Muong people concludes about 800.000 inhabitants and account for 1.3% Vietnamese population. They ussually live at mountainous areas from Vinh Phu to west of Hoa Binh and on the midlands of Nghe An, Thanh Hoa. They belong to Viet-Muong linguistic group, but their culture is closer to Thai ethnic group. They live on growing rice, breeding, forging.
Tradition costume of the Muong people.
Language:
The Muong people speaks the Muong lanuage which is closed to Vietnamese.
Khua Luong:
This is a famous game played with wooden instrument by the Muong ethnic group.
The instruments of this game consist simply of mortars and pestles, all made of wood. Mortars and pestles are very familiar items of use in the life of the Muong community. They are used to husk rice before it is cooked, or to crush lean meat to make “gio”, “banh giay” and so on. Therefore, the sound of pestle and mortar is very familiar to the Muong women. Gradually, it came to be used as a musical instrument producing familiar sounds and rhythms.
Nowadays, there are many Khua Luon teams( including 6-8 girls) in Thuong Xuan and Thanh Hoa province.They can play up to 12 traditional concerts reflecting the landscape and the atmosphere of the Ban Muong (Muong villages)as well as the feelings of the people there. The most typical of the concerts are those depicting “a wedding party in the village”, a scene of ” Welcoming Guests”, of “Waiting for the Bride” and of the wedding ceremony itself. In the “Welcoming Guests” item, a merry atmosphere is created through the sounds of pestle and mortar as the people busy themselves with husking rice and making cake to entertain the guests. In the “Waiting for the Bride” concert, there reigns an atmosphere of impatient longing for the bride. In the “Wedding Party”, the stately sounds help people to get rid of the noisy crowd and enter a world of quiet felicity as the bride and groom gather under the cosy roof of their new house. Besides the four main concerts, there are some others such as “Welcoming New Rice”, the “Early Rains”, “Hymn to the Genie of Thunder”. It is hard to imagine the perfection of the sounds and music unless you attend one of the ceremonies where khua luong concerts are performed. The music leaves a deep impression on the audience and, at times, tugs at the heartstrings.