Who are the Mong people and how many are there?
The Mong are one of the 54 ethnic groups recognized in Vietnam, with the self-name Mong or Na Mieo. According to the List of Ethnic Components of Vietnam issued with Decision No. 121-TCTK/PPCD dated March 2, 1979, the official name is HMong, with other names including Meo, Meo, Man, and Mieu Toc. The term "Meo" was once common in older writing, but the official name today is Mong.
According to the Survey of 53 Ethnic Minorities dated April 1, 2019, the Mong population is 1,393,547. Earlier, the 2009 Population and Housing Census recorded 1,068,189. The difference reflects both natural population growth and different survey scopes between the two censuses.
In terms of local subgroups, the Mong in Vietnam are divided into main branches including White Mong, Flowered Mong, Red Mong, Black Mong, Green Mong, and Na Mieo. It is important to distinguish: these are branches within the Mong ethnic group, not separate ethnic groups. This division is based mainly on clothing characteristics, fabric colors, and some differences in customs.
Where do the Mong people live?
According to the List of Ethnic Groups of Vietnam published by the Government Portal, the Mong live in Ha Giang, Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Son La, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Hoa Binh, and Bac Thai. These are all northern mountainous and north-central provinces with fragmented terrain and high elevations.
The Mong gather in villages, each usually with a few dozen households. In rocky highland areas, each house has its own plot, separated by dry-stone walls about 2 meters high. The common house type is a single-story house with three main bays and two side rooms, with two to three doors, and the central bay holds the altar. Wealthier families have plank walls, wooden columns on stone bases shaped like lanterns or gourds, tiled roofs, and plank floors. More common are houses with plank or bamboo walls and thatched roofs. Food is stored on the upper floor, and some places have granaries built next to the house. Livestock pens are raised on planks.
Which language family does Mong belong to, and what is the writing situation?
The Mong language belongs to the Hmong-Mien language family. This is one of the major language families in the northern mountainous region of Vietnam, including Dao and some related languages.
Regarding writing, according to the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, Mong script was drafted using the national alphabet from the 1960s, but it is still not widely used. This is a notable point: many ethnic minorities in Vietnam have their own scripts or scripts developed late, and usage in daily life varies across regions.
What do the Mong grow on swidden fields?
The main livelihood of the Mong is fixed or shifting swidden farming, growing corn, rice, and barley. Farmers traditionally interplant on swiddens alongside main crops such as coix, potatoes, vegetables, peanuts, sesame, and beans.
The Mong plow is famous for its durability and effectiveness. Growing flax and weaving linen is a distinctive production activity. In the past, the Mong also grew opium poppies, a custom tied to the highland economy, now no longer common. Fruit trees such as apples, pears, peaches, and plums are also grown.
The Mong mainly raise buffalo, cattle, pigs, chickens, and horses. Pack horses are an effective means of transport in the rocky highlands, and horses are very close to each family. In addition, the Mong develop handicrafts such as weaving, blacksmithing, making horse saddles and harnesses, woodwork, making ban paper, and silver jewelry. Most craftsmen are semi-professional, producing famous items such as plow blades, gun barrels, and wooden containers.
| Local subgroup | Characteristics of women's clothing |
|---|---|
| White Mong | Grow flax, weave linen, white skirts, chest-split shirts, embroidered patterns on sleeves, back bib; shave hair leaving a topknot, wear wide-brimmed headscarves |
| Flowered Mong | Indigo skirts with embroidery or wax-resist patterns, side-split shirts, shoulders and chest decorated with colored fabric and embroidery; wear long hair, bun with false hair |
| Black Mong | Indigo fabric skirts, wax-resist patterns, chest-split shirts |
| Green Mong | Tube skirts; married women coil hair on top of the head, wear horseshoe-shaped combs, headscarves shaped like two horns |
What are the Mong worship customs?
In Mong houses there are many sacred places reserved for worship such as ancestor worship, house spirits, door spirits, and kitchen spirits. Those who know medicine or work as shamans also set up altars to worship their professional patron spirits. Many rituals prohibit strangers from entering the house or village. After worshiping spirits for requests, people often wear amulets for protection.
Every Mong family has an altar in the central bay. The symbol of the altar is a few sheets of ban paper with gold leaf in the middle, stuck on the wall and replaced each New Year. When worshiping, people dip chicken feathers in blood and stick them on that paper.
