VIETNAM ETHNICITY GROUPS

I. Ta Oi People (Thư)
1. Traditional costume

● Main color: black and red. Used as patterns: white, blue, yellow
● Ta Oi women create pattern that reflect the living environment, nature,
homeland or people, animals (grasshoppers, spiders, butterflies, bats); trees
(ancient trees, betel leaves, corns)
● Ta Oi women costume: fold the cloth in half, shrink the two sides to create a
short body and sleeves, cut the collar to create a pullover, short-sleeved or
sleeveless shirt. The shirt and skirt are decorated with black and red bands.
Today, Ta Oi women's skirts and dresses are woven by brocade attached with
colorful plastic beads.
● Ta Oi men costume: topless or wear sleeveless pullovers. On cold days in
festivals: loincloths (the type of shirt without beaded and fringed patterns) and
a cape crossed twice to create the shape of a letter X in front of chest.
2. Habits and customs

● “Sim” custom of the Pa Kô people:

❖ Main purpose: help men and women in the marriageable age get to know
each other by exchanging melodies, verses, and songs.
❖ A special feature of the “Sim” : even though they eat, live and spend the night
together in the Xu house, but they still keep their pure love and do not fall into
sexual acts. Because the Pa Kô people consider sexual acts before marriage
are embarrassing.
➔ “Giàng” God will punish them by causing illness and death to their families
and villages.
❖ In the “sim” season: Pa Kô's men and women will go to the stream, or to the
Xu houses in the middle of the forest.
❖ The girl brings a pillow and a blanket , the boys bring beaded chains as a way
to express their love. When he arrives, the young man does not go up to Xu's
house immediately, but he will sing songs to call the girls and wait for the girls
to reply.
❖ If the girls like the boys, she will invite him to enjoy the food she brought.
❖ If the girls refuse to give this love gift means they reject the boy’s proposal.
❖ Funeral custom: After dying for a few years, the family will organize an
exhumation, at this time they will build a beautiful, ornate tomb and erect a
statue.
3. Festivals

● Acha Aza ceremony: the biggest ceremony of the year. In this festival, the Ta
Oi people give thanks to the Goddess of Rice to have a bumper crop.
 ● Time: 3 days but prepare the festival 1 month before the event. Young men
will go to the forest to gather tree barks to make wine, trap birds, animals;
then bring them back to their mothers to prepare and marinate the meat for
the Acha Aza festival.

● During the festival, Ta Oi people are forbidden beating each other and
drinking alcohol. While worshiping, guests outside the village are not allowed
to enter the village. If anyone violates, the village elder will punish them, the
highest fine is a buffalo and the lowest fine is a chicken.
● Typical dishes of the Ta Oi ethnic group are Akoat, Dep Peng (sticky cake
wrapped in rattan leaves), thui (hoor), grilled food (booh), etc.
II. Người Hoa (Minh)
1. Phong tục tập quán
- Worshiping ancestors, clans, lineages, and worshiping gods (mostly
Buddhism)
- When a couple falls in love and intends to get married, the boy will talk to his
family and ask someone to go to the girl's house to get approval. If approved,
take the girl's age to see. If the age is not compatible, they are not allowed to
get married. The age matching is done in the early spring of the new year.
2. Thời trang
- The so-called traditional costumes of the Chinese people are only seen in
some elderly people or in wedding and funeral ceremonies.
- Women often wear a high-necked shirt, buttoned on one side, hugging the
hips, slit below the thigh. The color of their clothes, especially the girls who
like pink or red, along with bold colors.
- Women like to use jewelry, especially bracelets (bronze, gold, stones,
pearls...), earrings, necklaces...
- Men wear a black or dark blue shirt, buttoned on one side or in a straigt line in
the middle, with pockets.
- Men like to cover their teeth in gold and see them as jewelry.
3. Lễ hội
- In a year, there are many holidays: Lunar New Year, Nguyen Tieu,etc
- The Lunar New Year in old years changes to the new year according to the
lunar calendar and lasts until the full moon day of the first month (Nguyen
Tieu New Year). The Nguyen Tieu festival is a typical festival of the Chinese
people, and all the most concentrated activities of traditional beliefs and
culture are expressed on this occasion.
- Traditional cultural activities of the Chinese people have many genres such as
singing, dancing, comedy... with many kinds of musical instruments.
- Lion, dragon, and lion dances are popular art forms performed annually, on
major holidays and New Year's holidays.

