Visiting Huoi Giang 1 village, Tay Son commune on this occasion, next to the gardens of ripe roses, the gardens of bright yellow mustard flowers, are the houses thatched with dark brown sa mu wood, dotted with early blooming peach branches that flutter in the wind. A truly ancient and poetic scene. Rarely is there a place where there is still a cluster of houses that are roofed with sa mu wood concentrated and imbued with the pristine beauty of the mountains and forests like in Huoi Giang. Mr. Vu Ba Re - Vice Chairman of Tay Son Commune People's Committee leisurely talked: Many houses have been there for hundreds of years. People only replaced the wooden part underneath, but the roofs are still intact and have become a characteristic feature of the village. Sa mu is a rare wood, the wood has oil that is water-resistant and termite-resistant, so since ancient times the Mong people in Tay Son have used sa mu boards to roof their houses. However, now the Mong people in Tay Son strictly follow the general policy of the Party and State, no longer cutting sa mu wood to build houses, but all join hands to plant and preserve forests.
The houses built by our ancestors with precious sa mu wood roofs have been preserved by generations of descendants to preserve the cultural features of the Mong people in Tay Son; they not only create a landscape highlight for the village, but also attract more and more visitors. One of the oldest houses in Huoi Giang 1 village is the house of Mr. Vu Pa Lia (deceased). Currently, only Mr. Lia's wife, Mrs. Lau Y IA, over 90 years old, lives there with her youngest son. Mrs. Lau Y IA said that the house left by our ancestors was simple in the past, with pillars buried in the ground, but now it has become a house on the ground, only the sa mu roof remains the same as it has been for hundreds of years. The house is roofed with sa mu wood, windproof, warm in winter, cool in summer and not moldy.
Currently, the ancient houses with sa mu roofs of the Mong people in Tay Son commune are increasingly considered valuable assets of the people. However, what the local Party Committee, government and village officials are concerned about is that through the erosion of time, sun and rain, some sa mu roofs have cracked and punctured, but there is no material to replace them to match the old ones, because of strict compliance with the regulations prohibiting logging. Therefore, some households have had to replace them with blue and red corrugated iron roofs.
Our conversation was interrupted by the soulful and gentle sound of the Mong flute in the space filled with clouds. Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tay Son Commune, Vu Ba Re, exclaimed: That's the sound of the flute of the artist Vu Lau Phong! Mr. Phong is a person who is passionate about preserving the identity of our Mong people. He is also the first household to repair the damaged sa mu roof by covering it with transparent plastic underneath...
Following the sound of the panpipe, we visited Vu Lau Phong in a wooden house filled with Mong musical instruments and certificates of merit for the contributions to preserving and promoting the national cultural heritage of this excellent artist. To welcome the "uninvited guests", Mr. Phong still happily performed a panpipe while dancing to the music in a gentle and graceful manner. He said that the art of panpipe dancing is a unique cultural feature, the "soul" in the spiritual life of the Mong people, passed down through many generations. Mr. Phong's grandfather was also a famous panpipe and flute player. Mr. Phong was taught Mong panpipe by his grandfather and father, Vu Pa Lia, since he was a boy of over 10 years old.
With his innate talent and passion for traditional musical instruments, Artisan Vu Lau Phong has been invited to perform at festivals and competitions from the commune to the district, province, and nationwide, winning many awards, certificates of merit, and certificates of merit. Of the 11 musical instruments of the Mong people, Mr. Phong said he can play 10, but is best at the khene and flute. "If the khene, xia melodies, costumes, and musical instruments remain, the cultural identity of the Mong people will not be lost." With that in mind, Artisan Vu Lau Phong actively teaches his children and grandchildren in his family and the young Mong people in the district. He is also an active member of the Tay Son Commune Mass Arts Club with more than 20 members. He was also invited by Tay Son Ethnic Minority Secondary School to participate in teaching khene dance performances and performing folk songs and traditional musical instruments in extracurricular programs for students.
Mr. Phong's family is also a factor in preserving and conserving the Mong ethnic cultural identity when his two sons are both proficient in performing the Mong panpipe, his two daughters know how to dance and sing cu xia (Mong folk songs), and his granddaughter, Vu Y Do, who is just in 7th grade, is also very good at dancing and singing cu xia. Mr. Phong's wife, Mrs. Lau Y My, also regularly participates in practicing cu xia for the children in the village.
In Tay Son commune, there are 6 villages with 336 households, about 1,760 people, 100% Mong people, not only Mr. Phong's family but also in the whole commune has formed a movement to preserve the art of performing Khen dance and performing folk songs and traditional musical instruments. For Tay Son people, Khen dance and cu xia singing are not simply telling stories of daily joys and sorrows but also stories about the history and identity of their people. The transmission of these values is to remind descendants to remember their roots. Many other activities are still maintained by Mong people in Tay Son commune, such as the bull fighting festival held in the spring with activities such as throwing pao, cu xia singing, crossbow shooting, humpback fighting, stick pushing and Mong cuisine. The commune has also initially opened a shop and established 3 groups of households to embroider traditional costumes of Mong people in Huoi Giang 1, 2, 3 villages.
