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SKYFALL TOURISM

THE MUSEUM OF THE CULTURES OF VIETNAM’S ETHINIC GROUPS

INTRODUCTION

The museum of cultures of Vietnam's ethnic groups is located in the Centre of Thai Nguyen city ,about 80km north of Hanoi on national way 3. The museum was built

in 1960 . Its first name was Viet Bac museum . In 1990, it was renamed the museum of the cultures of Vietnam's ethnic groups and become one of the seven national museums of Vietnam. The museum is a big cultural center with more than 10000documents and artifacts belong to

the cultural heritage of54 ethnic groups of Vietnam. The museum also presents an extensive collection of agricultural, handicraft and hunting tools. There are five indoor showrooms which are exhibited the cultures of different ethnic language groups consisting of

Viet-

Muong, Tay-Thai, Hmong-Dao, Mon-Khmer and Malayo– Polynesian language groups and an outdoor exhibition system . It’s also a place for people to learn about the origin and traditional cultural identities of every ethnic

groups in Viet Nam.

CONTENT

1

Hall A

Showroom No.1: Cultures of ethnic groups of Viet-Muong language group

2

Showroom No2: Cultures of ethnic groups of Tay-Thai language group

5

9

11

13

15

Showroom No3:Cultures of ethnic groups of Hâ€&#x;mong-Dao, Kadai and Tibeto-Burman language group

Showroom No4: Cultures of ethnic groups of Mon-Khmer language group

Showroom No5: Cultures of ethnic groups of Chinese and MalayoPolylesian language group

The outdoor exhibition system

HALL HALLA A The statue of President Ho Chi Minh In the hall A, the general features of cultures of Vietnamese ethnic groups are introduced. At

the big vestibule, we can admire the statue of President Ho Chíi Minh, the Vietnamese people‟s beloved leader. He embraces three children representing three areas North-Central-South. It shows his immense affection to children of three

areas as well as

the

policy

of unification,

diversification and great unity of the Vietnamese

Wooden relief Behind the statue is a big wooden relief describing typical and traditional festivals of ethnic groups from North to South: Khèen dancing in

mountainous

periodic market, Lion dancing in

spring festival in the valley, Ka Te festival of the

Chăam people, Buffalo stabbing

festival of the

people in the Central Highlands, boat race festival of the Khmer and elephant racing of the M'„nong.

The elephant race is the biggest festival in the Central Highlands. Coming here, you will not only

feel the martial spirit of the M'nong ethnic people, who are very famous for their bravery and skill in

hunting wild elephants, but also the magnificent landscape of the Central Highlands which further stresses the grandiose characters of this traditional festival.

1

Altar of ancestral worshipping Altar of ancestral worshi pping of the Kinh is the most solemn space in the Kinh‟‟ 's house. Since long

time ago, the Kinh have had the custom of worshi pping their ancestors because they believe

in the immortal after death. Every year, they burn incense

in

death

anniversaries, the

first

and

fifteenth of lunar months not only to show their filial respect and reminiscence of deceased but also to pray the ancestors for blessing them with

health, safety, and prosperity.

In middle and wealthy families, they arrange

following red lacquered and gold-trimmed altar.

The altars are various worshi pping objects such

as: a tube containing the family annals, lamps, candle stands…

Above

the

altar, there

are

a

horizontal

lacquered board and two parallel scrolls to

show the feelings of descendants towards their ancestors as well as the family‟s conditions. On

the horizontal lacquered board, the inscri ption “Phuc lyý duy chi” means: “Good luck forever” and the two parallel scrolls: "Thi thu tao thuc huong nhien dđ uc,“Nhat nguyet đ dong aâ n phuc maãn

đd uong"”mean:

"Early

studying

the

Confucian books would disseminate the family‟ 's fame of virtue" and “"The family would be

always full of the sun and moon light, and good luck for future generations". These two parallel scrolls show that the family has had a literature career. It also expresses praising the ancestors‟ benevolences, virtues

and

encouraging

the

descendants to follow this career.

2

Village gate Village gate is a familiar image of the Kinh people. The Kinh live together in villages.

There used to be a bamboo hedge surrounding residential area in every village. The village

gate is not the only symbol of a village but it often exits with the images of banyan tree, well, and communal house. A traditional village gate used to be watch tower to fight again the enemy. To the XX century, it was not a watch

tower anymore. Apart from its function as a “door”, the village gate also demonstrates local

character.

Wet rice cultivation and food processing The Kinh have a very early tradition of rice

growing. Through many generations, our ancestors summed up experience as in the proverb: “Firstly

water, secondly fertilizer, thirdly diligence, and fourthly the

seeds”.

