Preserving the value of the Village Washing Ceremony of the Lo Lo ethnic group

The Lo Lo are one of 14 ethnic groups with a population of less than 10,000 people in Vietnam, living mainly in the Dong Van Stone Plateau. The Lo Lo ethnic group has a rich history, beliefs and unique folk culture. The Lo Lo in Ha Giang have two branches: the Black Lo Lo and the Flower Lo Lo. The Black Lo Lo are concentrated in Lung Cu commune, while the Flower Lo Lo group lives in communes of Meo Vac district and some communes of Dong Van district.

The culture of the Lo Lo ethnic group is rich in both material and spiritual life, with unique customs, practices, and spiritual worship. In recent years, our Party and State have implemented many policies to maintain, develop, and enhance the status of ethnic minorities with very small populations. One of those policies is the National Target Program for Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period.

Lo Lo people celebrate the village washing ceremony with traditional dances.

In 2024, the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts in collaboration with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the People's Committee of Lung Cu commune conducted research and supported the Lo Lo ethnic group in Lo Lo Chai village to restore, preserve, and promote the Village Washing Ceremony according to traditional rituals. The Village Washing Ceremony of the Black Lo Lo people takes place at the beginning of the year, during the Thanh Minh Festival in the third lunar month, with the meaning of inviting the ancestors of 7 clans to enjoy the offerings, praying for favorable weather, bountiful crops, and family peace. The Village Washing Ceremony originates from the legend that every year has both good and bad luck. Therefore, they have to clean the village, welcoming good luck with the villagers. However, the Village Washing Ceremony has been lost since 1978 and has been rarely practiced since then. Therefore, many rituals of the festival have been forgotten.

With the goal of helping the Lo Lo people, Lo Lo Chai village restore, preserve and promote the Village Washing Ceremony according to tradition, recently, the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts organized a training course to teach the Village Washing Ceremony (Long Dzin) to the Lo Lo people, to help the Lo Lo people improve their understanding, awareness and consciousness to maintain and practice protecting the traditional festival cultural heritage of their people.

Dr. Vu Dieu Trung, Director of the Center for Cultural Heritage Data - Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts, said: The Center has sent a team of researchers to the grassroots to conduct research, grasp the situation, as well as the thoughts and aspirations of the people, organize the work of teaching performance rituals, and practice village washing rituals. In the coming time, the Center will continue to coordinate with the locality to promote propaganda, introduce and popularize traditional folk rituals and ceremonies of the Lo Lo ethnic group in many forms such as: Organizing scientific seminars, strengthening the activities of grassroots cultural institutions, community activities, and propaganda on mass media to raise awareness of the value of traditional rituals in the Lo Lo ethnic group. Encouraging people to maintain the unique customs of the ethnic group in wedding ceremonies, including the village washing ceremony...

With the purpose of praying for favorable weather, bountiful harvests and peace and luck for all families in the year, the village washing ceremony is one of the unique traditional cultural features of the Lo Lo people that needs to be preserved and passed on to the next generation to continue to be promoted in the community. At the same time, this is also an opportunity for Lo Lo Chai village, Lung Cu commune to introduce and promote the unique cultural features of the Lo Lo people, towards sustainable development in the future.

Ng. Luong - Ng. Hanh/Ha Giang Newspaper

Source: https://baophutho.vn/luu-giu-gia-tri-le-rua-lang-cua-dan-toc-lo-lo-217764.htm