The dancing ghosts kept shivering as if they were in a fantasy world. Their hairy green footsteps were entangled with the folk dances of Lo Lo female figures, the girls in colorful clothes, in the mighty bass drums…
Ban Lo Lo Chai – 20 years ago and now
20 years ago, a U-watt vehicle belonging to the Border Guard Command took me and some famous pens in the direction of Lung Cu (Ha Giang). Went for three days straight. The car broke down among the rocks of the cat’s ears and the brilliant peach groves in early spring, we groped in the night to find the Lung Cu Border Guard Station to stay. At night, the cold wind is like needles pricking the fingertips. The cotton shirt with the military rank of the colonel in charge of the station turned into a blanket for the young reporter in his 20s in the steam of corn wine.
Sinh Di Gai said, do whatever you want, dancing sometimes all day, the grass has withered, but still not exposing the skin or clothes for others to see. To do that, you have to braid the grass tightly, tie the rope tightly and properly, the more it dances, the tighter it “bundles the grass”. Because of the concept of the Lo Lo people here: Each person turns himself into a Ma Co (grass scarecrow) to dance and guide the ancestors and the deceased. At that time, each person was not allowed to eat, speak, walk without tripping, not letting anyone realize who he was. They were “ghost”, “divine”. Whoever violates the above, will be at risk for the whole year, the whole family, the whole lineage will be at risk of bad luck.
Between the dangerous border and the difficult situation at that time, we might not have imagined that: One day, the extreme point in the North of Vietnam (Lung Cu commune, Dong Van district, Ha Giang province) might be timid. asphalt road for cars to run like now. Not even thinking, one day, dozens of houses in Lo Lo Chai hamlet, behind the Dragon Mountain, where looking up at the Lung Cu Flagpole, became homestays to welcome enough Western guests from Ta Nuoc Nuoc.
I was lost in the world of Lo Lo men covered with a special green weed – fragrant sometimes, and then they were like a bunch of fresh trees dripping with loose sap – they danced to the sound of the sacred bronze drums. I asked, why is it necessary to cover the whole body with grass, why not wear a tree bark shirt hanging in front of the other house for “oops”? They said, if you guys do that, I’ll do it, I don’t know. Cover the grass. Absolutely do not expose your face, it is done by ghosts, ancestors scolded, all year is full of bad luck. Just like the green “ghost” grass, they danced and danced from morning to night without getting tired, the sisters dressed in sophisticated red and blue Lo Lo clothes also jubilantly joined the festival. Footsteps of truth… It’s the Ma Co worshiping ceremony in the extreme northern part of Vietnam.
In our whole country, there are only 4,827 Lo Lo people (statistics in 2019) living in several provinces, mainly concentrated in Ha Giang and Cao Bang. The first Lo Lo person I met, 20 years ago, was Ms. Minh – an officer of the Meo Vac District Union. She lives in a house hidden away with surprising ethnic cultural deposits, just around the corner from town. The second Lo Lo person I met was Dr. Lo Giang Pao, later deputy director of the Institute for Ethnic Minorities (Committee for Ethnic Minorities), now retired. Mr. Pao, who was too worried regarding the fading of his Lo Lo ethnic identity, “carried” a pair of Lo Lo bronze drums, consisting of male and female drums, to the province, to Hanoi to request preservation and protection. research. From that sincere heart, through striving, he has become a prestigious person holding many proud positions. He has published many important research works on bronze drums and Lo Lo culture – as well as communities in the passionate headland of Ha Giang.
Now, in front of me are the young Lo Lo Chai people, in the tiny hamlet nestled at the foot of the Lung Cu flagpole.
The people of the time on Facebook, Zalo
Dance in Ma Co worshiping ceremony in Lo Lo Chai village. Photo: DH
The small, wet guy Lu Di Dien glided back from the high mountains, still covered in mud. This grass is called Su-choeo grass, very rare, grown near the house does not live. Every holiday, you have to go to the sacred mountain Chun-ta (also known as the mountain of Song Doi), many people go to collect it to have enough grass for the ceremony. When it rains, each long blade of grass (can be as long as a meter, as big as the tip of a chopstick) is hydrated, slippery, heavy, and the mountain road is slippery too.
Seeing green in front of the cultural house, in front of Sinh Di Gai’s house (owner of Lover Lo Lo Chai homestay) full of green grass, cool ivory green color. Those vines are long and smooth like giant and endless green vermicelli, so many tourists come to see, curiously ask all kinds of things.
In the past, on tiny patches of land, with cat ears as sharp as knives, the lives of more than 100 households in Lo Lo Chai village at the northern end of Vietnam were very poor. From that day on, an official from the Embassy of Luxembourg came to visit and saw that this place was beautiful and famous, so he discussed with the province, supported and encouraged 3 families to open homestays to welcome tourists. Many households failed to give up, especially the chief of Sinh Di Gai village, he thought through the truth of “thousands of difficult beginnings”, and the hardships will come to an end. Next to it, the Golden Di Toan house welcomes up to 20 guests sleeping on stilts at a time. The house shows the golden soil. The dark brown yin and yang tile roofs buckled down because of carrying on the back of the water for a long time. Ancient moss, moss from the stone fence on the wall of the house. Looking through the homstay’s romantic wooden autumn attic, you will see the majestic Lung Cu Flagpole in the upland region.
Outside, the climbing point, this place is a log cabin to climb up to watch the four sides of the land that is blown by the autumn wind. Someone opened the whole point of Tot Bac Coffee, with a wooden arrow sign pointing from every corner. Do the tourism methodically. The village is small, but there are 21 households doing tourism and opening homestays. They are trained to welcome guests, train to make local dishes “team” with food safety requirements on the “head”. The season of buckwheat flowers, the most splendid stone plateau season, is always “burning out” here!
