Dao people fight to preserve coming-of-age tradition
The Dao ethnic community in the northern mountainous province of TuyenQuang are struggling to maintain their cultural traditions against the influence of modern life.
In particular, their highly-valued ‘cap sac rite’ (literally translated as Granting an Order) is under threat of dying out.
Their efforts to prevent this have received a boost recently thanks to State recognition of the rite as part of national intangible cultural heritage. The accolade brings with it more expert research and investment in preserving the unique custom.
All Dao men must go through the cap sac rite in order to be recognised by the community as mature enough to undertake communal positions.
TuyenQuang is home to 77,015 Dao people belonging to nine sub-groups, making up 11 percent of the locality’s population. The Dao is the third largest community among 22 ethnic groups in the province, after the Kinh and Tay.