The Red Dzao of Mo Si San commune celebrate a special festival that honours and protects the villagers from tigers.
Mo Si San commune is on the side of 1,800m mountain peak in the northwest province of Lai Chau . The local inhabitants belong to the Man Co hill tribe – a branch of the Red Dzao ethnic tree. High in the mountains the landscape is nearly always hidden by a thick layer of mist and cloud. In the late afternoon, the air is chilly, sometimes cold. In Mo Si San village there are around a hundred households. The people here are friendly, hospitable and joyful.
Sitting in the village I admire the costumes of Man Co, which are a variation on a theme most people will recognize from the Red Dzao of Sapa. The Man Co choice of garb is also a striking ensemble: cloth conical hats with scarlet flags attached, embroidered trousers and black tunics with embroidered cuffs and red lapels, red seams and red and yellow tassels and a bright red belt.
Women in Mo Si San often sew in silence all day long to avoid misfortune.
When we arrive the village is celebrating Forbidden Tiger Day and we are immediately welcomed to join the party.
That would be not the case if the village was holding its Forbidden Village festival when strangers are not allowed to enter the commune for three days.
The Forbidden Tiger Festival also runs for three days. A series of feasts will be held. The old share their experiences to help the younger generations gain success in the New Year. The kids play traditional games or go hunting. Young teenagers will wear their best outfits when singing songs or trying to woo a potential lover. Everyone smiles all day and all night. Men will guzzle plenty of alcohol (mostly rice liquor) and a boisterous atmosphere quickly becomes the norm.
Houses are laden with smoked pork in the hope of a prosperous year ahead.
Inside the simple earthen houses of Mo Si San everyone is smoking pork or buffalo meat. With a smoking shelf laden with meat the locals will be happy believing that they will have an excess of food for the New Year ahead.
At the far end of the village we find the house of the local shaman, Ly Phu Hin, who is busily writing calligraphy sentences in Dzao script. Each sentence simply wishes for a New Year of Happiness, Prosperity and Good Luck. Villagers come to the house to ask for his lucky sentences, which will then be hung on their altars at home.
According to Ly Phu Hin the Red Dzao of Mo Si San believe that a tiger will always appear on the “first tiger day” of the first Lunar month of the year to catch cattle and poultry or to attack the local people. So during these days, the locals do not work in the field or hunt in the forest.
“ We have to store farming tools and buffalo horns in a corner or under the altar. Nobody is allowed to use them or make loud noises at home. If someone breaks the law, we will all meet with misfortune all year around,” says Hin.
The shaman of Mo Si San commune writes down a wish for prosperity in Dzao script for a fellow villager.
All the pigs in the village are also wrapped in bamboo leaves so that they don’t damage gardens or fields while they are not being looked after. Every village in Mo Si San commune – Seo Ho Tha, Tan Seo Phin and To Y Phin villages – will also be celebrating simultaneously, although villagers will not frequently travel between villages as the roads are in such bad condition. But if anyone does make the trip, they are sure to be warmly welcomed to the party.
By Duc Hanh.