(HBO) – Apart from coordinating with other localities in compiling a dossier on ‘Mo Muong’ to seek UNESCO recognition as a cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding, Hoa Binh province has been focusing on promoting, collecting, documenting and preserving the unique values of Mo Muong cultural heritage.
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.
Mo Muong artisan Bui Van Lung performs the ritual during the Khai Ha (Summer Opening) Festival of the Muong ethnic minority group in Hoa Binh in 2023.
According to Vice Director of the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Luu Huy Linh, the locality has mobilised great resources for preserving and upholding the values of the Mo Muong cultural heritage.
The locality has cooperated with provinces and cities where the heritage is practiced to collect and study the relevant values as a basis for the compilation, he stated.
News, articles and reports on valuable rituals and practices related to the Mo Muong cultural heritage have been produced, contributing to widely popularising and promoting the heritage in the community.
The practice has been introduced in cultural, sports and tourism events in the locality and nationwide.
Communication campaigns have been also launched to raise public awareness of the values, role, and significance of the heritage, Linh said.
More and more Mo Muong clubs have been established in Lac Son, Tan Lac, Cao Phong, Kim Boi and Yen Thuy districts, attracting about 200 artisans and locals. The clubs have contributed to preserving, developing, and popularising the heritage.
The locality has also paid attention to honouring organisations and individuals that have made great contributions to preserving the unique values of Mo Muong./.
Phong Phu commune, Tan Lac district of Hoa Binh province, is widely regarded as the cultural heartland of the Muong ethnic group. Among its many traditional communities, Luy Ai hamlet (formerly Ai hamlet) stands out as a rare location where the customs and way of life of the Muong Bi people remain largely intact.
The Truong Kha temple festival, a distinctive cultural event held every three years in Vu Ban township, Lac Son district, returned recently with vibrant rituals and folk traditions of the Muong people. Located next to the Buoi River in the Muong Trao fields, the Truong Kha Temple is dedicated to the three Kun Dol deities, revered for teaching farming techniques, irrigation, weaving, and protecting the harvest.
The demand for spaces serving community activities of residents in various areas across Hoa Binh city has been satisfied as local cultural houses now feature modern, spacious facilities thanks to the effective implementation of Resolution No. 49/NQ-HDND issued on December 28, 2021 by the city People's Council, which approved the plan for reorganising, converting, and allocating land for the construction, repair, and expansion of cultural houses in Hoa Binh’s villages and residential areas until 2025.
At the end of May, the Hoa Binh Provincial Ethnic Arts Troupe organized a series of performances for residents in Region 2 and Region 3 communes across the province. Bringing art to ethnic communities in remote, isolated, and especially disadvantaged areas has become a meaningful activity. These are not merely artistic performances but also journeys to disseminate cultural values, enrich spiritual life, and contribute to preserving the cultural identity of ethnic minorities.
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