Dien Bien is a province located in the Northwest mountainous region. This land is home and the convergence of 19 ethnic minorities who live together. Each of them possesses distinct traditional cultural traits that reflect their ethnic identity. In October 2023, the Vietnamese Institute for Musicology organized a field collection trip to record and film various genres of folk music from the Thai, H’Mong, and Khơ Mú peoples in the Mường Chà and Mường Ảng districts, as well as in Dien Bien city.
The H’Mong in Dien Bien are comprised of five branches: Mông trắng (Môngz Đơư), Mông Hoa (Môngz Lênhs), Mông đỏ (Môngz Si), Mông Đen (Môngz Đuz), and Mông Xanh (Môngz Dua). In Nậm Chan 2 mountainous village in Mường Đăng commune, Mường Ảng district, there are currently 398 Mông Đen (Môngz Đuz) residents. This is a high mountainous area with treacherous terrain, and transportation is very difficult. It can be said that Nậm Chan is one of the rare places and locations that still maintains the rich cultural heritages of the Mông Đen (Môngz Đuz). In this region, the staff of the Vietnamese Institute for Musicology collected, recorded, and filmed various pieces of Kềnh music, pieces performed by different types of flutes (horizontal flutes, vertical flutes), kèn lá (a musical instrument made from leaves), as well as lullabies and songs of sharing feelings and emotions. Notably, at the current period, the Mông Đen (Môngz Đuz) in Nậm Chan mountainous village, Mường Đăng commune, Mường Ảng district still preserve and maintain the pipe singing style - two peoples at each end communicate and sing repartee songs through two bamboo tubes connected by a long string.

The Thai people in Dien Bien have a unique social activity called Hạn Khuống - a traditional repartee singing practice. Nowadays, this form of activity is rarely organized. The Vietnamese Institute for Musicology recorded and filmed pieces from a Hạn Khuống activity night and several musical performances featuring traditional instruments like the tính tẩu, the pí (flute), nhị (two-stringed fiddle), and others that were played during rituals and daily entertainment among the Thai people here.
The Kho Mu people in Dien Bien have a smaller population in comparison with the Mong and Thai people. Nowadays, many forms of traditional folk music of the Kho Mu have been blended with the music of the Kinh and Thai people, and there is a trend of rapid decline with regard to the number of these forms of traditional folk music. During this collection trip, the Vietnamese Institute for Musicology recorded and filmed a small number of folk songs belonging to the Tom singing style - a narrative singing form that is used in various social contexts such as singing indoors and in the fields; as well as dances like the tăm đao dance and the tệ khriệp dance (dance with bamboos) of the Kho Mu people in Dien Bien.

It can be said that the folk songs and music which were collected, recorded, and filmed by the Vietnamese Institute for Musicology during this field collection trip will serve as valuable resources, contributing to the research, conservation, and promotion of the cultural heritage of ethnic groups in Vietnam in general and in Dien Bien province in particular.

NGUYEN THUY TIEN