As the Muong ethnic people make up more than 63% of Hoa Binh province’s population, joint efforts have been made to preserve the Muong language. The Muong community in the province now use both Vietnamese and their mother tongue daily with the latter preferred in communication in family life.
Students at a Muong language class.
In 2016, Hoa Binh province developed and officially put into use the Muong ethnic script which helps Muong ethnic children learn and use the Muong language – a way to preserve and promote national cultural identity.
According to folk culture researcher Bui Huy Vong, from Huong Nhuong commune, Lac Son district, the Muong ethnic script plays an important role in preserving the intangible cultural heritage of Mo Muong accurately, completely and scientifically.
Mo Muong is a job and also a performance practised 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.
Vong said that the script of Mo Muong can be used and translated into other languages to facilitate the establishment of scientific documents about Mo Muong. Moreover, with the scrips, the Muong language can live forever with other Muong cultural values. Seeing the fact that a group of the young generation of Muong people or local State employees doing mass mobilisation work cannot speak the Muong language, the provincial People’s Committee in 2019 approved a project on Muong language teaching and learning in the 2018-2025 period with a vision to 2035.
In 2023, Hoa Binh Pedagogical College opened Muong language classes for local officials, civil servants and public employees.
Do An, a student of a Muong language class, said that he now can speak Muong language which is useful for his work. Moreover, it helps him understand more about the customs and culture of the Muong ethnic group.
According to the 2024 - 2025 plan, the province’s Department of Education and Training will open other classes for 2,500 local officials, civil servants and public employees plus 2,500 teachers of schools across the province.
In addition, the province also pays attention to popularising and mobilising the community to preserve the Muong language, particularly through folk songs.
The Government Office with Document No. 2082/VPCP-KGVX, dated March 29, 2024, sent out the opinion of Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha regarding the submission of the "Mo Muong" and "Cheo art" dossiers to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In the evening of March 28th, in Hoa Binh, the Department of Grassroots Culture (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) coordinated with the provincial Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the city to organize a mobile propaganda contest to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7th, 1954 - May 7th, 2024) with the theme "Returning to Dien Bien”. There ứa the attendance of Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; the representatives of the leaders from a number of departments, branches and numerous veterans and Hoa Binh people.
In responding to the movement of "All people stay united to build cultural lifestyle”, over the years, Kim Boi district has conducted many practical and effective activities to promote solidarity and mutual support among the local community in sustainable poverty reduction and building cultural lifestyle and a healthy cultural environment, and maintaining national cultural identity.
Hoa Binh Pedagogical College has just held the closing ceremony of the training class and issued the certificate of the language of Muong ethnic people to the oficials, civil servants and public employees of courses I and II in 2023.
Hoa Binh is an ancient land home to limestone mountains running along the southeast direction and in parallel with Truong Son Mountain Range in the West, forming many basins and valleys with a rich diversity of fauna and flora. Humans came to reside here in the pre-historic period, creating the world-famous Hoa Binh Civilisation.
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