III. Người Chăm (Nhi)

 1. Habits and customs:
💕 The Cham follow Islam and Brahmanism.
- Chăm has historically followed a matrilineal system where the lineage and
inheritance are traced through women. (Women will be the head of the family. The
bride's family manages everything related to weddings, from betrothal, housing after
marriage... Women are also the ones who will take the initiative in sexual relations,
children are born with the family name of their mothers. The right of inheritance is
reserved for daughters only. The youngest daughter, however, must care for her
aging parents).
💕 Cham people live in stilt houses.
💕 Regarding food, the Cham people eat rice, which is cooked in earthenware pots.
Food is abundant, including fish, meat, and vegetables, and is obtained through
hunting, gathering, raising, and farming. Stem liquor, rice wine, is their favorite and
traditional drink. (Especially during Cham cultural festivities, big wine jugs are
placed in the center of the ceremony, when everyone dances together while singing
and drinking rare Cham stem liquor.)
💕 Additionally, eating betel nut is still a widespread custom among the Cham people,
both in daily life and in ancient rituals.

2. Thời trang
Walking along the street, you will quickly spot the Cham people because their
costumes are very special.
💕 The one-piece sarong is worn by both men and women, with a shirt or blouse,
mostly white. Long-sleeved blouses are now only worn by elderly women.
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3. Lễ hội
💕 The Cham people enjoy various celebrations throughout the year, particularly
agricultural festivals: the opening of ditches to build dams, the summer land ritual, the
celebration of young rice, the celebration of rice coming out of the fields... And the
most important festival is the Kate festival. Every year, Bon Kate is held in mid-
October of the lunar calendar.
4. The main purpose of the festivals is to commemorate their heroes like Po Klong Garai
and Po Rome, and also deaths in the families. Moreover, the festival is a chance for
the local people to relax, to meet and wish one another fortune in the future.
💕 In addition, every year on November 7th, according to the Cham calendar, the
custom of kite flying is celebrated. The Cham people perform Papán kalang Po Yang
In to bless their children and grandchildren with health, happiness, and a bountiful
harvest.
IV. NGƯỜI HMONG (Ngân)

1. Clothings:
+ Specialties in every minorities:
● White Hmong
 - white “dress”,
-> made from flax fabric/fabric from flax plant- wear green canvas above
-> many hairstyles to go with special Hmong “chicken hats”
● Chinese Hmong: indigo blue “dress” with many patterns
=> many kinds of complementary hairstyles
● Black Hmong: black dress, cut chest patch
● Blue/Green Hmong: Hmong tube dress;
-> like to use special hair accessories: bands, horseshoe combs, horn-shaped
clothes.
Similarities: all have patterns on their dress. Body accessories include:
colorful fabrics, patterns in many shapes: swirls, squares, crosses, animals in
their areas (fireflies, ladybugs..)
2. Traditions & culture
+ Teach the young to play Hmong instruments: “dra” flute, “qeej” mouth
organ,...
-> prove oneself to the future bride’s family. Especially on holidays -> a way
to find soulmates
+ Marriage previously based on old practice “bride-kidnapping” - they will
take the target woman away, making her live at groom’s house for a few
days and informing her family later on
+ => If she doesn’t agree, she can just deny the proposal. => very simple
and unique.
3. Festivals:
+ “Gầu Tào”: famous; worshiping gods & ancestors for good
health, wealth & a good harvest
Specialty: activities such as: batting shuttlecocks (đánh yến),
spinning pinwheels (đánh cù), wrestling, horse-racing, crossbow-
shooting, playing music eg. flutes; chicken/bird fights, singing,...
Also opportunity for Hmong men to show themselves
=> attracts many local & foreign tourists to the wonderful culture of Hmong
people in Ha Giang province.