Through generations, Mo prayers have been passed
down orally in the community. Only when they are collected, translated and
published in the form of books do they exist separately from people.
Most of Mo prayers nowadays are called Mo Muong.
They are the collections of verses recited in traditional funeral rituals of
Muong people. They are divided into "cat Mo” or "roong Mo”, similar to chapters
in literature. Each Mo chapter has its own theme and purposes for each item in
a funeral ritual. The chapters may tell folk epics, customs or knowledge.
Each Muong community has its own Mo version but
overall, they are basically similar to one another. The existence of various Mo
versions has helped expand the heritage’s coverage in the spiritual life of
Muong ethnics.
A number of Mo versions have been collected in
Hoa Binh province, and three of them have very big content and been published.
Collector Bui Thien said it takes up to 23 consecutive days to fully perform Mo
with 115 "roong Mo” and more than 44,000 lines of verse.
The study publicised in three volumes of Bui Noi
features over 22,000 lines of Mo verse. Another book published in 2010 by the
Hoa Binh provincial People’s Committee introduced more than 22,500 lines.
In 1997, the National Culture Publishing House
re-printed the book "Mo (Su thi va Than thoai) Dan toc Muong” (Mo (Epics and
Myths) of the Muong ethnic group), compiled under the chair of Vuong Anh. The
Muong language section of this book has 22,989 lines of Mo verse which are the
typical Mo version of Muong ethnics in Thanh Hoa province.
In 2011, the Folk Literature and Arts
Association of Vietnam and the Labour Publishing House published the book "Mo
tha kha lenh ploi”, collected and translated by Dinh Van An and Dinh Xuan Hanh.
The Muong language section of this book includes 10,193 lines of Mo verse of
Muong people in Son La province.
Mo Muong is classified into "Mo nghi le” (or
ritual Mo), "Mo Tliew” (or story-telling Mo) and "Mo Nhom” (in the Viet-Muong
language group, "nhom” means watch or visit).
Ritual Mo is performed at religious rituals.
"Mo Tliew” is in fact a story-telling ritual.
This is a very special Mo genre that tells epics such as "De Dat De Nuoc” (Bearing
Earth, Bearing Water), "San Muong khong lo” (Hunting the giant Muong), "Con chu
keo loi” (Chopping down the chu tree), "De gao” (Bearing rice), and "Lam nha
san” (Building stilt houses). These are folk epics the Muong ethnic group
created a long time ago. They reflects the daily life, including working
activities and the fight against wild animals and the nature, of people in the prehistoric
time when humans moved their residence from caves to valleys and plain areas
and began cultivating water rice and splitting social classes.
Meanwhile, Mo Nhom guides listeners through
history and geographical areas by describing the landscape and specialties in
certain Muong communities. Some examples of this type are Mo Nhom Muong Bi, Nhom
Khu Dol and Nhom Muong Thang.
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