18:11, 12/25/2023
Located in the southwest of the South Central region, the Central Highlands is a strip of land with an important strategic position in terms of economy, culture, military ... of the whole country, considered as "the roof of Indochina". This is the place where nearly 50 ethnic minorities live and converge with a very unique culture.
The ethnic groups in the Central Highlands possess a diverse and rich culture, with art forms that have been improved over time in a very lively way. Due to geographical, soil and cultural diversity, the Central Highlands is an address that attracts many scientists and culturalists of special interest, and from there, it has left the Central Highlands a diverse and rich research treasure in many different fields, especially ethnic culture.
Tracing the history of the nation, when they were present in the Central Highlands, the French conducted research on building a language with a separate writing system for the indigenous peoples here. In 1879, the French built 4 sets of Latin scripts for the Central Highlands ethnic groups, the earliest being the Bana script, officially born in 1881. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were the Ede and J'rai scripts, while the Kơ Ho script was born later. These four scripts still have certain values today.
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| Valuable research documents about the ancient Central Highlands. |
In 1893, Dr. Alxandre Yesin discovered the Lam Vien (Langbiang) plateau, but before that, his survey notes were truly a treasure trove of climate, soil, and crops of this land. He also proposed to the then Governor-General of Indochina, Doumer, to build a French resort in this land as well as to plant varieties of crops suitable for the Central Highlands.
Both the French invaders and Vietnamese authors have always given special attention to documents on the culture of the Central Highlands. Typical examples include the book “The Forest of the Montagnards” by Henri Maitre - French School of the Far East (Hanoi), or the book “The Pinnacle of the Empire” by Erict Jennings published by Hong Duc Publishing House, about the Langbiang plateau. These studies are a vivid cultural picture of the highlands. Regarding the M'nong people, the French version “Les Mnong des Hauts Plateaux” is a valuable document describing the M'nong community in the early part of the last century, from architecture, food, clothing, daily life, culture...; it is an international study of indigenous peoples in the highlands.
Along with the documents of foreign researchers about the land and people of the Central Highlands, authors such as Toan Anh, Nguyen Dong Chi, Bui Dinh... as well as young authors later also actively participated to supplement the spiritual and cultural values of this land.
When talking about the Central Highlands, the book “The Highlands” by Toan Anh published in 1974 is the most valuable research that helps us have the clearest and most comprehensive view of the “Highlands” land. Or the book “The Ba Na People in Kon Tum” by authors Nguyen Kinh Chi and Nguyen Dong Chi is a work that helps us understand more about the Northern Central Highlands.
Small books like memoirs of priests practicing in the highlands also help people understand what life was like in the early part of the last century. Typically, the book “Optimism in the Highlands” by priest Phung Thanh Quang tells about the life and culture of ethnic minorities, which is considered the clearest and most intuitive.
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| Rong house - a typical image of the Central Highlands in ancient documents. |
Talking about the Dak Lak plateau, the book “Phong Quang of Darlac province” is also a vivid picture even though it is a thin research book of 174 pages. Or the book “Understanding the Vietnamese mountain people” by author Bui Dinh published in 1950 also contributed to increasing the value of documents about the plateau.
In addition to the research books, it is impossible not to mention the unique photo collections when wanting to learn about the land and people of this place. The photo book series “Vietnam Highlands, Beloved Homeland” by Cao Dam - Cao Linh is a rare photo archive that cultural researchers want to find again. Along with the above photo collection, the photo book series “Jorai Land” by Jacques Dournes is also of international value.
It can be said that there are many cultural documents that have contributed to the social relationships of the Central Highlands in ancient times. Currently, books about the Central Highlands are increasingly diverse and tend to specialize in each field, such as tomb statues, architecture, brocade, musical instruments, eating and dressing habits, etc., so that we can easily approach them in our own way. Although the ancient documents are not really complete, they can be considered the foundation for research and learning about this unique highland.
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