FIVE ETHICS WITH THE LARGEST POPULATION IN VIETNAM

Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country with more than 54 different ethnic groups, each with its unique characteristics of customs, practices, and culture. Among them, there are 5 ethnic groups with the largest population in Vietnam, including Kinh, Tay, Thai, Muong, and H'mong. It is the ethnic diversity that has created a colorful and unique cultural picture for this country. In this article, we will learn about the 5 ethnic groups with the largest populations in Vietnam and their roles in history and current society.

Distribution of ethnic minorities in the territory of Vietnam

According to statistics from the General Department of Population and Family Planning, as of April 2019, Vietnam's population is about 96 million people, of which more than 53 million people belong to the Kinh ethnic group, accounting for nearly 87% of the total population. people. The remaining ethnic minorities account for about 13%, with the ethnic groups with the largest populations being Tay (1.9 million people), Thai (1.8 million people), Muong (1.3 million people) and Hmong (1.1 million people). Below is a statistical table of the distribution of ethnic minorities in the territory of Vietnam:

Customs, practices, and cultures of ethnic groups

Each ethnic group has its unique characteristics in terms of customs, practices, and culture. This has created a diverse and rich cultural picture of Vietnam. Below are some characteristics of the 5 ethnic groups with the largest population in Vietnam:

Kinh

Accounting for the largest proportion of Vietnam's population, the Kinh people live extremely widely throughout Vietnam's territory. Extremely familiar with customs and practices such as Betel chewing, Lunar New Year, New Year's Eve offerings, Thanh Minh Tet, Mid-Autumn Festival,... This is also the clearest culture in Vietnam. Mixing with the customs and habits of other ethnic groups creates an extremely vivid cultural picture.

Regarding clothing: For men, clothing usually includes a Giao Lanh shirt (ao dai) and casual pants, made from materials such as silk, cotton, or linen. As for women, costumes include ao dai and skirts, often combined with many intricate embroidery details and traditional motifs.

Tay ethnic

The Tay ethnic group is one of the ethnic groups with the second largest population in Vietnam, mainly living in the provinces of Lang Son, Cao Bang, Thai Nguyen, Bac Giang, Ha Giang, and Quang Ninh. With a mainly agricultural economy, the Tay people have customs and traditions closely associated with rural life. They have a tradition of farming, raising livestock, and producing agricultural products such as rice, corn, cassava, potatoes, fruit trees, and poultry.

Regarding clothing: Tay people often wear indigo-dyed cotton clothes, so their main color is indigo. Women often wear crow's beak scarves, wear five-body shirts with belts, necklaces, and flat arms and legs. silver.

Culturally, the Tay people have unique features such as Engagement ceremonies, Wedding ceremonies, Unique filial piety flower trees of the Tay people, Dat Noi Tet, Thanh Minh Tet, etc. In addition, the Tay people also have crafts Traditional crafts such as silk weaving, ceramics, woodcarving, and making handicrafts.

Thai ethnic

The Thai ethnic group mainly lives in the provinces of Lai Chau, Son La, Dien Bien, Hoa Binh, and Yen Bai. Thai people have a lot of experience in building dams, digging ditches, building poles, and building troughs to collect water for farming. Wet rice is the main food source, especially sticky rice. Thai people also farm to grow rice, crops, and many other plants. Each family takes care of raising livestock, and poultry, knitting, weaving, and some places making pottery....

About costumes: A traditional costume of the Thai ethnic group includes: a short shirt (xua cam). ), ao dai (chua chai and cua luang), skirt (duong), belt (tài grass), scarf (pieu), hat (cup), leggings (pepăn kha), all kinds of earrings, necklaces, bracelets hands and stains.

On December 15, the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage officially registered Vietnamese Xoe Thai Art on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Vietnam. mankind. "Xoe" dance means dancing with movements that symbolize human activities in rituals, cultural activities, life, and labor. Xoe is performed in ceremonies, weddings, festivals, and community cultural events.

Muong ethnic

The Muong ethnic group mainly lives in the provinces of Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Hanoi, Son La, and Phu Tho. The main economic activity of the Muong people is wet-field agriculture. The Muong people combine wet rice agriculture with slash-and-burn agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, gathering, and handicrafts with a strong sense of self-sufficiency and self-sufficiency.

About costumes: Women's costumes are more diverse than men's and still retain their unique features. The head scarf is a rectangular piece of white fabric without embroidery, a bib, a blouse (popularly white) with a very short body, usually slit at the chest, and an ankle-length skirt consisting of two main parts: the skirt body and the skirt waistband. The waistband of the dress is famous for its intricately woven patterns. Jewelry includes bracelets, beads, and a set of 2 or 4 silver strings with hanging peach boxes and silver-covered tiger and bear claws.

The Muong people have a rich treasure of folk arts with many genres such as long poems, mo songs, ancient stories, folk songs, vi dum, and proverbs. The Muong people also have lullabies, nursery rhymes, flower dam songs, quiz songs, children's play songs... The gong is a unique musical instrument of the Muong people, in addition to the two flutes, drums, and flutes.

H'mong ethnic

The Hmong people in Vietnam reside mainly in the high mountains of the provinces of Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Son La, Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An... and the Central Highlands (Dak Lak, Dak Nong...) The main source of livelihood for the Mong people is shifting cultivation, growing corn, rice, and in some places there are terraced fields. The main food crops are corn, upland rice, and barley. In addition, people also grow flax for weaving fibers and medicinal plants. Husbandry of Mong families includes buffaloes, cows, horses, dogs, and chickens.

About costumes: Traditional costumes: Hmong people's costumes are very colorful and diverse.

White H'mong women grow flax, weave linen, white skirts, low-cut shirts, and embroidered patterns on the arms and back bibs. Shave your hair, keep it in a bun, and wear a wide-brimmed scarf. Hoa H'mong women wear indigo-colored dresses embroidered or printed with beeswax patterns, shirts with armholes, and colored and embroidered fabric on the shoulders and chest. Keep your hair long, tie it up, and wear a wig.

Black H'mong women wear dresses made of indigo fabric, printed with beeswax patterns, and shirts with slits in the chest.

Green Hmong women wear tube skirts. Married Green Hmong women roll their hair on top of their heads, pin it with a horseshoe comb, and wear a scarf when going out. Decorated mainly with colored fabric patches, and embroidered patterns mainly in the shape of snails, squares, diamonds, and crosses.

Men: Black clothes, short blouse, long pants, headband.

According to the customs of the Mong ethnic people, the Khen is an extremely important item used for worship when someone in the family dies. Today, the "Khen dance" is also used to perform in festivals and cultural and artistic activities in the locality. The sound of this musical instrument carries the sound of the vast, majestic, and unique highlands. Simplicity, purity, and openness penetrate deeply into the soul of the Mong people, a familiarity that sticks with them from birth to death.

Conclude

Vietnam is one of the countries with ethnic and cultural diversity. Ethnic minorities have played and continue to play an important role in the country's history and development. However, many challenges still exist in protecting and developing ethnic minorities.

Therefore, the State needs to have specific policies and activities to protect the rights and help ethnic minorities have opportunities for economic development and a better life. At the same time, each person also has a responsibility and an important role in preserving and promoting the cultural identity of ethnic minorities, contributing to enriching and bringing diversity to the country.