Preserving the cultural heritage of the Cong ethnic group

The Cong people are also known as Xa, Cong Bo Kham, Xam, Mang La...; they belong to a very small ethnic minority group in the country. In Lai Chau , the Cong people live mainly in the communes of Nam Cha (Nam Nhun district), Nam Khao, Kan Ho (Muong Te district). Currently, in Nam Cha commune, the Cong people live concentratedly in Tang Nga village with 110 households and 536 people. For generations, the people here have always preserved and promoted the traditional beauty of the ethnic culture.

In the cultural heritage of the Cong ethnic group in Tang Nga village, the “Min Loong Phat” festival is the biggest traditional festival of the year, reflecting the unique values of the cultural life of the people. The festival is usually held in the 10th lunar month after the people have finished harvesting the crop, so the festival is also known as “the festival that ends a crop”.

Mr. Lo Van Bun - a prestigious person in Tang Nga village happily said: The meaning of the festival is to thank the land, the gods in the past year for protecting, sheltering, and giving the people a prosperous life. At the same time, praying for the gods to bless, favorable weather and wind for the villagers to have good health in the new year to work, produce, farm, and have a bountiful harvest, full granaries, full pens of rice, full pens of pigs and chickens; children to be obedient and good at studying. The festival consists of 2 parts: the ceremony and the festival, in which the ceremony is the most important. Offerings to the gods include: taro, jicama, chicken, pig... agricultural products made by the people; especially indispensable is the "Min Loong Phat" flower, because this is a type of flower given by ancestors and gods, to be friends with the plants grown on the fields, protecting them from the destruction of pests, birds, squirrels, wild animals, epidemics, and natural disasters. During the ceremony, everyone wears traditional ethnic costumes. After the ceremony, the festival begins, where people drink rice wine, congratulate each other, beat drums and gongs, and sing and dance to thank the gods.

Preserving the cultural heritage of the Cong ethnic group

It is known that, in addition to the “Min Loong Phat” festival, the Cong people of Tang Nga village also preserve many unique cultural values of the nation. Typical examples are costumes, cuisine, music , production tools, and traditional handicrafts. The costumes of the Black Cong people are simple; for women, the style is similar to that of the Thai people, including: shirt, skirt, belt, and headscarf. However, the shirts are mainly sewn by hand, with embroidered motifs on the headscarf and collar. The highlight of the costume is the 2-3m long headscarf that is skillfully wrapped by the women and mothers to create a beautiful shape.

Ms. Lo Thi Len, a villager, shared: Since I was a girl, my grandmother and mother taught me how to cut and sew traditional ethnic clothes. Now I can make costumes for my family members. Our ethnic clothes are different from Thai people's clothes in that they have triangular folds on the shoulders and decorative motifs on the collar. The most difficult thing when wearing this costume is wrapping the scarf on my head because it is long, so I have to ask my mother and sisters to wrap it for me. I am proud to wear the ethnic costume to participate in festivals of the village, commune and district.

The music of the Cong people here, whenever there is a festival or New Year, spring comes, is very bustling, jubilant with the bustling, vibrant sound of drums, gongs combined with traditional musical instruments made of bamboo and rattan pipes. Folk songs are transmitted through the gentle, emotional singing of grandmothers and mothers. Traditional ethnic dances are graceful through each song and melody.

Preserving the cultural heritage of the Cong ethnic group

Mrs. Lo Thi Xinh excitedly said: I have known how to sing folk songs since I was 15-16 years old, now I am 57 years old. On holidays, New Year, housewarming, I often sing songs such as: Going to work in the fields, moving to a new house, singing love songs, singing wedding songs... Currently, I am teaching these songs to my children and grandchildren so that our ethnic culture will not be lost over time.

Referring to traditional handicrafts, which have long been associated with the lifestyle of working in the fields, people here are considered to be good at weaving to create bamboo and rattan items such as: backpacks, rice baskets, chests, etc. to serve the needs of the family. In modern life, people still maintain the weaving profession as a habit, contributing to preserving and conserving the "soul" of national culture.

Preserving the cultural heritage of the Cong ethnic group

Mr. Ly Van Chem - Party cell secretary and head of Tang Nga village said: Our Cong ethnic culture is very diverse and rich, not only expressed through festivals such as "Min Loong Phat", "Hang Si Phat"; music, traditional crafts but also in folk songs, dances, beliefs, lifestyle, house architecture, folk games passed down from generation to generation. Today, everyone in the village is proud of the unique cultural values of their ethnic group. Thanks to the attention of the Party, State, Party committees, authorities at all levels, and sectors, the people are excited, raising their awareness and responsibility to preserve, conserve, and promote traditional cultural beauty, aiming to create attractive cultural products, attracting tourists to the locality.

With love and responsibility, the Cong ethnic people in Tang Nga village are actively preserving, conserving and promoting fine traditional culture in the renovation period in the spirit of "building an advanced Vietnamese culture with strong national identity", so that the culture of ethnic groups will be passed down forever to future generations.

Source: https://baophutho.vn/bao-ton-di-san-van-hoa-cua-dong-bao-dan-toc-cong-231795.htm