When

coming

here, we

will

be

experienced ancestors‟ traditions through tools such as plough, harrow, hoe, bucket for water irrigation are exhibited at the Museum to display manual works in

a farmer‟s family: “Husband plough, wife transplanting, and the buffalo harrowing”.

The processing of rice goes along with rice cultivation. In the

70s

of the

XX century, the

processing was simple, using manual pounding and rice huller . Every

early morning or late in the

evening, the rural women bustled about pounding and

husking rice, and cooking meal for their who le families.

3

The Muong’s stilted house Stilted house is a traditional house of the Muong ethnic group. It is made of wood, bamboos, thatch or palm leaves. The staircase

is usually an odd number because they concept

that

odd

numbers

are

lucky.

Therefore, it often has seven or nine steps. In this sacred room, there is a window called “voong window”. In normal days, no any things or people are allowed to go through it and it is only used for bringing the casket out

in funeral.

Cultures of the Tho and Chut Cultures of the Tho and Chut are quite similar.

They cultivate milpas associated with wet rice

fields. They also

have experience

in fishing,

hunting and weaving flax hammock for daily use.

However, they do not weave fabric, therefore they mostly buy them or exchange with neighbour ethnic groups.

The Tho live in the West of Nghe An province.

Majorly, they live in mountainous villages along

rivers and large streams. In the past, they lived in stilted houses, but now mostly live in ground

houses.

The Chut also live in the Northern parts of Central Vietnam. However, they mainly live in Minh Hoa and Tuyen Hoa districts, Quang Binh province at present. They live a settled life in villages on

mountain slopes. Formerly, they practiced shifting cultivation, living in caves, rudimentary huts roofed

with forest tree leaves.

4

House of Thai peopleIn its exhibition, the Museum has a model of a

People of Tay- Thai always live in the valleys,

corner of the Thai‟s house Thuan Chau District, Son

and in which has

La province. House of them has a the unique

conditions of fertile rice fields. To be favorable

culture.

Firstly, their house have a unique features

for farming, they have created and built many

which are easy to distinguish with from house‟s

waterworks suitable for the terrain. They also

ethnic people because it is shaped like a tortoise

have a lot of experiences in building the

shell. Scales on the shell tiles of the roof, four legs

embankments of a rice field, digging canal,

are four main columns to support the house. The

especially they knew use to water wheel to

height of house is about 2 meters, materials to do it

bring water to rice field. Water wheel not only

is available in the naturals such as: wood, bamboo,

is the powerful farm equi pment in agricultural

cogon…Secondly, their house always have 2 stairs. In

production, but also it has become the familiar

front is the one reserved for male and guests, the

image of people Tay- Thai language. Water

back stairs are reserved for women. The next is

wheel is made from bamboo and wood, taking

kitchen. In the traditional stilted house of them

advantage of water energy, blocking the water

there are always 2 kitchens, one at the outside room

current, creating pressure to turn the wheel.

for heating, boiling water, and another one at the

When the wheel turns, the bamboo tubes around

inside room for cooking. Cooking fire is very

the wheel brim will take water from stream and

important for them. One more things, the windows

pour into canal to irrigate the rice field. To sum

are decorated with the shape of a crescent moon.

up, with lifestyle close the nature, to turn natural

And there are also decoration type of symmetrical

materials into a tool serving the manufacturing,

mother and child- father and child, expressing a

labor and conquer, natural improvement shows

wish of having a happy family. The bars in the

the wonderful creation of human highlands.

shape of the teeth of a harrow are the signs of the wealthy and happiness.

5

Water wheel- a natural beauty enjoy

favorable

natural

OF TAY-THAI LANGUAGE GROUP

.

Long Tong festival

„‟Long tong‟‟ festival is a festival of going to the rice field, organized in early spring at about 3 Lunar January.

