Table manners

When Bukong people are at a meal table, they give the best to the old. When a family slaughters a pig or a chicken, or hunts an animal, they would invite old people in the village to eat together. If it is during the New Year time, the old person shall drink a sip of wine and take a little from the dishes first, then the other people can start to eat. When they are eating, a daughter in law doesn’t eat together at the table, and can’t sit together with her father in law on the same bench. Younger people can’t sit cross-legged in front of the old people, can’t spit saliva nor talk loudly. The chicken head, heart, liver, stomach or wings served on the table must be given to the old people to eat. Bukong people are very hospitable. When a guest comes in, they would serve the guest with wine, cigarettes and tea. When a guest comes, they would serve him/her with their best food that they themselves even didn’t eat. If they kill a chicken for the guest, the chicken head and wings will be given to the guest to show their hospitality towards the guest. Therefore, there’s a saying: “No guest, no good food.” These are some of the traditions that Bukong people have passed down from the past.