San Chay People
Also
called Cao Lan, San Chi, Man Cao Lan and Hon Ban, the San Chay
number more than 114,000. They mainly concentrate in Tuyen Quang,
Bac Thai and Ha Bac provinces and are found in scattered groups
in Quang Ninh, yen Bai, Lang Son and Vinh Phu provinces. The San
Chay comprise two groups which speak different languages. The
language of the Cao Lan is close to that of the Tay and the Nung
and that of the San Chi to the Han dialect. The language of the
San Chayis classified in the Tay-Thai Group.Ancestral worship
is the main practice but is influenced by Buddhism, Taoism and
Confucianism.The San Chay mainly cultivate wet rice but agriculture
as a whole plays an important role. Dozens of families form a
village and live in a close association. Formerly, houses were
almost all built on stilts but now those built level with the
ground are very popular. The house is imagined as "the Buffalo
Genie", its four pillars symbolizing the four legs, the laths
representing the ribs and the roof understood as the backbone.
One of the two corners of the penthouse is a bay for the altar
to ancestors, regarded as the holiest section by each family.Today,
the attire of the San Chay tends to imitate the King or Tay. On
ordinary days, women use the cord carrying the knife sheath as
a waist belt. On festival occasions, they usually wear 2-3 silk
belts of different colours.The San Chay inhabitants belong to
various family lineages, each lineage having several branches
and peculiar habits and customs, and worshipping a definite genie.
The father is the head of the family. The family of the young
man organises the marriage but after wedding, the wife lives again
with her parents and only visits her husband's family now and
then. She settles definitively at the husband's house only after
child-bearing.The San Chay possess many old tales, folksongs,
proverbs and sayings. Particularly, sinh ca (alternating love
song chants) is the most attractive form of cultural activity.
They also have many dances like the drum dance, bird dance, harpoon-fishing
dance, shrimp-catching dance, and lamp dance.The most popular
musical instruments are castanets, small copper bells, cymbals,
wind instruments and drums.At ceremonies and festivals, there
are many forms of entertainment such as top spinning, con throwing
and standing on the head.
