[MATRIARCHY]

Evidenced by the stories in Chinese Mythology, Nüwa is renowned as the mother goddess and a tribal leader in ancient China, who created all living beings on Earth and selflessly bestowed invaluable gifts upon her creations. Likewise, Goddess Gaia is worshiped by the Greeks as the embodiment of “the Earth”, the ancestral mother of all life. The aforementioned goddesses and the like all hold insurmountable powers with their names being ubiquitous for generations of humans, but perhaps being all-powerful and almighty is not their only prominent feature. Above all, these female deities have transcended prejudices revolving around women's power. Since the first seeds of humankind germinated, matriarchy emerged as a key milestone in ancient societies across the globe, with the epitome being matriarchal societies in Tây Nguyên. Today, let us discover this social system with VFSA! 

MẪU HỆ LÀ GÌ ?

 Dating back to around 8000 years ago, evidence of matriarchy had already been found in the motherlands and cultures of different ethnic groups. For many generations have passed and art forms have been discovered, from cinematography to literature, all fully emphasize the beauty of Vietnamese women as they always carry a sense of altruism within them. First and foremost, we need to understand what the practice of matriarchy is. Matriarchy is defined as a social construct in which women, especially mothers, will take the lead in the family and later on matrilineally pass down their power and inheritance. In the past, the practice of matriarchy was widespread in virtually all ethnic groups in the world. This practice has existed since time immemorial, when tribes would worship a woman as their queen with adoration, and women gradually found a voice and positions for themselves in the community. Matriarchy also originated from labor distribution in primitive times, when men would hunt and protect the tribes while women bore the responsibility of farming to ensure food supplies, educating children, looking after the house, and harmonizing family relations. Thus, the husbandry of crops and animals at the time was preserved and continued to flourish. This charge affected most of the economy, making the role of a mother in the family more crucial. Hence, women took charge of calculating and coordinating in the household. 

THE FORM OF MATRIARCHY IN CULTURES OF TÂY NGUYÊN ETHNIC MINORITIES 

In the land of Tây Nguyên, the presence of matriarchy is more prominent than ever. The maternal culture of Tây Nguyên has existed in lineages and families for hundreds of years. Children born in Tây Nguyên only acknowledge their mothers, who carried and gave birth to them, with utmost clarity. Perhaps all aspects of life, both real and artificial, honor women. Despite their ethnic differences, women still embody an inherent kindness. Seemingly, the time when Tây Nguyên matriarchy reflected the richest of cultures and traditions was the post-1975 period, when heirlooms and financial roles were passed down to daughters of the next generations. In the matriarchal system of minority groups in Tây Nguyên, the bride’s family plays an active role in planning for the wedding, men stay with their wives’ families, and children use their mothers’ family names. This practice has existed for a long time in the community. It can be said that, from great to minor matters, the decisions all lie in the hand of the oldest woman of the family, as matriarchy advocates the power of a woman's voice, a mellifluous sound that can impact the deepest emotions of the heart. For this reason, matriarchy champions women’s rights and roles, enables them to partake in any social activity, to nurture and protect their families.   

THE CULTURAL VALUES OF MATRIARCHY TO MINOR ETHNIC GROUPS AND VIETNAMESE IDENTITY  

Since its onset, the practice of matriarchy has contributed priceless cultural values to the people of Tây Nguyên and to the long-lasting identity of Vietnam. The distinctiveness of matriarchal culture in Tây Nguyên ethnic groups can be seen through their traditional costumes,  in which every member of the family owns at least one. Ultimately, the preservation of traditions and customs depends on the conservation of people’ voices and promotion of their ethnic dialects. As evidence, in ethnic minority areas of Đắk Glei district, Kon Tum province, it is mandatory that students wear traditional clothing to school twice a week, and it is typical for the mother to prepare the costumes for them. In addition, women maintain and pass down the craft of brocade weaving on to the next generations, which is regarded as one of the most remarkable cultural heritages of Tây Nguyên. In the family, women are the ones who cook traditional dishes and teach their children how to follow in their footsteps. They sing folk songs, recite fairy tales passed down by their ancestors, which hold important literary values passed down from generation to generation. Since childhood, people have been lulled to sleep by lullabies sung by the women in the family, which later on became a cherished cultural legacy of the ethnic group in general, and the warmth of lofty motherhood in particular. While men are responsible for performing the hard labor required to support the family, they also contribute to the preservation of traditional cultures by agreeing to their children bearing their mother's last name. These men still highly value the role of women and express gratitude for their efforts in maintaining the family.  

CHẾ ĐỘ MẪU HỆ – PHỤ HỆ NÓI GÌ VỀ VAI TRÒ CỦA NAM VÀ NỮ?

