The person "holding soul" of Muong ethnic gongs in the street

5/9/2018 - 9:54:08 AM

(HBO) - For many generations, gong has become an indispensable part of the spiritual life of the Muong ethnic group. Being one of the few people living in Hoa Binh City, who owns the Muong ethnic gongs, Mr. Dinh Van Nien (Moi Mit village - Yen Mong commune) always respects and preserves the precious gong set of his family.

The Muong ethnic gong set - the pride of Mr. Dinh Van Nien is always being placed in the most prominent position and most visible in the house.

Although being passionate about gongs since he was very small but in 1994, when he became a cultural officer of Yen Mong commune, Mr. Nien was able to collect and buy Muong ethnic gongs. On his working days in the commune, he began to save a part of his salary to buy gongs. Having done continuously in 15 years, in 2009, his gong set was full of 12 pieces.

Previously, he loved to play and watch playing gongs. He did not have one at his home, so he had to borrow from the women in the village. Every time there is a need, he had to go around the village to borrow a few gongs for playing. Borrowing for a long time made him so embarrassed; he bravely bought the gongs for his own. At that time, his commune staff salary was only about 500,000 VND / month. He had to feed the family, support for the children’s study,he had to save every change to have enough money to buy each gong. Most of these gongs were bought from Thanh Hoa, Ha Nam and some other places. A set of gongs can have 7 or 9 pieces but the standard set of Muong ethnic group must be 12 pieces resembling for 12 months of the year. Each gong carries a different sound. Despite difficulties, he still tried to buy a set of 12 pieces because "12 months to make a new year, 12 different sounds to create a piece of Muong ethnic music."

Since his family had gongs, at festivals or cultural exchanges events, he has lent them to the women in the local. Mr. Nien said: "In 2015, Yen Mong commune received the title of the new rural standardized commune. His gong set, together with gongs from other households were up to 50 gongs, were performed by the art team at the ceremony. Especially, on the occasion of the 55th Anniversary of Uncle Ho's visit to the Hoa Binh Youth Vocational School, the gong team of the commune was honored to contribute special performance, contributing to the opening ceremony of the Relics Area more exciting and deep of ethnic culture. The gong has been displayed in his house for many years and he considers it as a member of the family, an integral part of his life."

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