(HBO) - The Muong ethnic group in the northern province of Hoa Binh has over 40 major festivals yearly, and gongs are used in up to 90% of the festivals. For the Muong people in Hoa Binh, gongs are not only a kind of traditional musical instrument, but also a "sacred treasure", a spiritual story told by 12 national tones and an intangible cultural heritage with a strong vitality as they are preserved by the community.

500 Muong ethnic artisans and women perform the gong in the Muong Ethnic Group Festival in 2023.

Muong Vang people in Lac Son district in particular and the Muong people in Hoa Binh in general consider gongs as sacred objects, not merely musical instruments. The sound of gongs is the soul of their culture, echoing the three levels of the heavens, reaching the after-death world. The sound of gongs is spiritually calling the Muong people’s ancestors. The Muong people have absorbed that sound from the womb. When they die, the sound of gongs tells them the way. Muong people believe that each gong has a spirit and a soul, so it is a "sacred treasure" with profound spiritual values. 
 
In the house of artisan Bui Ngoc Thuan, of Bung 1 hamlet, Thu Phong commune, Cao Phong district, a set of Muong gongs is put in the most precious place. Thuan usually uses his gongs to teach the next generations. He said that everyone born as a Muong must know how to play Muong gongs.

At present, every commune in Cao Phong district has a Muong gong performance team. The teams practice traditional gongs so that they can perform at celebrations, traditional festivals, and cultural exchanges. Old people teach young people, parents teach their children, and senior teach beginners. In that way, the old generation passes it on to the younger ones, and the gongs are kept in the community.

Cao Phong district boasts about 3,000 gongs. Hop Phong and Dung Phong are the two communes with the largest number of gongs. 

Meanwhile, Hoa Binh province still keeps more than 11,000 gongs, mostly in the four districts of Lac Son, Tan Lac, Kim Boi, and Cao Phong, and Hoa Binh city. To preserve a top typical cultural treasure of the Muong people in Hoa Binh, the teaching of Muong gongs has been given much care. The province’s Department of Education and Training has actively cooperated with the localities to have gongs lessons at schools.

The Women's Unions and Youth Unions at the grassroots level also hold classes to teach Muong gongs. Every year, the province opens dozens of gong classes for hamlets/communes musical groups. 
 
Up to now, hundreds of clubs have been established across the province to preserve and promote the values of Muong gongs. Muong gong performances have by now become an indispensable part of festivals and celebrations in the province./.

 

 

 


Related Topics


The traditional festival of Thuong Bong Lai Temple

From March 10th – 11th, the People's Committee of Cao Phong town (Cao Phong) coordinated with the Relics Management Board to organize the traditional festival of Thuong Bong Lai Temple in 2024.

Unique Tien Pagoda festival in Lac Thuy

As spring comes, people in Phu Nghia commune in particular and Lac Thuy district in general flock to Tien Pagoda festival to enjoy festive activities during the annual event.

The Special Khai Ha fesstival of Muong ethnic minority in Hoa Binh province

Khai Ha festival is a long-standing traditional folk festival with the largest scale of Muong people in Hoa Binh province. In 2022, Khai Ha fesstival the Muong minority in Hoa Binh province was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. In 2023 and 2024, the festival was held on the provincial scale, getting together 4 major Muong regions (Bi, Vang, Thang, Dong) to participate, and it has been an opportunity for the quintessence of Muong ethnic culture to converge and shine.

Excellent artisan spreads love for national cultural heritage values

With a great passion for national art, outstanding artisan Nguyen Manh Tuan in Voi area, Ba Hang Doi town in Lac Thuy district, has developed and promoted a Muong ethnic cultural space with over 2,000 artifacts which are familiar in the daily life in the Muong ethnic people.

Tan Lac district preserves Muong ethnic group’s cultural identities

Along with the process of integration and development, traditional cultural identities of the Muong ethnic community in general, and Muong ethnic people in Tan Lac district in particular, are at risk of falling into oblivion. Therefore, many clubs have been established in the locality to preserve and promote the beauty of the ethnic group’s cultural identities.

Swing festival – unique cultural tradition of Muong people in Lac Son

Held every three years, the swing festival in Muong Voi, Vu Ban town in Lac Son district is "one-of-a-kind". From the 5th to the 7th day of the first lunar month in the Year of the Dragon, thousands of residents and tourists flocked to the locality to experience the unique cultural festival.