At night, the lights are lit up like a star, and the ancient roofs are in the clouds. Some families even go on Facebook, Zalo promotes tourism with very methodical image words. They associate with the Hanoians, decorate their homestay, expand their house, make unique dishes, wake up the most interesting and charming Lo Lo dancers in the most methodical way. Then they share opportunities and profits with investors in the lowlands, experts in fine arts – culture – ethnic groups to “compensate” more for the ancient space of Lo Lo comb village, on the basis of respecting the values of the people. original rustic treatment. So there were “standard hotels” born in houses with half a meter thick walls, old brown yin and yang tiles, solid Lo Lo quality, at the northern end of Vietnam. Promoted, guests find it, the studio money is collected, the Hanoians receive half, the people of Lo Lo village receive half. Other services in the area, people do it themselves. It is a model that appeals to the natives. Also “please guests come, please guests go”.
The road to Lo Lo Chai village makes anyone excited. Photo: DH
Ma Co worshiping ceremony at Excellent Farmers’ house
Along with the worshiping ceremony to the forest god, the new rice festival, the new house celebration, the Ma Co worshiping ceremony in this Lo Lo village is the most unique and surprising. Sinh Di Gai – Chief of the village, now here, every house has a TV, a refrigerator, a motorbike, many people know how to communicate in English at the level of taking care of Western guests to eat and sleep. House Gai has a week to welcome up to 300 guests to eat and drink, visit the northernmost point. Chairman of the People’s Committee of Lung Cu Commune – Mr. Ma Doan Khanh highly appreciated Gai and Lo Lo village’s contribution to local economic development, cultural heritage preservation, and then replicating the model in the whole commune. Di Gai was honored to be voted as the excellent Vietnamese farmer in 2022, returning to Hanoi to attend the honoring ceremony.
We were busy talking when the boys had finished plucking the long, thick grass that covered their bodies, and then asked someone else to tie them with forest ropes. They transform themselves into green grass-colored “dummies”. This grass is tough, soft, long. First of all, because thousands of years ago, the ancestors of the Lo Lo people used these same herbs to organize the Ma Co ceremony. After all, because this grass has properties suitable for disguise that few types can replace. They used wet grass (because it rained on the eve of the dance), flaked off the water in it, and then braided each male “character”. To their eyes, in order not to be exposed, they used a large bamboo mop to face them – of course, they had to cut two holes so that the eyes might see out. Mo Nang is hard to find now, so get a brown card instead.
A Lo Lo woman prepares a costume to attend the Ma Co worshiping ceremony. Photo: DH
Lo Lo bronze drum, ever since I heard regarding Mr. Lo Giang Pao “carrying” the drum back to Hanoi, now I can see it with my own eyes. These include the male cocks (chicken millet) and the female cocks (hung bro). In the past, people often lost drums, due to the concept that they had to be buried in the ground following using them. Sometimes buried somewhere and then forgot the mark, sometimes the bad guys sneaked along since they buried the drum, then they dig up and sell the drum for a lot of money. Among the large family of more than 50 ethnic groups in Vietnam, the Lo Lo people are a rare ethnic group that still plays the drums regularly in the true sense of the word. Now, people keep the bronze drums in the kitchen to make sure they can eat, and each time they use it, they have to light incense 3 times and ask their ancestors’ permission.
36 rhythms of bronze drums are played. A few boys were still strutting their green raincoats out of the grass, but were scolded by their superiors… Scared, the boys went to cover the gap with bundles of grass tied tightly by the forest.
The dances jubilantly, passionately, ragged horizontally, the green grass is as big as the hollow inside, colliding with each other, creating a creaking sound like the wind blowing through thousands of trees in the dense border forest. The sacred bronze drum, only the unmarried or married but the wife is not pregnant can beat. The Lo Lo people follow the concept of polytheism, everything is ruled by a god inside…
Since 2012, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism has included the ancestor worshiping ceremony of the Lo Lo neighbor (Lung Cu commune, Dong Van district, Ha Giang province) on the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. family. Ma Co worshiping ceremony (also known as Gha Lu Ngang ceremony), is actually a very primitive and ancient form of ancestor remembrance, this consciousness is not too strange to many peoples in Vietnam and the world. In the Central Highlands, there is also a festival in which they use bark robes, dry grass, tree roots, and masks to cover the whole body like this. They also have a bark coat similar to the Lo Lo people.
So, each Lo Lo man, when he transforms into a Ma Co, is green, covered in sweat, and carries many loads of fresh grass (even soggy from the mountains, even dancing in the rain, they become more and more intense. water) is because they want an ancient guide (primitive people, like Ma Co, who they believe are “contemporary” with their ancestors) to help their ancestors find their way back to the village, or they want to enter the village. the role of ancestor helps the dead find their ancestors in the followinglife. It is a humane ceremony, with deep belief in the faraway world and a passionate belief in the well-being of the deceased, as well as the support of ancestors for the living. This is not very different from the concept of Vietnamese people and the rest of the world.
The Lo Lo people even make wooden figures on the wall or behind the altar to represent the deceased, to remember them. When becoming a “giant bunch of grass”, even moving seems difficult and heavy like that; However, thanks to their spiritual beliefs and respect for their ancestors, the Ma Cos still dance all day long, always supple, soft, juggling, tireless. That, there is nothing like the ecstatic passion of shamanism.
And we also adventure with mysterious grass-covered people, lovely “beasts” from some fairyland. The dancing ghosts kept shivering as if they were in a fantasy world. Their hairy green footsteps, entangled with the lilting folk dance of the Lo Lo female figures, the girls in colorful clothes, in the mighty bass drum…
