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Making their way into Northern Vietnam from China by following the Red River, the Red Tai finally settled in the region that is now known as Thanh Hoa Province, south of Sam Nuea.

The Tai had emigrated south from China due to unending pressure by the Chinese. In 1884, the French colonized Vietnam, and in 1948, organized an independent Tai Federation. Unfortunately, Communist rebels emerged, leading to the demise of the federation. North Vietnam became a Communist Republic in 1954. After a prolonged civil war, Communism was pushed into South Vietnam by 1975.

The Red Tai are closely related to the White and Black Tai, who were named for the color of their women's traditional clothing. Their tonal language, Tai Daeng, belongs to a larger ethno-linguistic grouping of people known as the Tai, which also include the Laotians, the Shan, and some other groups.

What Are Their Lives Like?
The Red Tai are unusually polite, respectful, and hospitable people. Beginning at a very young age, their children are taught proper social behavior. This code of conduct is based on having respect for those who rank higher. Additional emphasis is placed on becoming independent and self-reliant.

Red Tai society is very structured; it is organized on the basis of age, occupation, and wealth. For example, rural farmers are ranked below craftsmen, merchants, and city government officials. The priests form their own separate class.

The basic unit of Red Tai society is the family and is basically patriarchal, or maile dominated. The immediate family usually live together, and there is mutual respect for one another at all levels. They live, eat, and farm together with the women working alongside their husbands. Newly married couples often live with the girl's family until they are able to establish their own separate home.

Wet rice farming dominates the Red Tai economy. Rice is grown both as a dietary staple and for cash sales. The Red Tai are noted for sharing the work equally. Both men and women plow, fish, cook, tend to the children, clean the house, and wash the clothes.

When Vietnam made the transition to socialism, all levels of Tai society were affected. Groups of independent farmers were organized into "community farms" that share equally in production. In addition, small-scale industrialization led to the entry of Tai peasant farmers into the Vietnamese working class. Socialism also brought in more medical schools and better hospitals. This has helped to stop the spread of small pox, cholera, tuberculosis, and malaria, which were rampant in times past.

What are their beliefs?
Ninety-five percent of the Red Tai practice animism (belief that spirits are located in objects). The people often seek help through supernatural spirits and objects. They also believe in multiple personal souls. Rituals for strengthening the individual personality within are often performed.

Ancestor worship (praying to deceased ancestors for help and guidance) is also a common practice among the Red Tai. "Guardian spirits" and "locality spirits" are revered. If the people wish to avoid being cursed and receive blessing, the spirits must be appeased.

Some of the Red Tai have mingled Buddhist teachings-particularly Theravada Buddhism-with their pagan beliefs.

What are their needs?
There are very few Christian resources available in the Tai Daeng language. Perhaps the most pressing need is for the Bible to be translated into this dialect. There is also a need for more laborers to go to Vietnam and minister hope and healing to these war-torn people.

Prayer Points
Take authority over the spiritual principalities and powers that are keeping the Red Tai bound.
Ask God to raise up prayer teams who will begin breaking up the soil through worship and intercession.
Ask God to give the Red Tai believers boldness to share Christ with their own people.
Pray that God will raise up qualified linguists to translate the Bible into Tai Daeng.
Ask the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of the Red Tai toward Christians so that they will be receptive to the Gospel.
Pray that God will open the hearts of Vietnam's governmental leaders to the Gospel.
Pray that God will call teams of medical missionaries to Vietnam to live and work among the Red Tai.
Ask the Lord to raise up strong local churches among the Red Tai.

Additional Information:

Most of the White Tai (who are named for the color of their women's clothing) live in northern Vietnam along the banks of the Red and Black Rivers. A few have settled in the Tung Nghia region of southern Vietnam. The White Tai speak a tonal language, Tai Don. They are members of a larger cultural linguistic group of Tai peoples, which includes the Shan, the Laotians, and others.

Although the White Tai are part of the Thai official nationality in Vietnam, they are not native to the land. Originally from China, they emigrated south to Vietnam because of unceasing pressure by the Chinese. However, settling in Vietnam did not bring them peace. By 1895, the French ruled Vietnam in an Indo-Chinese Union. After World War II, France and Japan governed the country jointly until Japan disarmed the French. Communist rebels emerged and military regimes formed, leading to severe blood-shed until the Communist Republic of North Vietnam spread to the South in 1975.

What Are Their Lives Like?
The White Tai are extremely polite, respectful, and hospitable. Children are brought up to respect those of a higher rank, and to be independent and self-reliant. Type of occupation, wealth, and place and type of residence follow age in terms of respect and rank. Rural farmers rank below craftsmen, merchants, and city government officials. Clergy are a separate group.

Families are the core of White Tai society. In rural villages, the entire immediate family often lives together. Although the father is considered the head of the family, White Tai husbands and wives appear to have peaceful relationships. In fact, the White Tai are distinguished by an almost equal division of labor by sex. Both men and women plow, till, fish, cook, care for the children, clean house, and wash clothes.

Wet-rice, the main agricultural crop, is grown for consumption as well as for cash sales. The White Tai are also excellent cloth weavers. Their spacious, artistically designed houses (which are built on stilts) have rectangular roofs, which distinguish them from the Black Tai's tortoise-shaped roofs.

Tai culture has changed dramatically as a result of the transition from a feudal to a socialist society. Farmers now belong to agricultural cooperatives, and small-scale industrialization has helped turn Tai agricultural peasants into a Vietnamese working class. New social structures have also brought improved education and health care. Some medical schools and some hospitals have been built. These have helped gain control over diseases such as small pox, cholera, tuberculosis, and malaria.

