(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./.
As a land deeply intertwined with human history and Vietnam’s millennia-long journey of nation-building and defence, Hoa Binh is often revered for its epic tales and legends.
Residents of Hoa Binh boast a rich cultural identity, reflected in their unique language, traditional attire, customs, and folk melodies – described as "sweet as honey, clear as a mountain stream.”
Lac Son district’s Vu ban town held the 2025 Truong Kha temple festival on April 12–13 (the 15th–16th days of the third lunar month). Since its revival in 2019, the festival has been organised every three years, preserving valuable intangible heritage while meeting the community’s cultural and spiritual needs.
The clothing of women reflects the culture of the Muong, Thai, Tay, Dao, and Mong ethnic groups in the northern province of Hoa Binh.
Gongs hold a special place in the cultural and spiritual life of the Muong ethnic people in Hoa Binh province. More than musical instruments, they are an indispensable part of community rituals and collective memory, echoing through generations as a spiritual thread linking the past, present, and future.
Preserving and promoting the cultural values of the Muong ethnic group has become an urgent task in the current context, as many traditional values face the risk of fading away. This effort requires not only protecting the cultural identity but also eliminating outdated customs and developing a modern cultural lifestyle, contributing to sustainable values for the Muong community in Hoa Binh province.
The Muong ethnic culture, deeply rooted in Vietnam’s mountainous north, continues to be preserved and revitalised by dedicated individuals and communities determined to safeguard their ancestral identity.
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