The custom of tattooing the chin is one of the unique cultural features of the Mang ethnic group. Tattoos on each person's chin not only show the maturity of that person, but also show the spiritual concept of the Mang ethnic group.
Therefore, in the past
when Mang men and women reached the age of 12, they performed the chin tattoo ritual. The date chosen to hold the chin tattoo ceremony must be a beautiful day in the 10th lunar month every year.
Choosing a good day, the person with the chin tattoo and his family bring the offerings to the shaman's house for the ceremony, when everyone comes to the house, the shaman goes down to the top of the stairs to warmly welcome.
Going up to the house, the family representative pours water and baseball jacket wine to explain the reason for coming to the house of the shaman, the person with the chin tattoo bows to the shaman three bows, asking the teacher to stand out and perform the ceremony.
The priest reddens the lamp
burns incense to make offerings to the gods, the ancestor of the person who has the chin tattoo certifies that person A has grown up and has the chin tattoo ceremony, a descendant of his family.
The offering includes a boiled chicken, two dried squirrels, two eggs and two bowls of rice, wine, and water.
In the concept of the Mang, chin tattooing not only reminds the wife and husband's duties, but also shows respect to superiors and ancestors. Tattoos are a symbol of the power of the Supreme Being, a protection, helping people against the risks and disasters of nature and reminding each person to have a good virtue, for example women must gentle, brave. The tattoo sequence: tattooing two columns from the sides of the nose to the chin, showing the cosmic view of heaven and earth, a bridge between the mundane and the underworld so that after death you can cross this bridge to enter the land of your ancestors ; then tattooed around the mouth with the meaning of being a person to know what is right or wrong, respecting the upper and lower, speaking politely and not making lies or fabrications.
Tattoos show that the world is interrelated with heaven and earth, people living on earth are gentle, obedient and polite, when they die, they will be liberated to their ancestors.
Going up to the house
the family representative pours water and wine to explain the reason for coming to the house of the shaman, the person with the chin tattoo bows to the shaman three bows, asking the teacher to All products stand out and perform the ceremony.
The Mang people believe that if anyone does not have a chin tattoo, he is not an adult, and when he dies, he will not be allowed to join the family but must wander. People without tattoos, if they want to enter heaven's gate, they will have to suffer punishment, have to wear a big rice mill and have to cross a small bridge made of a wooden tree that crosses a deep ravine without handrails... Therefore, When young people reach adulthood, they are reminded by the elderly or their parents to have their chin tattooed. In the past, the custom of chin tattooing was an indispensable ritual in the life of the Mang people, but due to the production process, the difficult life and the disappearance over time, the custom of chin tattooing of this ethnic group has gradually disappeared. lost gradually.