Muong ethnic group

Proper names: Moi (or Mon, Moan, Mual).

Local groups: Ao Ta (Au Ta), Moi Bi.

Population: 914,596 people.

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, utside 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 dozens 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.