Lables: Ethnic Groups, Muong ethnic group, Viet-Muong Group
Proper names: Moi (or Mon, Moan, Mual).
Local groups: Ao Ta (Au Ta), Moi Bi.
Population: 914,596 people (1999 census).
Language: The Muong language belongs to the Viet-Muong language group (Austroasiatic language family).
History: The Muong share the same origin with the Viet people who are long time inhabitants of Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Phu Tho provinces.
Production activities: The Muong's most important work is planting rice on wet fields. Thus, rice is the main agricultural crop. The main farming tools are a plough, and a small harrow with/ wooden or bamboo tines. When the rice is ripe, the Muong harvest it, put it into bunches, carry it home, dry it, and hang it on shelves. Before using the rice, they put it on a wooden rack and use their feet to remove the grains, then pound the rice. Due to wet field cultivation, the Muong are very experience in making small irrigation systems. In addition to cultivating on inundated fields, the Muong also farm on terraces, raise cattle, hunt, fish, gather fruit, and produce handicrafts (such as weaving and plaiting).
Diet: The Muong enjoy eating steamed food, like steamed sticky and regular rice, steamed vegetables, and steamed fish. After steaming, rice and vegetables are stored in a small basket until it is time to eat.
The Mnong's rice wine, consumed using long bamboo straws or pipes, is very famous because of its delicious taste and the way it is produced. It is brought out when there are honorable guests or for festivals. Both men and women like to smoke tobacco in big bamboo pipes. The women, especially, have the custom of sharing one pipe with a group of people.
Clothing: Muong women's dress is more diversified than men's dress, and there is something unique about it. The turban on a woman's head is white cloth without embroidery. A woman wears a bodice, outside is a short blouse with a little cut on both sides (the shirt is usually white). The skirt is long to the ankle, and has a border. The border is very famous because it is carefully woven with flowered patterns. Muong jewelry includes a bracelet, a necklace, and a 2 to 4 line silver key chain that has a tiger or bear claw, covered with silver.
The ritual specialist, called mo, is distinguished by special clothing which he wears when conducting worshiping rites. It is a long dress with five panels, is buttoned up on the right side, and is dyed green or black. He also wears a white belt, and a pointed cloth hat. The clothing of the healer, called moi, includes a special hat he wears when he practices his curing rites.
Housing: The Muong live together in villages which are clustered along the foothills, hill sides, and reservoir areas in Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, and Phu Tho provinces. Each village usually has several dozen residential houses. Each family home includes rows of betel nut and jack fruit trees. The majority live in stilt houses, which have four roofs. The upper floor of the house is the living area. Below the main floor is where the Muong keep cattle, poultry, rice mortars, and other working tools.
When putting up the kitchen column of a new house, it is a Muong custom for the owner to hold a setting-the-fire ceremony. The head of the family makes three decorative fish from the areca of a banana tree, which are then placed between two strips of bamboo and hung on the kitchen column. He also hangs a green pumpkin on the kitchen's main column. Before cooking in the new house, the owner does this ritual to ask the Kitchen God's blessing to place there the tripod stones that are the central part of a cooking fire. That night, the house owner invites the villagers to drink rice wine while sitting next to that fire.
Transportation: Women use bamboo carrying baskets, which have four erect, square corners. They carry them on the shoulder or on the forehead. A shoulder pole is often used. Clean water is stored in a big bamboo pipe that is longer than one meter. The Muong carry the pipe on their shoulders from the water site to their houses, then lean it against the wall for later use.
Social organization: In a village, the neighborhood is important in building and maintaining social relations. Muong villages are characterized by large families often comprising two or three generations. Children bear their father's surname. Rights of the eldest son are highly respected. Sons are entitled to rights of inheritance.
