Throwing a ball between girls and boys is a Hmong game in order to find a partner.
Throwing the ball in Laos
Sunday, October 7, 2007
THROW the ball and catch a husband. If you see a boy you like, toss the ball to him and hope he returns it. But if you don't like your prospective partner, then drop the ball he throws you.
This is pov pob, the Hmong ball tossing game. The Hmong are a minority ethnic group in Laos who have maintained their own language and customs. One of these customs is the way in which they find a marriage partner.
The ball tossing game is a common activity for adolescents. Boys and girls form two separate lines in pairs that are directly facing one another. The players throw a soft black ball back and forth to each other. The ball is thrown so that the other player can catch it with one hand. If the throw is good and the other player drops or misses the ball, an ornament or a piece of silver or a belt from his or her costume is given to the opposite player in the pair. Ornaments are recovered by singing traditional courting songs to the opposite player.
Girls can ball toss with other girls or boys, but boys cannot ball toss with other boys. It is also taboo to ball toss with someone of the same clan, as Hmong may not marry within the same clan group.
In this way the youngsters get to know each other, forming relationships that may lead to marriage. If the boy throws the ball and the girl makes no attempt to catch it then he is rejected. Traditionally the ball was made of cotton, but today the tennis balls are used.
Every unmarried girl tries to make a new dress especially for the ball game. During their spare moments from working at home or in the fields, the girls embroider special designs on their costumes. The boys, too, wear their best new clothes.
Each player wears at least one silver collar. Today, however, a lot have compromised and wear unbecoming trainers or clumpy modern platform shoes. Some of the boys don't even bother to dress up.
It seemed a pity to me that the girls had made a big effort to dress up for the occasion whereas a few of the boys were in their everyday clothes.
I had to laugh at the number of hand phones I saw. Many of the boys and girls were catching the ball with one hand, and had a cellphone clutched in the other. In years to come they will probably give up throwing the ball and just send SMS notes instead.
Traditional Hmong society is very ordered and a marriage partner must be found from another clan. The ball throwing game takes place during the Hmong New Year celebration, as they have been working all year round and have not had time for courtship.
The New Year is celebrated in all Hmong communities around the country. It is held at the end of the 12th Lao lunar calendar month and the beginning of the first lunar calendar month, which is the time of the full moon in November.
This is the end of the rice harvest and the festival lasts anything from three to 45 days. However, not all communities celebrate the New Year at the same time as it may not coincide with the end of the harvesting of the rice. It is preferable that the New Year festival coincides with those celebrated by other nearby villages so that the unmarried men of the village can meet prospective wives in other communities.
Young people usually get married after the New Year, between the first and the 15th of the month; Hmong tend not to get married during the year after the month of June. Hmong believe that it's a good time for marriage, because everything starts as new, especially with a new moon an occurrence the Hmong live their lives by.
There is an interesting story telling the origin of this ball throwing game.
A long time ago before the Hmong migrated to Laos, they lived in China. There were specific times set aside for courting. It was the guy's duty to court a girl and the actual activity of pov pob occurred when some love-stricken guy devised a plan in which he would be able to send some symbols of love to his girlfriend.
He would hide some charm or personal item wrapped up in a bun and throw it to his chosen girl. Then she proceeded to do the same. Back and forth they threw these items. If they were separated by a high wall, to indicate that he was present, he would sing some lyrics in which she would have to answer with similar lyrics.
Over the years the buns turned into balls made from strips of fabric and were tossed at New Year to show affection or interest. The beautiful lyrics also escorted the activity.
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This is pov pob, the Hmong ball tossing game. The Hmong are a minority ethnic group in Laos who have maintained their own language and customs. One of these customs is the way in which they find a marriage partner.
The ball tossing game is a common activity for adolescents. Boys and girls form two separate lines in pairs that are directly facing one another. The players throw a soft black ball back and forth to each other. The ball is thrown so that the other player can catch it with one hand. If the throw is good and the other player drops or misses the ball, an ornament or a piece of silver or a belt from his or her costume is given to the opposite player in the pair. Ornaments are recovered by singing traditional courting songs to the opposite player.
Girls can ball toss with other girls or boys, but boys cannot ball toss with other boys. It is also taboo to ball toss with someone of the same clan, as Hmong may not marry within the same clan group.
In this way the youngsters get to know each other, forming relationships that may lead to marriage. If the boy throws the ball and the girl makes no attempt to catch it then he is rejected. Traditionally the ball was made of cotton, but today the tennis balls are used.
Every unmarried girl tries to make a new dress especially for the ball game. During their spare moments from working at home or in the fields, the girls embroider special designs on their costumes. The boys, too, wear their best new clothes.
Each player wears at least one silver collar. Today, however, a lot have compromised and wear unbecoming trainers or clumpy modern platform shoes. Some of the boys don't even bother to dress up.
It seemed a pity to me that the girls had made a big effort to dress up for the occasion whereas a few of the boys were in their everyday clothes.
I had to laugh at the number of hand phones I saw. Many of the boys and girls were catching the ball with one hand, and had a cellphone clutched in the other. In years to come they will probably give up throwing the ball and just send SMS notes instead.
Traditional Hmong society is very ordered and a marriage partner must be found from another clan. The ball throwing game takes place during the Hmong New Year celebration, as they have been working all year round and have not had time for courtship.
The New Year is celebrated in all Hmong communities around the country. It is held at the end of the 12th Lao lunar calendar month and the beginning of the first lunar calendar month, which is the time of the full moon in November.
This is the end of the rice harvest and the festival lasts anything from three to 45 days. However, not all communities celebrate the New Year at the same time as it may not coincide with the end of the harvesting of the rice. It is preferable that the New Year festival coincides with those celebrated by other nearby villages so that the unmarried men of the village can meet prospective wives in other communities.
Young people usually get married after the New Year, between the first and the 15th of the month; Hmong tend not to get married during the year after the month of June. Hmong believe that it's a good time for marriage, because everything starts as new, especially with a new moon an occurrence the Hmong live their lives by.
There is an interesting story telling the origin of this ball throwing game.
A long time ago before the Hmong migrated to Laos, they lived in China. There were specific times set aside for courting. It was the guy's duty to court a girl and the actual activity of pov pob occurred when some love-stricken guy devised a plan in which he would be able to send some symbols of love to his girlfriend.
He would hide some charm or personal item wrapped up in a bun and throw it to his chosen girl. Then she proceeded to do the same. Back and forth they threw these items. If they were separated by a high wall, to indicate that he was present, he would sing some lyrics in which she would have to answer with similar lyrics.
Over the years the buns turned into balls made from strips of fabric and were tossed at New Year to show affection or interest. The beautiful lyrics also escorted the activity.
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