The dowry parents give their daughters when they get married is usually simple and rustic, but contains all the worries and love for their daughters in the upcoming marriage journey.
Sharing with PV, Ms. Vi Thi Lieu (born in 1999) - a Tay bride in Bao Lac commune - said that dowry is not measured by money, but by items associated with daily life.
Parents prepare for me very familiar things, but they are all the most necessary things when starting a new life.
First of all, household items such as blankets, mosquito nets, pillows, mattresses, pots and pans, bowls, chopsticks, and copper trays. Many families choose new items, some even prepare brocade blankets and mattresses woven by relatives themselves.
Those seemingly small items have great meaning, implying that parents take care of their daughter from eating and sleeping, hoping that their daughter will still be well-off and warm in her husband's house," Ms. Lieu said.
Besides, there are traditional costumes that are indispensable in the dowry of Tay girls. Cham robes, skirts, and headscarves are neatly folded and given to the bride as part of the family tradition sent to her.
Wearing indigo clothes is to remember that I am Tay, to remember my roots even though I have become a daughter-in-law in other places," Vi Thi Lieu shared. For many families, costumes are not only for wearing, but also a way to preserve national identity through generations.
A detail with profound spiritual meaning in the Tay wedding is the new shoes the bride wore when leaving her mother's house to go to her husband's house.
According to custom, shoes - usually traditional embroidered fabric shoes - must be performed by a shaman before the bride goes out.
The Tay people believe that new shoes symbolize a new beginning, for steady steps in married life.
The ritual is to pray for the bride to have good luck, peace, and avoid evil spirits and bad luck on the way to her husband's house, so that married life will be smooth and peaceful in the future.
Depending on the family's conditions, the dowry may include gold, silver or cash. It is usually a ring, necklace, small gold bracelet or a moderate amount of money.
Value does not put much or little emphasis, mainly meaning "savings" for daughters to defend themselves when needed, and at the same time bring good luck to married life later.
In many Tay families, parents believe that if their daughters have a little personality, they will be more confident when entering marriage.
In particular, according to bride Vi Thi Lieu, in the dowry of the Tay people in Bao Lac, there is also food. Rice, paddy, wine, chicken, even pigs in some places, are prepared by parents as a simple wish.
That is the wish for young couples to work hard, not worry about hunger, and have a full life like the products from fields and barns.
There are no large numbers, no emphasis on "matching subjects", so the Tay people's dowry has a very unique shape.
Each item, each ritual is a silent reminder, a long-term preparation of parents for their daughter before entering a new home.