Festival

was

held

to

express

their

gratitude towards the genies‟ blessing for a bumper

crop and lucky life. The festival has two main parts. There are rite and festival part. In rite part,

this

is the

first ritual, the most sacred and

important part. Everybody prepares a stray of offerings with chicken, roasted pork, wine, steamed glutinous

rice

and crispiest

to express

their

gratitude towards the agricultural genie and pray

for a bumper crop at the rice field or before the temple. In the festival, this is the main of „‟L ong

tong‟‟ festival. Come here, visitor can take part in traditional folk games such as: unicorn dancing, tug of war, throwing "còn” …

One more especially in here, throwing con is an indispensable activity.. This is the folk game imbued with the spirit of fecundity worshi pping. The game is hold on a level field,

they have planted a tall bamboo tree in the middle, the height of it is 15-20 centimeters,

above is the top and make into a ring 50-60 centimeter. It is representing the sky and call „‟ "phỏng còn"‟‟. The square "còn"” ball express the earth. In this festival, they must throw the ball through the ring. If who throw the ball,

they will win and receive a gift. Furthermore, many couples find their lover and come to

marriage through festival

6

The mountainous fair culture Fair is the traditional market of the H‟mong- Dao,

Kadai and Tibeto- Burman ethnic groups which is usually held once a week or every two weeks. On

the market days, many people in different ethnic groups from different places go to the market to buy or sell goods. Thus, a fair is not only a trading post

but also an occasion for cultural exchange. The Bac Ha fair is the biggest market in the mountainous areas

of northern Viet Nam. Living far away from the economic centers, the ethnic people usually walk to

the market and carry

their goods by

a horse.

Furthermore, they will wear their best clothes on that day. In their custom, a fair is also a place of entertainment and communication with the friends.

Besides, it is the time to acquaint with new friends

and find a spouse by taking part

in the traditional

game or singing and dancing together.

“ Thang Co” “Thang Co”is a very famous food in Bac Ha fair. It is prepared by simmering for hours a hotchpotch of meat, bone and intestine of various cattle. After exchanging goods, the men invite each other to eat Thang Co”and drink corn liquor in order to forget their hard-working days before coming home. Especially, the H‟mong wifes never prevent her husband from drinking or feel angry when their husbands are drunk. They are even happy and proud of this because in their concept, a drunken husband is a good husband, a good man and a good man will have many friends to drink with him. So they will be patiently to wait for their husband .

9

“ Cap Sac” ceremony “Cap Sac” is a very important ceremony of the Dao because in their concept, a mature man is still considered as a child if he does not experience the “ Cap Sac” ceremony and vice

versa. Although a man can take this ceremony form twelfth years old, there were Dao men who

couldn‟ t become an adult even when he died because it demands a lot of things to hold a “ Cap Sac” ceremony worshi pping

such as: rice, meat, liquor,

pictures,

traditional

musical

instruments…and the preparing time is not the

same in each family. The “Cap Sac” ceremony of the Tight-trousers Dao group is carried out in

places it on his right shoulder and the third one

front of the ancestral altar. The matured man sits

places it on his left shoulder. He has to sit for hours

on a small chair. Three sorcerers offer three

to withstand the heat of those lamps while a sorcerer

lamps at the altar then they put them around the

reads two papers about his personalities. After that,

man: the first sorcerer places the lamps on his

one paper is burned to send to the ancestor, the other

head, the second one

is kept as a passport for the matured man to meet

his ancestor when he died.

Weaving fabric and embroidery All of the H‟mong, Dao, Pa Then, La Chi, La

Ha,

Phu La ethnic groups still maintain weaving Fabric to meet their wearing demands. The image of loom can be seen in almost their families. Embroidery and creating fabric are unique cultural identities of the

H‟mong Dao women. They are guided to embroider and sew from very young. Although all the patterns

on their clothes are created by themselves without any painted model, they are very exquisite and sophisticated.

In

their

belief, without

ability

of

embroidering, a good – looking woman is still an unattractive one and an obedient woman is still a

spoiled one. Consequently, woman‟s cloth is also a selection criterion for wife of the ethnic man.

10

.

Khmer pagoda

Hunting and taming elephants

Khmer pagoda built in the center of the village is

Welcome

a

the

elephants in every family, they considered that the

communal house of the Kinh people or “Rong�

elephant is like you, a member of his family because

house of the ethnic people in Tay Nguyen area,

elephants

pagoda is a center of communal cultural activities

Therefore, the

people

organize

of the Khmer. In their concept, the world is only

elephants

Lunar

March

the temporary dwelling, life after death is nirvana

demonstrates the sporting spirit and forces of the

and the

between them.

village and drives away the wild elephants from the

Therefore, the pagoda is the most sacred space of

production area so that they would not destroy the

the Khmer. it observes the maturity of Khmer

crops.

people: when they are young, they go to the

After the whale hunting, they start taming them to

pagoda to learn; when they get marriage, the

become

wedding ceremony is held in the pagoda to pray

elephants that with the experience and creativity, so

for happiness; and when they died, their bones is

it docile, obedient people and gives them traction,

also put in the pagoda to be blessed by Buddha.

transport. Besides, in the Central Highlands people

Besides, the pagoda is a place to carry out

organize a ritual to pray for elephants' health as

festivals of the Khmer such as: the traditional Tet

solemnly like the one for human being. Today, while

(Chonchnam-Thmay festival) in mid Lunar April, the

tourism is developing, elephants are used to transport

Ooc Oom Bok festival- a festival to thank the

visitors

Moon for a good harvest in Lunar October...

festivals are organized in national scale.

