Although many customs
and cultural features of the ethnic groups have been more or less
diminished due to the development of the market economy and intergration,
Nung An people in Quang Uyen district still preserve many cultural
identities.
Nung An people, living mainly in Phuc Sen, Doai
Khon, Quoc Dan and Tu Do communes in Quang Uyen district, have a long-existing
cultural tradition. Up to now, they still retain their traditional identity
which is expressed in many aspects of material and spiritual cultural life as
well as social relationships.
Regarding the traditional material culture of Nung
An people, people will immediately think of the traditional costumes which are
still carefully preserved. Like Tay and Nung people's, their costumes which are
simply but carefully sewn from their do-it-yourself indigo fabric, are plain
and straight. The most special thing is that today Nung An people - young and
old, men or women - still often wear their traditional costumes in daily
activities such as going to work, going to school, going to the market or
during festivals. No matter where they go or in any position, when they return
to the village, they usualy change into these traditional costumes before going
out, visiting relatives and neighbours or working on the field to help their
families.
Currently, Quang Uyen is the place where most of
the Nung An traditional crafts in Cao Bang are preserved and developed. In the
past, due to unfavorable natural conditions, mainly rocky terrain,
Since ancient times, due to unfavorable natural
conditions with is mostly rocky terrain, the people's life is very difficult.
Therefore, in addition to agricultural production, Nung An people also do
handicrafts to meet their daily needs as well as to increase their income. Having
the industrious and hard-working characteristic, the majority of Nung An people
are skillful craftsmen. Coming to the Nung An village, you can easily see the
image of women growing cotton, spinning, weaving, indigo dyeing while men are
forging. In addition, there are many other handicrafts such as making paper and
incense in Quoc Dan commune, making bricks in Tu Do commune. Doing traditional
handicrafts not only helps to create jobs for villagers in the off-season days
but also becomes the main source of income to improve the people's lives.
Preserving and promoting traditional handicrafts is a special and unique
feature of the Nung An people, which differs from other ethnic groups.
Moreover, the existence and development of handicrafts here is not only
economically significant but also meaningful for educating the hardworking
tradition for later generations. Maintaining indigo weaving, first of all, is
to solve the problem of Self-sustainability and more importantly to train the
young to work hard. Therefore, Nung An girls, before getting married, must know
how to weave and dye indigo or they will be considered lazy and knowing nothing
to do for living. Similarly, Nung An's boys are considered incompetent and
unworthy of being the head of the family if he doesn't not know how to do
forging before going to ask a girl for being his wife.
Traditional costumes of Nung An
people
In addition to the
beauty of material culture, Nung An people also preserve and promote the beauty
of spiritual culture in which the most outstanding is Heo Phươn (meaning
calling friends in the local language), one of the traditional folk sing. Hèo
Phuon, a reciprocal singing style between 2 men and women, is often sung in happy
special occasions such as festivals, weddings, longevity celebrations,
housewarming, seasonal prayers and Giao Duyen singings in festivals. While
singing, each pair has 2 sentences with 10 words. When singing, two people in
each male and female side, reciprocally sing two 10-word sentences with simile,
deep, lyrical words.
The spiritual life of
Nung An people is very rich and diverse. They have deep faith in gods and supernatural
forces. Each village usually has an earth shrine placed at the top of the
village. Worship ceremony is held on the special days which take place almost
every month in a year such as lunar new year, Ancestors Day, mid-year festival,
Ghost Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival etc.