Marriage: Young Muong men and women are free to date. If they are content with each other, they will inform their parents to prepare for a wedding. A marriage has to go through these steps: asking the bride's hand (khao therig), giving betel nut ceremony (ti nom bank), asking for the wedding (nom khau), first wedding ceremony (ti chau), and bringing the bride home ceremony (ti du). On the wedding day, the matchmaker leads the groom's delegation, comprised of about 30 to 40 people including relatives and friends, who bring gifts to the bride's family for the wedding ceremony. The groom wears his best clothes, including a white turban, and carries a big rice cooking pot (chon). On the top of this chon are placed two boiled chickens. When the bride returns to her husband's home, she wears a conical hat and her best clothes, which include a long black dress worn on the outside and bound up in the front. The bride often brings with her 2 blankets and 2 mattresses. She also has 2 pillows to give to her parents- in-law and couples of dozen small pillows to give to her husband's relatives.
Birth: When the wife is about to give birth, the husband has to prepare lots of firewood. Then they create a separate room within the home using plaited bamboo walls. This is where the wife will give birth. When the wife starts her labor, the husband will inform his mother-in-law and other relatives to come to their house and wait together. The midwife cuts the umbilical cord using a bamboo knife taken from the rafters of the roof. If the infant is a boy, the midwife will use a knife taken from the front roof; if the infant is a girl, the midwife uses a knife taken from the back roof. Umbilical cords of all the children of a family are put together in a bamboo pipe. The Muong believe that in doing so, the siblings will grow up, loving each other.
On the day an infant is born, the family will organize a party; invite a ritual specialist to come to drive away evil things for the mother and child. Within the first week after the infant is born, many friends and relatives will come to, visit and to give gifts. The maternal grandmother always gives her 3 new grandchild some self- fabrics. Wealthy families give silver necklaces, and close relatives give rice or money. A woman who has just given birth often eats sticky rice with a kind of leaf called tac chieng (a medicine leave to cure seborrhea). She also drinks water cooked with different medicine leaves. Within the first week, especially the first 3 days after giving birth, the Muong always keep the fire burning. If the infant is a boy, he will be called affectionately as lo ma (rice seed); if a girl, then she will be called cach tac (vegetable). Only when the child is one year old, will he/she be properly named.
Funerals: When someone dies, the eldest son will use a knife to cut 3 times at the window of the altar room. He has to hold his breast while doing so. After that, the family will strike the gong to announce their mourning. The corpse is wrapped in many layers of cloths, including traditional clothes. Then the body is placed into a coffin, which is made from a hollowed-out tree trunk. The Muong cover the coffin with a piece of fabric with a pattern that looks something like dragon skin.
A ritual specialist leads the funeral. Muong sons and daughters mourn their parents like other Vietnamese. However, all the women who are daughters and granddaughters- in-laws have their own funeral clothes related to the "fanning-ghost" customs.
Calendar: The Muong call their traditional calendar sach doi, which is made from 12 bamboo sticks that represent the 12 months. On each stick, there are different signs to count dates, hours, and to see if a day or an hour is good or bad time to do certain things.
The Muong in Muong Bi have a different calendar, called ngay lui, thang to, which is the reverse iMt other Muong' calendars. January of the Muong Bi calendar matches with October of the other Muong calendar and of the lunar calendar.
Artistic activities: Xec'bua singing (some places called xac. bua or khoa rac) is loved by many people. Thuong (also called rang thuong or xuong) is a kind of folk singing to praise working and the beauty of all Muong traditional customs. Bo meng singing is love duet. Amorous duets are a popular folk singing tradition. In addition to these, the Muong have other kinds of music such as lullabies and children's songs. Muong ritual singing, in particular, is worthy of mention. These are prays and songs that the ritual specialist reads and sings for funerals. Distinctive musical instruments among the Museum include the flute, two-string Chinese violin, drum, and trumpet, and gong.
Games: Muong games are for everyone not just children. There are games that are carefully planned such as crossbow shooting competitions, swings, and shuttle cock. Children's games are held anywhere, any place, and with easy and simple rules. Popular Muong games include cham chi, cham chan, co le, or games involving dogs.
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