Besides household worship, the Mong also worship the village earth god together. Village relationships become closer through this shared worship. The Mong place great importance on clans, including those sharing common ancestors. The specific features of each clan are shown in ancestor worship, door spirit, and midwife spirit rituals such as the number and arrangement of offering bowls, prayers, and places of worship; in funeral rituals such as how the deceased is laid out in the house, how the body is kept outdoors before burial, and how the grave is arranged. Clan members, even if they do not know each other or are separated by generations, can still recognize their clan through these features. Custom strictly forbids marriage within the same clan. The clan head is a person of prestige, respected and obeyed by the clan.
The Mong family is small and patrilineal. After the initiation ceremony, the bride steps through the groom's door and is considered part of the husband's clan. According to the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, wife abduction was once common.
When do Mong festivals and New Year take place?
The traditional Mong New Year begins in early lunar December, about one month earlier than the Lunar New Year according to the Mong traditional calendar, in line with traditional farming. This is a notable difference from the Kinh and many other ethnic groups.
During New Year, villagers often play con, swing, blow the khen, and sing in open fields around the village. Mong boys and girls sing, dance with the khen, toss con, play badminton with chicken feathers, and spin tops. Top spinning is popular among most northern ethnic groups, but each group has its own way of playing.
The second largest New Year is the May 5 lunar festival. Besides the two main New Years, depending on the place there are also New Year celebrations on March 3, June 13, and July 7 lunar dates. The organization of these festivals is not entirely the same between localities and Mong subgroups.
In terms of arts, young people enjoy playing the khen, blowing and dancing at the same time. The khen and drum are also used in funerals, wakes, and rice-offering rituals. Leaf horns and jaw harps are means for young people to exchange feelings.
What roles do market days and cuisine play in daily life?
Market days are places for trading goods, meeting friends and romantic partners, a characteristic activity of the Mong in the highland border areas. People carry goods on horseback to market: corn, vegetables, firewood, and many other things. Herds of pack horses gathered in the horse yard at Bac Ha market (Lao Cai) and Dong Van (Ha Giang) are a distinctive cultural feature of the highlands.
In cuisine, the Mong usually eat two meals a day, three during harvest. Meals include men men (steamed cornmeal) or rice, stir-fried vegetables with fat, and soup. Cornmeal is eaten with a wooden spoon. Women make various cakes from cornmeal and rice on New Year and holidays. The Mong are used to drinking corn wine, rice wine, and smoking with a bamboo pipe. Offering a guest a pipe personally filled with tobacco is a sign of respect. Thang co is a favorite dish, made of meat, bones, organs, liver, heart, and lungs of cow or goat cut into small pieces and cooked together in a large pan, often prepared at funerals or at market days.
How does wax drawing and indigo dyeing create patterns?
Drawing with beeswax and dyeing with indigo is a characteristic way the Mong create patterns, also found among the Dao. Women use a pen to apply melted beeswax onto white linen fabric. After drawing, the fabric is dyed with indigo many times until the desired black is reached. Then the fabric is dipped in hot water so the beeswax melts, leaving white patterns on the blue indigo background. Clothing decoration is mainly by appliqué of colored fabric, and embroidery patterns are mainly snail shapes, squares, diamonds, and crosses.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Mong and the Meo the same ethnic group?
Yes. "Meo" is another name once commonly used for the Mong, along with other names such as Meo, Man, Mieu Ha, and Man Trang. The official name according to the List of Ethnic Components of Vietnam is HMong, usually written Mong. White Mong, Flowered Mong, Red Mong, Black Mong, and Green Mong are branches within the Mong ethnic group, not separate ethnic groups.
When do the Mong celebrate New Year?
According to the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, the traditional Mong New Year begins in early lunar December, about one month earlier than the Lunar New Year according to the Mong traditional calendar. The second largest New Year is the May 5 lunar festival. Depending on the place there are also New Year celebrations on March 3, June 13, and July 7 lunar dates.
What do the Mong worship in the house?
In Mong houses there are many sacred places reserved for worship such as ancestor worship, house spirits, door spirits, and kitchen spirits. Those who know medicine or work as shamans also set up altars to worship their professional patron spirits. The symbol of the ancestor altar is a few sheets of ban paper with gold leaf in the middle, stuck on the wall and replaced each New Year. In addition, the village also worships the earth god together.