11

cultural

symbol

of

pagoda is a

the

Khmer.

bridge

Like

to

Highlands, you

always

in

travel

domesticated

to

villages

always

with

them the

in

labor.

hunting

of

year.

It

every

elephants.

and many

encounter

They

elephant

showed

racing

Musical instruments

Rong house and new rice festival

Khmer‟ music is an early type of development. It

Rong House in Central Highlands is considered as

reflects all area of cultural activities, emotional

the heart of ethnic minority. Local people consider

expression, thinking of the aesthetic structure‟

Rong House as a solemn and sacred place. It

Khmer South. Labor daily life has partially

seems to be a symbol of power because most local

affected the creativity in inventing instruments.

people gather here for common activities. A Rong

Ethnic groups of Mon-Khmer language group

house has 5 rooms, with the height from 15 to 20

have created diversified musical instruments

meters. Its architecture is like a stilted house with

such as: gongs, drums, buffalo horns, and T'‟r ung.

partitions, high and steep roof and broad inside..

They are not only used in festival but also in

The new rice festival is the biggest traditional

daily life. Particularly, the Central highlands are

festival of Vietnamese upland people which is often

famous

performed in

held in Rong house. The festival usually happens

concerts at community‟s rituals and dancing. On

when the very first rice packages are cut in

November 25th, 2005, Central Highland's‟ Gongs

November or December. It can last two or three

is recognized intangible cultural heritage of

days depending on estimated productive level of

humanity.

are

gathering crops. The worshi pping ceremony is took

various. Typically, the five tones orchestra plays

place to celebrate productive crops and to thank

an important role in the people‟s spiritual. The

gods (Yang) for helping villagers get those. Ritual

set of musical instruments includes five tones:

offerings include: a strong bull, a pig, a chicken, a

bronze, iron, wood, leather, and vapor. It is used

tray of young rice flakes and a wine jar.

for gongs

Khmer

which are

musical

instruments

in folk dancing and singing festival.

12

Ceremony to abandon the tomb Ceremony to abandon the tomb is the biggest

13

After the ceremony, the mourning period is over,

important one in the spiritual life of ethnic groups

people living allows

in Central highlands. The ritual involves many

remarry and have a free and independent life.

forms

The ceremony is often held for 3 to 5 days. The

of

arts

such

as: architecture, carving,

her/his

husband/wife to

painting, music, dancing, and performing,… with the

rituals involves making a funerary house with

aim to see off the deceased to the afterworld.

statues made from rough woof carved in the

According to the customs of ethnic groups in the

shapes of monkeys, peacocks and human beings,…

Central highlands, when deceased relatives they

with the beliefs that the soul of the dead would

are put in a coffin which made from a big

incarnate

perforated stick, the top is sealed by board and

become the slaves of the dead‟s soul in the

plaster by plastic tree. The Central highlands

afterworld. The statues in the shapes of nude

ethnic concept that deceased have been linked

men, women, women pounding

with living. Therefore, during this time, the family

riders,… plainly represent the life on the earth so

has to visit, provide foods and utensils to the

that the dead wouldn‟t be solitary. The ceremony

deceased. Only after the ceremony, the soul of

to abandon the tomb is considered is big ritual

the dead would be released and come to the

of the family and community, an actual happy

ancestors 'world. Ceremony to abandon the tomb

day of both the living and the dead. After

is tear down the temporary grave, razed grave

ceremony nobody would visit the funeral house, it

then build a bigger grave. Therefore , this is the

falls into oblivion with time and the living would

actual grave of the deceased.

totally finish with the dead.

into

the

statues

and they

would

rice, elephant

the

Long house Traditional long house of the Ede is an unique cultural product. It is typical production of social organization of tribes to adapt with the natural, avoid

calamity and protect the life of all members in community. In addition, the long house of the Ede is

also a place where hold cultural activities of the people. The Ede long house is on stilts, made of timber and bamboo and roofed with straw. A house is normally built in a north-south orientation and resembles a boat. The length of a house is measured

by its number of horizontal beams. A house is divided into two main parts: the Gah, which makes

up one third of the total area and the Ok. The Gah is

used

for

receiving

guests, family

gatherings,

worshi pping, displaying valuable items and

as a

sleeping place for single men. The Gah and the Ok

people of several generations gather around a

are separated by carved pillars called Kmeh Kpang.