Shifting our perspective to the modern world, matriarchy was gradually replaced by patriarchy. Patriarchy is present in more regions, ethnicities, and even more widespread as men took the lead in economic and political aspects. During the feudal times, due to the effects of the hard and fast rules of Confucianism, patriarchy was prioritized, causing dispute in the family and injustice to women. Women did not have the rights to raise their voice, since people back in the day had the notion that “phu xướng, phụ tùy” (Roughly translated: The husband decides, the wife follows). Their opinions worthed nothing in the family, and their position among society was even worse, they were forced to be obedient to men. Patriarchy made unfairness happen in marriage, when men were allowed to have multiple wives at once but women did not even have the right to choose. In that world, women were beaten, restricted, and considered bad luck. From that, we can see the contrast between men and women in terms of position and role in the family. While machiarchy made the women the head of the family who handled every situation of the house, patriarchy made the men dominant and destroyed the balance between male and female.  Nowadays, machiarchy is not a commonplace anymore, except in regions where agriculture is still practiced and they need the decision of the women. However, during the eras, regardless of the social context, women continue to show their exceptional traits, they administer, take care of the family without complaining. At the present, matriarchy is still prevalent in ethnic groups with the Austronesian language family such as Jarai, Rhade, Raglai, Churu, etc. or the Austro-Asiatic language family, namely Munong people, Koho people. During the centuries, women are still people with extraordinarily attentiveness and gentleness, who resiliently overcome any hardship in life, they are the people with great gratefulness dedicated to nature, humans.   

Nowadays, machiarchy is not a commonplace anymore, except in regions where agriculture is still practiced and they need the decision of the women. However, during the eras, regardless of the social context, women continue to show their exceptional traits, they administer, take care of the family without complaining. At the present, matriarchy is still prevalent in ethnic groups with the Austronesian language family such as Jarai, Rhade, Raglai, Churu, etc. or the Austro-Asiatic language family, namely Munong people, Koho people. During the centuries, women are still people with extraordinarily attentiveness and gentleness, who resiliently overcome any hardship in life, they are the people with great gratefulness dedicated to nature, humans.    

Commenting on the modern family model, Professor Li Meijin, an expert in Criminal Psychology and Children Psychology stated that in a modern family, the role of the mom and the dad in the old family need changes. In order to achieve effective nurturing of the child, the mom needs the firmness for the kid to be independent. Contrarily, the dad needs to be gentle for the kid to feel safe. With a model family, the mom absolutely can be the breadwinner. Based on their shared characteristics, women are considerate, sensitive with nature, they steadfastly overcome any mental and physical challenges. A woman’s love can sometimes get through people. With such facets, the offspring will be mentally well-nurtured, growing up to inherit solemnity from the mother and tenderness from the father. The children themselves, when witnessing their parents building the family in harmony, get to passively learn many a lesson. The children can acknowledge what is a healthy development of a fulfilling family, the attainment of mental and physical needs, hence the happiness of a non-discriminatory family. Deep dive into the set of modernized society, matriarchy and patriarchy now only exists in minority groups and yet to approach new civilizations. Nonetheless, the traditional trait of matrilineal families still is worthy of praise as it pays homage to the roles of women in the family as much as championing their rights to live freely.   

ASSIMILATE CULTURAL LESSONS TO HARMONIZE FAMILY RELATIONS  

Based on the foregoing, the proper lessons that the Central Highlands' matriarchal customs have deeply ingrained in the awareness of each generation, we realize good-natured women and their dignified manner. In such cultural beliefs, women have specific effects on the transmission of Central Highlands ethnic culture to their children and the next generations. Central Highlands mothers, for example, teach their children the rich national cuisine or pass on traditional occupations to their offsprings. Another way for today's youthf to approach their country's past is through the transmission of each ethnic group's unique culture. Furthermore, matrilineal norms serve as the foundation for other customs to extend and evolve later, resulting in historical times of cultural shift.       

  
Finally, matriarchal customs always leave behind ethical values, guiding people towards an honest lifestyle. The existence of two cultural regimes is the interference between different cultures, from various regions and ethnicities. Those places help us learn from both cultures, thereby leading to the development of both the family and the modern cultural trend that promotes equality. The most crucial thing for a family is prosperity, peace, and lasting happiness. As a result, whoever holds power in the family should not be promoted, and couples, husband-wife couples, husband-husband couples, or anyone having a more stable career and income can all be economic pillars and solid support. The breadwinner of the family can be either the husband or the wife, as they pick up the hard labor to best ensure quality of life for their family. Family will always be the “oyster” to every member of it. A society with the majority of modern family stereotypes creates an equal environment, where generations of children get to learn rightfully about history and ancient traditions. That generations are nurtured to be sympathetic to the fates of women, they will not take for granted and further appreciate the women in their family. From that point onward, global issues will be gradually resolved, conflicts regarding gender inequality in the household will vanish. The intertwining of different customs with a shared goal of building happy families, at the end, is to design a society with a wealth of health, granting physical and mental needs for its people. Such society will not show any favoritism towards a generation or gender, because every individual is independent and able to live a life of their own with personal contentment, creating a developed community in the future. 

To brief it, matriarchy has imprinted the timeless image of Vietnamese women in human’s consciousness albeit many ups and downs in centuries. Perchance, these milestones are the precedence of literature works that honor women with deepest adoration? 

Author: Thuy Trang