| Description |
According to the traditional culture of the Ede community, every person from birth is worshiped and given a ring 7 times, from low to high, equivalent to each jar of wine. In which, the seventh jar worshiping ritual is the biggest ceremony and that person is considered mature and grown up. Here, many unique cultural features of the Ede people are expressed such as: worship of Giang, Mountain God, River God; worshiping the water wharf, worshiping the village head, wearing a ring; gong culture, cuisine, Chinh Krư dance; costumes, pants, shirts, hats; musical instruments such as flutes, horns; objects showing hunting strength such as knives, khiel, water gourds...
Mpú toh kong - a sacred ritual, marking the community's recognition of an adult man. The time to hold the ritual is when a man reaches adulthood or later. The Initiation Ritual is organized by the family and is attended by all villagers to share the joy. On the first day, the person being offered goes to the village's water wharf in front of the witness of Yang (heaven) and the wharf god. This person will wash his hair and collect water in a gourd to bring back to perform the Yang worship ritual. They organize it for 5 consecutive days with the main offerings being rice wine and chicken. After the ritual, the shaman puts a bronze ring prepared by relatives on the hand of the person being offered to confirm that they are strong enough and can take on the work. During the ritual, gongs are performed along with traditional dances.
The Ê đê people in Phu Yen believe that each person who can perform all these ceremonies will feel secure and the offerings will increase with age. The coming-of-age ceremony in particular as well as the life cycle rituals of the Ede people in Phu Yen demonstrate the connection between family and community. Through these rituals, customs, social practices, traditional costumes are maintained, gong culture is also practiced, creating unique cultural values of the Ede people in Phu Yen. With typical values, the Initiation Ritual of the Ê đê people in Phu Yen was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2018. |
