Reenactment of an excerpt from the Kin gong Boọc Mây ritual of the Thai ethnic group in Thanh Hoa province

As part of the series of activities of the "Spring Colors in All Regions of the Country" Festival in 2025, the Thai ethnic people from Nhu Thanh district, Thanh Hoa province reenacted an excerpt of the Singing and Dancing Ceremony under the Cotton Tree (Kin gong Booc May).

Thai people prepare offerings

The Kin Chieng Boọc Mây ceremony takes place at the beginning of the new year, with the purpose of thanking the gods, holding a festival to celebrate after a year of hard work, to pray for peace, health, and good crops. The joyful and bustling atmosphere is truly a strong bond connecting the Thai ethnic community in the mountainous regions of the West of Thanh Hoa.

Offerings in the Kin Chieng Booc May ceremony

After the Shaman performed the worshiping ceremony at Cam Temple and the Bong tree-building ceremony, he and the villagers offered the gods new rice. He and the villagers performed the "Tan Nuong" ceremony (inviting the Heavenly Muong to attend Kin Chieng Booc May), the Shaman invited the gods to drink wine; then, he prayed to the gods to ask for water from the Bong tree to pray for coolness for the villagers.

The Kin Chieng Boọc Mây Festival takes place at the beginning of the year to thank the gods, pray for favorable weather, good harvests.

The main part of Lam cha Kin gong Booc May, the Mo Master worships the gods from the Bong tree, reads the spell (secret words) to ask the gods to perform some "magic", many movements belong to the magical device. Next, the Mo Master and the Bao cho, Sao cho (maybe also the attendees) perform some acts simulating production labor and cultural activities through movements, but the lyrics (all over) are mixed with humor, including the acts Buffaloes return to plow the fields, Cows from the sky return to play in the Muong Luong Gian, Chickens from the jungle...

Thai people dance around the Cotton tree

After that, the Shaman prayed to the gods to ask for fortune telling for the villagers, each person picked flowers to show to the shaman, except for a few "special" cases where the shaman gave them flowers to take home. Whoever got that was extremely lucky, it was taboo to arbitrarily pick flowers to destroy the worshiping Cotton tree. Next, the villagers organized a dance such as: dancing with the Cotton tree, beating gongs, making bamboo poles, dancing with bamboo poles and some other games.

The shaman performed a ceremony around the cotton tree to ask the gods to bless the villagers.

The villagers and the Bao Cho and Sao Cho listened to the advice of the Bong tree and the words of the Shaman. At the end, the Shaman held a ceremony to ask the gods to cut down the Bong tree and send the gods to heaven, promising to return next year to organize the celebration.

People dance and sing after the ceremony ends.

With unique cultural values, "Kin Chieng Booc May" is the most typical and distinctive custom of the Thai ethnic group in Roc Ram village, Xuan Phuc commune, Nhu Thanh district, and was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2017.

Minh Anh (Ethnic and Development Newspaper)

Source: https://baophutho.vn/tai-hien-trich-doan-nghi-thuc-kin-chieng-boc-may-cua-dan-toc-thai-tinh-thanh-hoa-227953.htm