According to the discussion of the leaders of Tay Son commune, the Resolution of the Commune Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term sets out the goal of establishing a Flute Club and a Folk Dance Club in the community, both to preserve traditional culture and to link with the policy of developing eco-tourism and community tourism. However, up to now, only one Folk Performing Arts Preservation Club has been developed in the commune's Ethnic Minority Boarding Secondary School; a Folk Dance Club in the community has not been established because currently young people are going to work far away, and the villages and hamlets are all elderly and children, so there is no human resource to maintain regular club activities; some young women are taught but after a while they get married in other hamlets, so they lose their source.
Village elders and chiefs in Tay Son are also concerned that young people only know how to play the flute, while there are not many people who can perform skillfully to serve festivals, weddings and funerals.
Tay Son is a highland commune located in the southwest of Ky Son district, 9km from the district center, with a natural area of 11,578.22 hectares and a temperate subtropical climate. Tay Son is not only rich in ethnic cultural values, but is also blessed with a memorable landscape with the fragrance of many flowers growing naturally all year round, the gentle scent of essential oils emanating from the beautiful sa mu and po mu forests. Since ancient times, Tay Son people have been conscious of planting and protecting forests, considering them a valuable asset for future generations.
According to the leaders of Tay Son commune, the people who made the first contribution to creating lush forests were Mr. Vu Pa Re and his son - former Vice Chairman of Tay Son Commune People's Committee; from which the tree planting and afforestation movement has spread throughout the commune, encouraging people to plant forests. Ky Son district has also promptly built a project to support 2 million VND/ha. In addition to the provisions of the law, the village covenants have separate regulations on the responsibility to protect forests as well as penalties for cutting down trees to build houses or clearing fields for cultivation in violation of regulations. Thanks to that, the po mu and sa mu forests planted by the sweat and efforts of the Mong people over the past decades have proven to be valuable assets for future generations. Currently, the whole Tay Son commune has about 96 hectares of po mu and sa mu forests. Recently, the forest has become a famous check-in spot for tourists, especially young people, opening up a direction for tourism development for local people.
According to the Party Secretary of Tay Son commune - Mr. Vu Ra Tenh, the commune has an orientation to develop community tourism associated with the preservation of ancient houses with sa mu roofs, investing in infrastructure for the eco-tourism area of po mu and sa mu forests to attract tourists, however, the results have only stopped at the level of promotion and introduction, and have not been able to bring in revenue...
To ensure a stable life and thereby better preserve and promote cultural identity, in recent years, in addition to investing in developing livestock models such as local cows, black pigs, black chickens, etc., the commune has encouraged people to plant Codonopsis pilosula on an area of 0.5 hectares; 7-leaf 1-flower ginseng on an area of 0.3 hectares; local peach and three-flower plum planting models on an area of 29.5 hectares. Particularly, cat apple is a native tree species of Tay Son commune. When the season comes, the villagers go into the forest to pick, collect and sell it. After that, the Provincial Ethnic Committee came to survey and bring cat apple varieties from the North to try planting here. Currently, the whole commune has about 7 hectares of cat apple trees, which were expected to be one of the livelihood trees to help people escape poverty, but still face difficulties in output.
The family of the Party Secretary of Vu Ra Tenh commune also planted 1 hectare of hawthorn trees brought from the North, but the fruit was smaller than natural trees and ripened earlier. Last year, it was sold for 10,000 VND/kg, earning only about 2 million VND. In addition to hawthorn, another tree species that is often mentioned in Tay Son because it both creates a livelihood and creates a highlight for the landscape is the persimmon tree, including 2 types of astringent persimmon and egg persimmon. According to the commune leaders, with the support of the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for seeds, the commune has expanded its development, currently the persimmon area is 6 hectares, in addition to planting 2 hectares of Nhan Hau persimmon trees in Huoi Giang 3 village... Many models have been implemented with high efficiency such as the 7-leaf 01-flower ginseng model in Huoi Giang 1 village; the model of growing hawthorn and melon in Huoi Giang 3 village...
On the commune side, it is determined that efforts must be made to find outlets for local key agricultural products (ginger, persimmons, medicinal herbs, etc.), actively stimulate eco-tourism, community tourism, and build new rural areas associated with preserving the cultural identity of the nation, the "soul" of the Mong people in Tay Son.
Although there are still many difficulties, with a new direction and approach, hopefully in the future the hospitable land of Tay Son will not only have flowers, music, forests, and rich, hospitable humanity, but will also change in all aspects, becoming an attractive destination for tourists from near and far.
