Viet Nam News
HA GIANG — The Mong Culture Day, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Ha Giang’s People Committee, began yesterday in northern mountainous Ha Giang Province.
The event aims to promote the traditional culture of the Mong group, one of 54 different ethnic minorities in Viet Nam, with performances by artists from 13 different provinces.
“Preserving the culture of ethnic groups is an important task in the context of modernisation. The event is also a meaningful cultural activity and an opportunity to promote the indigenous culture of Mong people and for the Mong group to showcase their responsibility for traditional culture preservation,” said Nguyen Van Binh, Head of the Northwest Steering Committee.
“Mong people in Ha Giang maintain many unique traditional cultural values, making the province an attractive destination for researchers and international and domestic visitors,” said Nguyen Van Son, Chairman of the Ha Giang People’s Committee.
The culture day occurs on November 19 with various activities including traditional Mong costume and art performances and a space where traditional games, festivals and linen hand woven crafts will be exhibited.
Participating provinces will also prepare some traditional food and drink of Mong people like corn wine, men men (steamed minced corn) and thang co (a dish made from horse meat and its organs).
From yesterday, Mong people gathered at the event’s main location, Ha Giang square, to prepare for the event.
Hoang Van Sinh, a Mong native in Bac Kan province, was invited to perform at the event.
"Men in the family will make traditional corn wine and women will make traditional costumes at the event. This is a good opportunity to introduce and preserve our traditional food and culture," said Sinh, 70.
"Corn is a staple in our area. I learned to make corn wine from my father. Normally, we make wine for family use but if someone wants to buy it, we also sell at VND30,000 per litre," said Sinh.
Giang Thi Xay from Ha Giang brought her weaving machine to introduce linen weaving. “Most Mong women know to weave linen. We make clothes for the family and recently joined a co-operative to make clothes, bags and purses for sale,” said Xay.
Meanwhile, Sung Sau Chinh has a booth to exhibit and sell traditional instruments of Mong people which include flute, khen, traditional bamboo instrument and gay sinh tien, an instrument used in traditional festivals and funerals.
"These instruments were made by my father, who is among very few people carrying on the craft. It takes lots of time and patience so not many young people learn this," said Chinh.
This year’s event is the second of its kind.
Ha Giang, northernmost mountainous province of Viet Nam is home to 19 different ethnic groups. Among them, the Mong group accounts for nearly 33 per cent of Ha Giang’s population. — VNS