The "mysteries" in the Mong people's house in Nghe An

Sa mu houses halfway up the mountain

The Mong community appeared in Nghe An about 3 centuries ago. With cultural features imbued with their national identity, this community has contributed greatly to creating a diverse culture in harmony with other ethnic minorities in the Western region of Nghe An. Not only in wedding and spiritual ceremonies, the house building of the Mong people also has a very special feature.

Ky Son border district is home to the largest Mong community, typically in the communes of Tay Son, Nam Can, Na Ngoi, Muong Long, Huoi Tu...The Mong people settle by clan. Each clan usually lives in a cluster and builds houses close together halfway up the mountain.. Most of the houses here have very similar architecture, so when you first step in here, it is very difficult to distinguish one house from another. That is the experience of living together to help each other of people in the same clan whenever there are enemies or wild animals coming to destroy.

One thing that is easy to see is that when coming to the place where the Mong people live, people can feel a clear difference in climate. The Mong elders said that in the past, their community often had to go up to the high mountains to grow opium, so the high mountain terrain and cold climate were the most suitable places to live. At an altitude of 1200-1500 meters above sea level, as an instinct, to survive and adapt to the harsh climate, the Mong people have a lot of experience in building houses to maintain their lives.

For this community, building a house is a major event in one's life. The completion of the house is not as important as the start of construction. The day of construction is chosen by the shaman, the homeowner invites relatives to attend the congratulatory ceremony and help each other start the work. For them, the house, whether big or small, will be with them for the rest of their lives, so it is rare to see the Mong people demolish the old house to build a new one because the house contains many cultural and spiritual elements, unless the house is affected by natural disasters or fires.

Regarding settlement on high mountains, Mr. Lau Xai Phia also said: If the Thai and Khmu people settle in high stilt houses,Mong houses are usually built very low to avoid wind blowing in..The architecture of a Mong house, whether big or small, must have three rooms arranged in order: first room, middle room and last room.The roofs and roofs are mostly made of oily wood such as sa mu and po mu to retain heat. This is the most recognizable feature when setting foot in a Mong village. Sa mu and po mu wood help them overcome the cold winter and stay cool in the hot summer, and can be used for decades. It is easy to see houses with sa mu roofs of the Mong people covered with moss and mold, the wooden planks are warped but still very sturdy.

Kitchen and traditional rules

The architecture inside the Mong house is divided into two distinct parts, including the kitchen and three main rooms. Unlike other ethnic groups, the Mong kitchen is not only a place to cook for each meal but also a space that converges many unique elements. The kitchen is where people gather together for meals, talk about farming after a hard day, and is a place to store food and seeds for each crop. In particular, the kitchen is also a spiritual area to worship gods and the deceased.

We arrived at Mr. Va Lia Nhenh's house (Nam Can village, Nam Can commune, Ky Son district) when his whole family was sitting around the dinner table. On one side was a blazing fire, on the other side was a simple dinner table. When we asked about the kitchen, he said: "This kitchen table of my family has been built for 15 years, it is still intact and has never been replaced. Every house is like that, this kitchen table exists from the time the house is built until the new house is replaced. In the past, the Mong people were poor so they had to use the kitchen table to store food. Moreover, the place where the Mong people live is always foggy, the seeds cannot be dried outdoors but have to be brought into the kitchen table." Indeed, the kitchen table of the Mong people is closely associated with the life of each person.

The Mong people believe that when people die and go to the other side "tua so" (the world of the dead), their souls still reside in the kitchen fire. That is the warmest place in the family, so when people die, they often come here to find peace and warmth. There is also another concept that the sacred kitchen of the Mong people is a place to worship the gods who protect the peace of the family, just like the Kinh people worship the kitchen god. The Mong people call it the kitchen ghost.

Unlike the Kinh people, the Mong people do not burn incense in the kitchen on holidays, but only when the family needs protection and shelter. This depends on the shaman, only when the shaman says it is necessary to burn incense to worship the kitchen spirit, otherwise, not worshiping for 2 years will not affect anything.

Above the kitchen are three rooms with bedrooms built outside along both sides of the main door. In the middle room is the ancestral altar decorated with handmade papers of the Mong people and a "xu ca" (a sacred paper of this ethnic group). While the Khmu people place the altar in the sacred kitchen, the Thai people can place it in many positions, the Mong people always place the altar facing the main door. That is where the souls can see it most clearly and is also the shortest way home.

