the night from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. In case of a long distance, the shaman writes a note praying to the Wind God to move to the groom's house (According to the DaoTien people's worship paintings, they worship all the gods in heaven, on earth and in the underworld). The groom's family brings a set of towels, shirts, skirts and some of the bride's everyday items (lightweight items) to the groom's house. The groom's family prepares a tray of offerings to enter household registration for the bride.

Early the next morning, before the groom's family meet the bride and bring her home, the bride's relatives prepare dresses and dowry to bring to the husband's house (including blankets, clothes, and other necessary items for production and daily activities depend on the conditions of each family and clan). The mother braids the bride's hair, wears earrings, bracelets and necklaces for her. The grandmothers, aunts and sisters of the bride's family wear head scarves and dresses for the bride. First, the bride wears the outfit prepared by her mother, then the outfit brought by the groom's family, next is the bride's self-made dress, and the last is the dress given to her by her brothers and aunts. (The Dao Tien people have a belief that if a bride wears many dresses and skirts, she will receive a lot of attention and love from relatives and will receive protection from evil spirits that will not harm her on long roads and dangerous mountains to her husband’s house). The bride is allowed to wear layers of clothing, and when she can no longer wear them, she just covers her body. If the bride gets married in the village, she still wears the dress she wore and goes to her husband's house (There are 4 people to help and lift the bride because the towels, shirts, and dresses can weigh up to 30kg to 40kg).

The groom's family and the bride's family sit down to dinner and ask the bride to come to her husband's house

After the bride leaves her house, the priest of the groom's family performs rituals to pray for God's blessing and protection for the bride and everyone in the group to reach and return to their destination.

After the wedding ceremony, from 1 month to 4 months, the groom's family organizes a reunion ceremony. Participants include the groom's parents, the groom, the bride and 2 brothers. Offerings to take away include: 1 pig weighing 4kg or more or 1 chicken (depending on each family's conditions), wine, and doughnuts brought to the bride's family.

                                                                                                   Photography artist UT MUOI