Tourism Indochina: Vietnam Gong Culture

UNESCO, The Space of Gong Culture: The cultural space of the gongs in the central highlands of Vietnam covers several provinces and seventeen Austro-Asian and Austronesian ethno-linguistic communities. Closely linked to daily life and the cycle of the seasons, their belief systems form a mystical world where the gongs produce a privileged language between men, divinities and the supernatural world. Behind every gong hides a god or goddess who is all the more powerful when the gong is older. Every family possesses at least one gong, which indicates the family’s wealth, authority and prestige, and also ensures its protection. While a range of brass instruments is used in the various ceremonies, the gong alone is present in all the rituals of community life and is the main ceremonial instrument.

The manner in which the gongs of Vietnam are played varies according to the village. Each instrumentalist carries a different gong measuring between 25 and 80 cm in diameter. From three to twelve gongs are played by the village ensembles, which are made up of men or women. Different arrangements and rhythms are adapted to the context of the ceremony, for example, the ritual sacrifice of the bullocks, the blessing of the rice or mourning rites. The gongs of this region are bought in neighbouring countries, and then tuned to the desired tone for their own use.

Economic and social transformations have drastically affected the traditional way of life of these communities and no longer provide the original context for the Gong culture. Transmission of this way of life, knowledge and know-how was severely disrupted during the decades of war during the last century.Today, this phenomenon is aggravated by the disappearance of old craftsmen and young people’s growing interest in Western culture. Stripped of their sacred significance, the gongs are sometimes sold for recycling or exchanged for other products.

Vietnam Gong Culture Festival kicks off:

(Tourism Indochina:Date : 2007-11-21):

The Central Highlands Gong Culture Festival 2007 opened at the Central Highlands Dak Lak provincial museum on November 21. Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan joined around 10,000 people at the opening ceremony of the festival. The four-day festival, the largest of its kind in the Central Highlands, will include performances by 25 domestic and foreign gong troupes and art troupes from Laos and the Republic of Korea.

Local street festivals, a photo exhibition on the cultural tradition of Vietnam’s gong and a gong casting demonstration will be held alongside an exhibition of gong cultural space.
An exhibition-cum-fair on the Central Highlands and a workshop on the history of the gong are also on the festival’s agenda.
The festival, titled “Old forest night”, promotes the cultural traditions of the Central Highlands gong, recognised as “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritages of Humanity” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation in November 2006.


During the festival Vice State President Doan also opened the Central Highlands Exhibition-cum-Fair 2007 with the participation of 136 businesses.
The Vice President attended the launch of a special set of stamps on the cultural tradition and history of the Central Highlands gongs. (Source: VNA)

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