(HBO) – The house-cooling ritual of Muong ethnic people in Hoa Binh province was re-enacted at the Vietnamese Ethnic Culture Village in Dong Mo Commune, Son Tay Town, Hanoi on November 21 in response to the 2021 "Great unity of nations - Vietnamese Cultural Heritage" Week.
The
shaman invites the tutelary God of the village to attend the house cooling
ceremony.
The house-cooling ritual is one of the traditional rituals of the Muong people
which aims to pray for favourable weather conditions, bumper crops and good
health for everyone. After preparing the offerings, the shaman invites Thanh
Hoang (Tutelary God ) and other saints to attend the house-cooling ceremony to
bless.
The house cooling ceremony is one of the traditional rituals of the Muong
people, in order to pray for favourable rain, good wind, good crops, and good
health for everyone. In the space of the Muong house, after preparing the
offerings of offerings, the magician reads vows to invite the Holy Scriptures,
Thanh Hoang and his superiors to attend the house-warming ceremony to pray for
health, luck and a good crop.
The shaman made a ceremony to sprinkle water to cool the offerings and tell the
story of the Muong people. He offered offerings and wine to the ancestors and
said goodbye to the holy saints. Then, the shaman would sprinkle water, chant
mantras to cool the furniture in the house.
At the end of the ritual, the shaman would ask for
names, then cast a spell and tied a red thread around the wrists of
participants. This was a form of praying for luck, health, and harmonious life.
After the ritual part ends, the Muong people invite the shaman, ethnic minority
groups living in the village and tourists to drink wine together. By doing so,
they finished a meaningful and equally solemn rendition of the Muong ethnic
identity.
The "Great Unity of Ethnic Groups - Vietnam's Cultural Heritage" week
in 2021 will take place from November 18 to 23, with many interesting and
meaningful programs and events, contributing to promoting the cultural identity
of the community of 54 ethnic groups in implementing the movement "All
people unite to build a cultural life", protect and promote the values of
community cultural heritage and build an advanced Vietnamese culture imbued
ethnic identities./.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.