charcoal fire. Women weave clothes. Men repair

An Ede house has male and female doors. The door

hoes and other farm tools. The elderly recount

for men is in the front, while the one for women is at

epics to their grandchildren. All these activities

the back of the house. The Ede long house reflects

are undertaken in the ample space of a long

the Ede culture of Vietnamâ€&#x;s central highland region,

house.

where

Club-house Gate of the Hoa Club-house

is

a

typical

structure

in

its

architecture and function. Almost of the Hoa

club-house were built in the 17th- early 18th centuries.

This

is

the

place

to

maintain

communal activities and worshi pping of the gods,

preserve the beliefs of the community. The gate of Futian club-house is in Chinese style with big

vault of many stages, it curved roof decorate with figures of unicorns and lions to show the male

power,‌ and its princi pal colour is red, the yang colour

which

brings

about good luck

and

happiness.

14

The outdoor exhibition system of museum of the cultures of Vietnam‟s ethnic group was completed in 2010. The outdoor exhibition includes 6 cultural spaces: Northern mountainous area,

Valley, Plain and middle land of the north, Central-coastal area, Truong son mountain range, Central highland, Plain of the south

The exhibition space of the culture of

Northern mountainous area display the prototype of a traditional house of the White H‟mong district, Ha typical

Giang

feature

to

in Meo Vac province introduce

as

a the

cultural life of the dwellers in this area.

The space of the valley culture is

exhibited

with a traditional stilted

house of the Tay in Bac Son, Lang Son province and a traditional house of the Nung.

The space of the culture of Middle

land and plain in the North includes the Viet‟s traditional house in Tam Da

commune, Yen Phong district, Bac Ninh province.

In this place, there

are areca trees, jackfruits, bamboos,

betel, a village gate and village road paved with slanting bricks.

15

The culture of Central-coastal area is exhibited

on a space consisting of Cham tower, Whale worshi pping temple, pottery workshop of the Cham.

Its

landscape

includes:

cactus,

casuarina, other trees and figures of young Cham girls carrying

water.

In the space exhibiting the culture of Truong Son Mountains-Central highlands,

there are

the Rong house of the Ba Na,

Ba Na grave house, statues of elephants.‌

The space of the culture of the South plain

introduces

landscape

around

the

model

the

sanctum

and

of

Phuong pagoda of the Khmer people in Tra Vinh province in which has tower containing the bones of the Khmer, the gate of Cham Ka pagoda.

16

CONCLUSION The museum of the cultures of Vietnam’s ethnic groups introduces the traditional cultures of the ethnic

groups in Viet Nam including both the inside and outside exhibition systems. It is arranged following the system of language groups and cultural areas with 3000 original documents and item of archiving values. In each showroom, visitors would not only admire the

beautiful cultural features but also study more deeply about the typical culture of the ethnic groups like dwelling area, economic activities, gastronomy, houses, cultural and ritual activities‌

With the functions as an organization of research, collection as well as exhibition the national traditional cultures, the Museum has contributed to preserve, develop Vietnamese culture and impregnate the modern Vietnamese culture with its national identities.

ABOUT US

Our group “ SkyFall” was established on February 17th , 2014 comprising five members : Pham Huy Hoang, Diep Thi Tham, Vu Thi Phuong Thao, Do Thi Thoa and Ly Thi Mai Trinh .

With the aim of introducing The Museum of the Cultures of Vietnam’s Ethnic Groups to everyone, especially the foreigners, we have worked hard to research essential and useful information and synthesize it into this book. We hope that our book will be helpful to you who want to study about the Vietnamese culture !

Wishing you have an interesting journey!

SKYFALL GROUP

Pham Huy Hoang

Main designers : Ly Thi Mai Trinh, Diep Thi Tham, Pham Huy Hoang Supporters : Vu Thi Phuong Thao , Do Thi Thoa

: Pham Huy Hoang : Diep Thi Tham : Vu Thi Phuong Thao : Ly Thi Mai Trinh : Diep Thi Tham, Vu Thi Phuong Thao, Ly Thi Mai Trinh, Do Thi Thoa : Do Thi Thoa : Pham Huy Hoang, Diep Thi Tham, Ly Thi Mai Trinh

To get more detailed information, please contact with us via: Email: Tel : Website:

‌Stand up and go with us !