The Muong people make up over 63% of the provincial population. Throughout their life and production process, the Muong people in Hoa Binh have created unique cultural values, including the Muong gong heritage. For Muong people, gongs are the soul and treasure. The sound of gongs has become an indispensable cultural activity in the spiritual life of the ethnic minority group.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung in Vinh Dong commune (Kim
Boi district) said since childhood, she has heard the sound of gongs during
holidays, Tet, and festivals in the Muong village.
On every holiday and New Year festival, the
sound of gongs seems to urge people far away from their homes, no matter where
they are, to return to reunite with their families and neighbours, she said.
According to Bui Thanh Binh, Director of the
Muong Culture Heritage Museum in Hoa Binh city, Muong gongs are a unique
cultural form that contains sacred and mystical elements in the folklore and
daily life of the Muong people.
Over thousands of years, the Muong gongs have
become an integral part of the cultural identity and unique heritage of the
Muong people. Therefore, the Muong gongs are regarded as treasures and the
spiritual essence of the Muong ethnic group.
Muong gongs have been present in all Muong
families, in their spiritual and daily life for thousands of years, Binh said,
adding that his family has collected more than 6,000 objects about the life of
the Muong people, including many Muong gongs. "I teach people in and outside Hoa Binh province
how to play Muong gongs and perform Muong folk music” he said.
It can be affirmed that the gong plays a very
important role in the Muong people's cultural heritage. It is a type of
cultural practice associated with the cultural, spiritual and religious life of
people from birth until death. The gong culture is considered the soul of the
Muong people, a sacred symbol of material and spiritual prosperity for each
family as well as the Muong ethnic community. The gong culture of the Muong
people in Hoa Binh has unique characteristics, imbued with distinctive values
of the national culture.
According to statistics in 1999, the number of
gongs in the province totaled only 3,830, a large decrease compared to the
previous period. By 2010, the local authorities counted 9,960 gongs in the
locality, owned by organisations and individuals in the community.
To preserve and promote the value of Muong
gongs, the province hosted the first Muong Gong Festival in 2011 and 2016 on
the occasion of the 125th and 130th anniversaries of the province’s
establishment. The performance of Muong gongs involved 1,400 artisans and
actors at the first festival was recognised by the Vietnam Record
Book Centre as the largest gong performance in Vietnam.
In 2016, the gongs of the Muong ethnic group
were honoured as national intangible cultural heritage. Through ups and downs,
they have been respectfully preserved and affirmed a special position in the
cultural life of people in the Hoa Binh.
In order to promote the value of Muong gongs and
introduce them to domestic and international friends, in recent years, the
provincial centre for culture and cinema has opened classes teaching people in
homestay areas to play the instrument.
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