The spiritual beauty of the Hmong people

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The spiritual beauty of the Hmong people

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

According to tradition, the Hmong community’s traditional Tet typically takes place one month before the Lunar New Year. This period marks the end of the harvest season, allowing everyone to rest after a year of hard work. Nowadays, most Hmong people celebrate the Lunar New Year alongside the rest of the nation.

Hmong Tet Altar

Consequently, the Tet worship ceremony is held on the last day of the twelfth lunar month, either the 29th or 30th, depending on the year. This occasion allows families to rest, hold year-end meals, and pray for a prosperous new year.

For the Hmong people, Tet worship is a highly significant ritual of the year. They believe it ensures favorable weather, good health, and bountiful harvests. Additionally, they honor farming tools as a gesture of gratitude and to wish for good fortune in the coming year. A key element of the ceremony is the offering of a beautiful rooster, which is believed to bring blessings, peace, and prosperity. Unlike other ethnic groups, Hmong families usually conduct the worship themselves, with the head of the household performing the ceremony. alternatively, they may ask close male relatives, such as the father, uncle, or elder brother, to take on this role, but never outsiders.

Chang A Cua, a resident of Lung Cung Village in Nam Co Commune, Mu Cang Chai District (Yen Bai), shared: "The Hmong people’s Tet worship ceremony takes place on the last day of the twelfth lunar month. Besides incense and votive paper, the primary offering is a beautiful, smooth-feathered rooster. Before the ceremony, the head of the household cuts three small bamboo stalks, ties them into a broom, and sweeps out all cobwebs and dust from the house, symbolizing the removal of misfortunes and bad luck from the previous year. Afterward, farming tools such as machetes, hoes, and shovels are brought inside and placed near the altar. A large sheet of traditional handmade paper, about the size of an A4 page, is decorated and used to replace the old paper on the altar. The tools are also adorned with this paper. For three days after the ceremony, these tools remain unused, as the family completes similar rituals for household items, such as doors, house pillars, furniture, animal enclosures, and machinery, before proceeding with the worship."

Once the preparations and offerings are complete, the head of the household carefully cleans the chosen rooster's feet and stands before the altar to begin the worship. They recite a prayer, inviting the deities to witness and accept the live offerings. The prayer emphasizes the transition from the old year to the new, expressing gratitude for the abundance of votive paper, incense, and the beautiful rooster being offered. The family seeks blessings for health, peace, and good fortune in the coming year.

This ceremonial ritual encapsulates the Hmong people's deep respect for tradition, their connection to nature, and their aspirations for a harmonious life.

Chau A

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