Peace in Khau Dang

Khau Dang village still preserves many traditional cultural identities.

The people of Khau Dang still preserve many traditional cultural identities.

Dear stilt houses

In the middle of the summer days, we crossed the poetic Yeu Pass, went more than 2km from the center of Bang Thanh commune, Thai Nguyen province to reach the village of San Chi ethnic group - Khau Dang. Located on a high position, Khau Dang is poetic amidst the clouds, clear space and simple stilt houses at the foot of the majestic mountain.

Together with Ms. Hoang Thi Mong, Secretary of the Khau Dang village Party Cell, we went to the stilt house of Mr. Hoang Van Cau. Mr. Cau is a prestigious person, has been the village chief for 32 years, and is devoted to the development of Khau Dang today. Like other people in the highland villages, Mr. Hoang Van Cau is simple, quiet and has sparkling eyes.

The stilt house of Mr. Cau's family is over 30 years old, with square pillars, durable over time. Leaving our sandals underneath, we walked barefoot up the smooth, cool stairs. In front of the house door is a large floor, often used to dry corn, rice...

Mr. Cau's family's stilt house consists of 54 pillars; 3 main rooms, 2 small pillar rooms and 3 porch pillar rooms. The middle room is the worship room, on both sides are large rooms. The fireplace is placed in the middle of the house, this is the common space, where the warm fire of the family is lit.

Currently, Khau Dang has 36 households but still preserves 33 stilt houses. The houses here have similarities in that they all lean against the mountain, the main facade faces south and the stairs go up from the east. Mr. Cau said that people here believe that when the sun rises, the first rays of sunlight will shine up the stairs to the house, so the family will have an easier time doing business, growing and moving up.

Sitting on the porch, looking out at the mountain with white clouds swirling around, Mr. Cau spoke in a warm voice: I was born and raised here, since I was little, my elders told me to keep my roots. The San Chi people came here to live, relying on the mountains and forests, and it wasn't until 1990 that they learned to make terraced fields, and life began to improve.

I still remind my children: We are San Chi ethnic people, we must preserve our traditional culture, costumes, stilt houses, language... those are the core things.

Promoting traditional cultural values

Fireplace in traditional stilt house.

Coming to Khau Dang, it is not difficult to recognize the love and awareness of preserving traditional culture of the people here. Along the way, from the elderly to the little children, everyone wears traditional costumes.

Touching the elaborately embroidered decorative border on the shirt, Mrs. Hoang Thi Xuan (67 years old) shared: Girls in Khau Dang start learning to embroider and tailor clothes at the age of 12. First, they learn to sew the hem of the shirt, then learn to embroider and decorate. Here, children go to school or we go to work in the fields and farms, we also wear traditional costumes. So everyone has a few sets to change, with the most beautiful set to wear on important occasions or festivals.

The San Chi ethnic costume is not very colorful, mainly indigo fabric with elaborate hand-embroidered accents. The outer long dress is made of indigo fabric with two pieces sewn diagonally to the right, the edges of the dress are bordered with a red strip, the length of the dress is mid-calf.

Accompanying the San Chi costume is a belt. The belt is woven from woolen threads, dyed fabric in many colors, with silver or metal studs, creating a striking highlight. Along with that is a sparkling silver necklace and bracelet, the necklace is also tied behind the neck with a colorful, elaborate decorative strip.

The most special thing about the San Chi girls is their high bun hairstyle decorated with many accessories. The bun is wrapped around a white pin, on top is a bronze drum face, on the right side is decorated with hairpins with bunches of small bells.

Pointing to the hairpin wrapped around her bun, Ms. Trieu Thi Linh (born in 2003) said: Before I had not thought of this way of pinning my hair, it would have taken me an hour to do my hair. But that was only on special occasions, when I went to work I just used a headscarf for convenience. Before, my friends and I often wore traditional costumes to school, everyone complimented us on how beautiful we were, so I was very proud.

Besides the stilt houses and traditional costumes, people here also preserve many cultural identities, such as: Spring Festival; typical rituals...

With the advantages of nature, culture, and people, Khau Dang is one of the community tourism destinations that is being invested in and supported for development. Currently, traffic, electricity grid, and civil works are being completed. There are 9 families registered to do homestay business, have renovated their houses, grounds, fences, and displayed traditional objects of the San Chi people.

People are excited to start implementing the model of growing clean vegetables and raising native animals to develop the economy and serve tourists for sightseeing and experience...

Talking about future orientation, Ms. Hoang Thi Mong, Secretary of Khau Dang village Party Cell confidently said: The villagers are very excited, everyone is ready to start doing community tourism. Khau Dang can currently welcome 50 tourists. Hopefully in the near future, Khau Dang village will be more beautiful, known by many people and soon welcome groups of tourists to visit and experience cultural values.

With unique cultural values preserved intact, along with poetic natural landscapes, friendly people and a spirit of readiness for innovation, Khau Dang is converging many factors to become an attractive destination in the journey to explore the highlands of Thai Nguyen.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/202507/binh-yen-khau-dang-25b0dcc/