The beauty of the Gia Rai ethnic group

Gia-rai is one of five ethnic groups belonging to the Malay-Daonese language group and one of the local ethnic groups in the Central Highlands region (Vietnam). Let's go togetheriguide.aiFind out information about the Gia-rai ethnic group, Vietnam!

1. Historical origin
Self-name: Gia Rai.
Other names: Gio Ray, Cho Ray.
Local groups: Chor, Hdrung (including Hbau, Chor), Arap, Mthur, Tobuan.

The Gia Rai ethnic group is one of the early inhabitants of the Central Highlands mountains, spreading to part of Cambodia. In ancient Gia Rai society, there were Potaoia (King of Water) and Potaopui (King of Fire) who specialized in worshiping heaven and earth, praying for good weather and wind... Before the 11th century, the Ede and Gia Rai people were called by the same name Rang There.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, Vietnamese feudal history books recorded the titles Thuy Xa (King of Water), Hoa Xa (King of Fire). Only a man with the Siu family name can be the king of fire and water, and a daughter of the Rochom family can be the wife of two kings. Perhaps the word Potao is synonymous with Mtao of the Cham, Tao of the Thai and Thao of Laos, all referring to the leader.

2. Population and language:

- Population:
According to data from the Survey of 53 ethnic minorities on April 1, 2019: Total population: 513,930 people. Of which, men: 252,234 people; female: 261,696 people. Proportion of population living in rural areas: 89.5%.

- Language:
Gia-rai is one of five ethnic groups belonging to the Malay-Polynesian language group and one of the local ethnic groups in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam.

3. Geographic distribution

The residence of the Gia-rai ethnic group in the Central Highlands is mainly in Gia Lai province, the west of Phu Yen province, the south of Kon Tum province, and the north of Dak Lak province.

4. Main characteristics

- Food:Plain rice is the main food; Secondary food is corn. Food includes vegetables, salt, chili, vegetable soup, and occasionally meat and fish meals. The party takes a cup of wine as the center, surrounded by dishes served on bowls, plates or banana leaves for both eating and drinking. When drunk, there is singing, dancing, and playing of gongs.

- Skin:Men wear multicolored striped white cloth loincloths (tai). On holidays, they wear indigo cloth loincloths 4m long and 0.30m wide, with patterned borders and colorful tassels at both ends. The shirt is black with sleeves, open armpits, and a patterned border with colored threads running along the sides with bold traces of a poncho style.

The Pôtao or village owner wears an indigo shirt that covers the buttocks, has long sleeves, covers the head, and has a patch of red thread as buttons and buttonholes from the neck to the chest. Below the button strip is a square piece of red fabric sewn on to mark the shirt. Women wear indigo dresses (1.4m long x 1m wide), with a patterned border running around the hem. The waistband has tassels of white or colored thread. The skirt is not sewn into a tube, so when worn, it is only rolled around the body so that the area where the two ends meet is forward. They wear short, tight-fitting, long-sleeved blouses. On the sleeve, there is a shirt embroidered with colorful thread patterns. The place is hot all year round so both men and women like to go shirtless.

- Place of residence:Stilt house
There are two types of architecture: La-yun-pa style long stilt houses, 13.5m long and 3.5m wide is the average size for each house. The house is divided into two parts: the gills and the brain. The front door only faces north and the front door is for women - the head of the matriarchal family. There are two kitchens in the house.
Hđrung-style small house with dimensions of 3m wide x 9m long. The height from the ground to the roof beam is no more than 4.5m. The main door leading to the drying floor only faces north. On both sides of the main door there are two windows. There is only one kitchen in the house.

- Funeral:The Gia Rai people follow the custom of burying all people of the same mother's family in the same grave. The dead man must be carried back and buried in his mother's grave. In that common grave, the coffins are placed next to each other horizontally and then stacked vertically. When the coffin is as high as the mouth of the grave, use boards to place it on all four sides to bury it in a few more layers before holding the "grave leaving" ceremony (Hoa Lui, Thi Nga or Bo Thi) - a major ritual in the funeral process.

- Worship:Gia Rai people follow all spiritual things. There are many types of spirits (Yang), of which there are three prominent types mentioned in annual or multi-year offerings:

 + The house god (Yang sang) is the force that protects the house and is worshiped in the house. When a new house is built, a buffalo stabbing ceremony and rice planting ceremony must be performed.
+ The village god (yang ala bon) and the water god (yang ia) are the forces that protect the village and the lives of all members and are worshiped at the water wharf and the foot of the mountain.
+ The king's spirit (Yang po tao) led by the fire king, water king, and wind king (ptao agin) performed the ceremony to pray to heaven, good rain, peaceful winds, and good crops.

In addition, Gia Rai people also believe that when they die, souls turn into ghosts. There is a phenomenon of labeling people with harmful magic called ghosts.
Culture and arts: Gia Rai people have many epics such as Dam San, Xinh Nha, Dam Di... expressed in the form of singing poetry accompanied by Tung Nung. Gia Rai folk dances have a number of movements that simulate wars between tribes. The To Rung, Krong put, Tung Nung... are very popular.

5. Economic conditions

Cultivation economics is the root of production activities. Land is an object of labor impact and is divided into two types - uncultivated land named: dyke, dia, can, ownerless and cultivated land collectively called Hma, the ownership of each family. Hma includes plots of land cultivated in a half-garden, half-field manner; Cultivate, burn, dig the soil and dig holes to plant seeds. As for wet fields, use hoes and tillers; scouring the mud and moving to plowing and harrowing using 2 oxen.

Family livestock includes: buffaloes, cows, horses, elephants, pigs, chickens, dogs... In which, buffaloes are equivalent objects in the exchange of precious objects such as gongs, jars and sacrifices in religious rituals. The family's side hustles are: carpentry, blacksmithing and weaving. Craftsmen made baskets used to store clothes, jewelry, and transport. Weaving with Indonesian-style looms is quite popular, creating wide fabrics with beautiful patterns.

Above is some interesting information about the Gia Rai ethnic group, Vietnam, let's joiniguide.aiPlan to explore, meet and experience culture with Gia Rai people in the near future!

Source:
- Ethnic groups in Vietnam (Truth National Political Publishing House);
- Basic characteristics of 54 ethnic minorities in 2019 (Committee for Ethnic Minorities and General Statistics Office);
- Website of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities, Website of Nhan Dan Newspaper;
- Results of the survey collecting information on the socio-economic status of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam).