Communication in Rituals and Moral Orders of Mê Một in Tai Political Society in Vietnam

Abstract

Seen as a cultural space of the Tais in the past and present, Quan Son is a district located in the highland of the western side of Thanh Hoa province in the north-central region of Vietnam. It is a border city between Vietnam and Laos PDR. The community studied there belongs to the Tai and it can be considered as a political society constituted by customary laws, social rules, institutes, and ethnic boundaries signifying local powers. This research is a product of the ethnographical inquires conducted for around two weeks each year in 2017, 2019, and 2020. The analysis indicated that despite the government's implementation of its policy to promote and revive ethnic and cultural preservation, the Tai traditional society faces a formidable challenge in political centralization, free-market economy invasion, and the border trade promotion leading to the commodification of natural resources and labor migration of the local people. Such challenges articulate the clash between the central and local powers. The locally regarded moral and sacred powers remained robust through its religious institute (belief in the Then [deity] and spirits) embedded in the Mê Một's (female shamans), communication in traditional rituals, and adding ancestor spirits' prophecy performed by female spirit mediums in the Mê Một’s traditional ritual that function as moral, and social obligations. These social and moral commitments create order in navigating the chaotic modern world within the moral orders in Tai political society.