The Mong elders all said that the reason why the family members' rooms are always located outside is because that is where there is the most warmth and where it is easiest to detect sounds when enemies or wild animals attack. The Mong community is very strict, the bedrooms of parents and married children must be separate from each other. Father-in-law or daughter-in-law are never allowed to step into each other's bedrooms.

The Mong elders in Tay Son commune also said that when building a house, the Mong people often make two doors, one in the main room and one in the kitchen, without windows. The practice of adding windows to houses has only appeared in recent decades. The door of the house always opens inward for convenience when standing in the house to open and close quickly. If there is no important matter or important guests visit, the main door is always closed, people only go in and out through the kitchen door. The door latches of the houses are also made of good, straight wood, because this community believes that the door latch is an important point to block, so using good wood will ward off all evil spirits from entering the house.

The "sacred spots" in the house

As an eternal value passed down from generation to generation, the Mong people in Nghe An always believe that the human soul always resides somewhere in the house. Therefore, things like the main pillar, the kitchen… are all associated with stories related to the spiritual elements of this community.

When building a house, the Mong people always take a pillar, big or small, in the main room, to be the main pillar. This pillar is covered with Mong people's worshiping papers. Mr. Vu Chong Di in Huoi Giang 2 village (Tay Son commune - Ky Son) said: "This pillar is small but it is the main pillar in the Mong people's house. Outside guests are not allowed to touch it. This is the taboo of the Mong people, it is the same for all families." Mr. Chong Di's warning startled us, it turned out that such seemingly ordinary objects have such great significance in the spiritual life of the Mong people.

Vu Chong Di said that the main pillar of the house is an important object of worship in a Mong family, along with the crossbeam. The main pillar is the place where the souls of the Mong ancestors reside, so no one other than the homeowner is allowed to touch it. Even children or women in the family, if they accidentally hit the main pillar, must burn incense, slaughter a pig or chicken as an offering to ask their ancestors to forgive them for their disrespectful actions. Therefore, regardless of who is an outsider, if they hit the main pillar or the crossbeam, they must be punished according to the rules of the family and clan. Mr. Chong Di also added that the pillars or any place in a Mong house can be nailed, but the main pillar must be inviolable. The Mong people have the biggest taboo of insulting their ancestors by hitting the main pillar or the crossbeam.

The Xu ca is a colored piece of paper of the Mong people that is attached to one side of the altar. On that piece of paper, they attach chicken feathers. In every house, when the owner moves in, the first thing to do is to find the Xu ca to worship. Only when moving house or natural disaster occurs, the worship paper is replaced, otherwise it will follow them throughout their life.

According to the Mong elders, only the man who is the head of the family can touch the worshiping objects in the house such as the altar, the main pillar, the altar...; anyone else who touches it will be punished by the homeowner. The kitchen is different, the oldest woman in the house is the one who has the right to manage and burn incense there. Because the Mong people believe that the oldest woman is the one who is most attached to the kitchen and only the kitchen spirit can understand their voice. The kitchen can be used to cook food for people or animals, but after each cooking session, the woman must clean and sanitize it to avoid being scolded by the kitchen spirit. When she wants to ask for something from the kitchen spirit, the woman lights incense next to the kitchen wall and prays according to the shaman's instructions. "The Mong people are the same, when building a house, the first thing they have to do is build a kitchen to worship the ghost. Not having a kitchen is disrespecting the ancestors and gods, so they will be hungry and cold all their lives" - Mr. Va Xenh Lu added.

Thus, it can be seen that, although still heavily imbued with spiritual elements, taboos in Mong houses have been passed down from generation to generation. That is also a "highlight" that shows the year-round life attached to the mountains, forests and nature of this ethnic group.

Over time and with the development of social life, some Mong houses in Nghe An today no longer retain their traditional architecture. Stilt houses have begun to spring up, with shiny tiled floors and windows opened everywhere… are easily seen when setting foot in this community.

However, it is necessary to reaffirm that, while houses built with reinforced concrete are increasingly springing up in the highland villages, the Mong people still keep the almost intact architectural features of their community's houses. That is a precious thing in the culture of this ethnic group.