Late in the afternoon, in a stilt house nestled on the hillside, People's Artisan and psychopath Bui Van Minh (Thuong Coc commune, Phu Tho province) slowly took out the gilded bamboo sticks from the wooden boxes.
That is not the calendar hanging all over the market, but the Lich Doi - the traditional calendar that has been associated with the lives of the Muong people for generations.
The neighbor's niece is getting married, the first thing the whole family should do is not arrange a party or intervene, but ask him to "view the date".
In the life of the old Muong Hoa Binh people, "retire day, next month" is a familiar saying, associated with the traditional Lunar calendar.
According to ethnocultural researchers, the Doi calendar is different from the popular Chinese lunar-pure calendar at the beginning of the year and month.
This shift makes when comparing, the days according to the Lunar calendar feel like "back" compared to the familiar calculation method, thereby forming a folk term "back shift, next month".
But for the Muong people, it is not just a matter of "catastrophy". Every day, every month in the Doi calendar is decided to be favorable or not favorable to carry out big things such as building a house, getting married, planting, and organizing rituals.
Retirement are days that need to be avoided, while next month is considered a favorable time, a favorable time, when people and nature are in the most harmonious state.
More than a year ago, the family of Ms. Bui Thi Thoa (Thuong Coc) had to postpone their wedding date by nearly two months compared to the original plan. Both families are in good hands, the work of the young couple is also stable, but when looking at the Schedule, the planned organization date falls into the "backstage".
"At first, I was also impatient, because I had reported it to my friends and colleagues. But parents say that marriage is a lifelong thing, if you take a little time to be assured, it will be better, said Ms. Thoa.
The wedding then took place on a "next month", when the harvest was over, the rice and corn were full. The village village village is free to roast, relatives come to celebrate together in large numbers.
Now thinking back, I feel relieved. Not because I was afraid of bad luck, but because I felt everything was at the right time, she said.
According to Mr. Bui Van Minh, the custom of seeing days according to the Lunar calendar reflects the indigenous knowledge of agricultural residents.
From a scientific perspective, retire in the coming days and months is not about predicting fate, but is about how the Muong people reduce social risks, create consensus among clans, and bring spiritual peace of mind to those who enter a new journey of life.
Nowadays, many Muong families have used the common calendar in their daily lives. But for important matters, many people still ask for opinions from the elderly, still mentioning "retirement day, next month" as a principle that needs to be considered.
The Doi calendar (Bac calendar) of the Muong people has been officially recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in Vietnam according to Decision No. 1756/QD-BVHTTDL in July 2022, belonging to the group "Folklore knowledge".
This is an ancient system of knowledge, demonstrating the intelligence of the Muong people in measuring time, associated with agriculture, festivals and community life, included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism along with the Khai Ha Muong Festival.
In the middle of the stilt house in the afternoon, Mr. Bui Van Minh carefully rolls the Lich Doi and puts it in the wooden box.
For him and many other Muong people, the retreat day, the coming month is not only a way to calculate time, but a way of thinking, where people choose to live a slower pace, so that all beginnings can last a long time.