What are their beliefs?
Over half of the White Tai combine folk animism (belief that non-living objects have spirits) with Buddhism. They worship various spirits and objects, and also believe that people have "multiple personal souls." They hold ceremonies for "recalling" the souls because they believe that this will strengthen the individual personality. The White Tai believe in spirits of the dead, the natural world, the political world, various localities, etc.

Nearly 40% of the White Tai are Buddhists. They are followers of Buddha ("the enlightened one") and seek to eliminate suffering and improve their future by gaining merit in pursuit of perfect peace, or nirvana. They believe that merit can be acquired through feeding monks, donating to temples, and attending worship services. Traditionally, young men enter village monasteries for about three months to study Buddhism.

What are their needs?
Currently, there is only one missions agency working among the White Tai of Vietnam. Unfortunately, only 5% of White Tai profess to be Christians. Only part of the scriptures have been translated into Tai Don. Although the Jesus film is not yet available in Tai Don at this time, some Christian broadcasts are being aired in their area.

The White Tai have been deeply scarred by all of the fighting and bloodshed in the past. They desperately need healing and new spiritual hope.

Prayer Points
Ask the Lord to send additional laborers into Vietnam to work among the White Tai.
Pray that God will raise up prayer teams who will begin breaking up the spiritual soil of Vietnam through intercession.
Ask God to grant wisdom and favor to missions agencies targeting the White Tai of Vietnam.
Pray that God will speed the completion of the Jesus film and other evangelistic materials into the Tai Don language.
Ask God to strengthen, encourage, and protect the small number of White Tai Christians.
Pray that God will raise up qualified linguists to complete the translation of the Bible into Tai Don.
Ask the Lord to raise up strong local churches among the White Tai.

Additional Information:

Lying along the China Sea in southeast Asia, Vietnam is home to about 120 distinct people groups. However, about 90% of the population is ethnic Vietnamese. Historical upheavals forced the major people groups to intermingle with others, separate, and eventually live in scattered localities. Their cultures, languages, and lifestyles were all affected, resulting in a somewhat "blurred" national character.

At the end of the 1700's when Vietnam was in chaos, several ethnic groups united with the native groups of Thai speaking peoples. These people became known as the Tho. Today, they are regarded as an official minority in Vietnam. The Tho prefer to be known as "Tay," since the term "Tho" is now considered derogatory.

Since the 1945 revolution and the reunification of North and South Vietnam, many changes have taken place. Various agencies are currently working to improve their standard of living.

What Are Their Lives Like?
The Tho are mostly peasants who live in the low, sloping mountains between the high mountains and the plains of southeast Asia. They grow wet rice and use "slash and burn" techniques to grow dry rice, maize, buckwheat, watercress, sugar cane, and other vegetables. They grow hemp and use it for making bags and nets for fishing. They sell or exchange products for household items and use forest products for food.

Traditionally, the Tho were master hunters. They used traps, cages, and automatically triggered arrows. Today, they hunt very little because of the changed ecological conditions.

The Tho mainly live in houses built on the ground. These houses are private property, as are their accompanying gardens. However, there are still some Tho who live in houses built on stilts. The architecture of these homes is simple, without the fancy gables and decorative work commonly seen on other houses. Today, nearly all the Tho are part of a "collectivized agricultural program" in the form of community (collective) farms. Farm land is seen as community property that people are free to use, but not own.

Villages used to be the center of economic activity, with local markets rotating among a series of villages and trading mainly with the Vietnamese and Chinese communities. Today, however, the Tho have been primarily assimilated into the Vietnamese society.

Tho families are usually small and the line of descent is traced through the father. Children begin school at six years of age and older. There, they begin studying the Vietnamese language. Young people choose their own marriage partners, and after a betrothal ceremony, many marriage rituals are performed. The groom is expected to perform some work for the bride's family as payment.

What are their beliefs?
The Tho worship a multitude of gods. Ancestor worship (praying to deceased ancestors for protection and guidance) is commonly practiced. The Tho are also animistic (believe that non-living objects have spirits).

Traditionally, most Tho villages had temples where they worshipped a multitude of gods associated with earth, water, fire, and important ancestors. Many other spirits and ghosts were also worshipped. The major ceremony of the year was held at the beginning of the farming season, when the various deities were asked permission to prepare the farm and plant the seeds. Folk literature and art were also of importance in religious life.

What are their needs?
Over 44 years of war played havoc with the Vietnamese economy, making recovery particularly slow. Moreover, Vietnam remains one of the few Communist nations of the world.

Less than 1% of the Tho in Vietnam are Christian. Currently, there are only portions of the Bible available in Tho. Prayer is the first step toward seeing these people reached with the Gospel.

Prayer Points
Ask the Lord to call people who are willing to go to Vietnam and share Christ with the Tho.
Ask God to strengthen, encourage, and protect the small number of Tho Christians.
Pray that God will reveal Himself to the Tho through dreams and visions.
Ask the Holy Spirit to soften the hearts of the Tho toward Christians so that they will be receptive to the Gospel.
Pray that God will open the hearts of Vietnam's governmental leaders to the Gospel.
Take authority over the spiritual principalities and powers that are keeping the Tho bound.
Ask God to raise up prayer teams who will begin breaking up the soil through worship and intercession.
Ask the Lord to raise up strong local churches among the Tho.

Last Updated: 31 Jan 2010