(HBO) – Established in 2021, Mo Muong Thang Club in Cao Phong district has made great contributions to preserving and promoting the values of Mo Muong, a unique cultural heritage of the Muong ethnic minority group in Hoa Binh province.
Artisan Bui Ngoc Thuan, Head of the Mo Muong Thang Club, checks necessary equipment for a Mo performance.
Mo Muong is a job and also a performance practiced at funerals, religious festivals, and life cycle rituals by the Muong ethnic group. The art consists of Mo prayers and performances, by Mo practitioners, or Mo artisans. Through generations, Mo prayers have been passed down verbally in the community. When they are collected, translated, and published in books, however, they begin to exist separately from people.
These days, most Mo prayers are called Mo Muong. They are a collection of verses recited at traditional Muong funerals. Each Muong community has its own version of Mo, but they are all fairly similar. The existence of various versions of Mo has helped expand the heritage and spiritual life of the Muong people.
Mo Muong has a long life, spanning centuries, as it has always helped to nurture the characteristics and the souls of the Muong people. It is the essence of labour, production, cultural behaviour and the philosophy of the Muong people, reflecting their love of life and home villages.
Mo Muong has been practiced in the northern mountainous provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La, Phu Tho, and Ninh Binh, the north central province of Thanh Hoa, the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak and Hanoi. Each meeting of the Mo Muong Thang Club gathers many Mo lovers who exchange experience in Mo practices.
At the meetings, young and old Mo artisans shared their skills and experience in performing Mo. Artisan Bui Ngoc Thuan, head of the club, said that the club was formed in late 2021 with 25 members from nine communes in the district. The club has made positive contributions to preserving and promoting the cultural heritage.
After two years of operations, the Mo Muong Thanh Club has drawn 46 members, including 16 young Mo practitioners aging from 26-45. Bui Yen Minh, Vice Director of the Division of Culture and Information of Cao Phong, said that the district is designing a project to build a Mo Muong heritage space in combination with tourism development in Hop Phong commune.
Along with supporting the promotion of Mo Muong culture, Cao Phong has introduced the heritage to local children in schools, thus contributing to maintaining and developing the unique values of Mo Muong./.
As part of Project 6 under the national target program for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in 2024, Lạc Sơn District, Hoa Binh province focuses on diverse and practical activities to promote the project's goal: "Preserving and promoting the beautiful traditional cultural values of ethnic groups in conjunction with tourism development."
After 3 years of implementing Resolution No. 04-NQ/TU, dated October 11, 2021 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on preserving and promoting the cultural heritage values of Hoa Binh province's ethnic groups in the period of 2021 – 2025 with the orientation to 2030 (NQ04), it has mobilized the participation of the entire political system, the people from all walks of life and there have been positive changes. So far, out of the 10 targets of NQ04, 3 targets have been met and exceeded the plan set for 2025. Typically, 70% of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of ethnic groups in the province is on the list of the national ICH items and they have been protected and restored, exceeding 20% of the proposed Resolution.
Great National Unity Day has been recently celebrated in Duong hamlet, Vay Nua commune, Da Bac district, in an atmosphere of warmth and community spirit. The event highlighted national identity and strengthened the bond of solidarity among residents.
On November 28, the People's Committee of Cao Phong district organized the Cultural and Sports Festival of Cao Phong district's ethnic groups in 2024.
