The 2007 Tay Nguyen Gong Cultural Festival is scheduled to be held in Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak province, from November 21-24. The aim is to help the Tay Nguyen provincial authorities and cultural researchers realize the values of gong culture so that they can adopt measures to preserve and promote its development. To this end, the Tay Nguyen Gong Culture has been recognized by UNESCO as an oral cultural heritage.

Gong-a linkage between communities

The Tay Nguyen gong constitutes one of several important factors in the traditional culture of the various ethnic minorities living in the central highlands.

For Tay Nguyen people, a gong is considered the most sacred and valuable thing in each family or clan. It reflects the cultural characteristics and links the members of the family, clan and village together.

For many years, gongs have been closely associated with the life of central highlanders.

Ama Cong, who has lived in Buon Don (Don Hamlet) - a famous tourist destination of Tay Nguyen - for more than 90 years, said that for Tay Nguyen people, the gong sound is associated with each stage of life.  In the ceremony of blowing the ear for a newborn child, the sound of a gong serves to declare the offical acceptance of a new community member. When he or she is old enough to get married, in the ceremony of exchanging necklace, the gong sound is a reminder to the new couple to observe their family and community traditions. The sound is so deep that it seems to ring only once in one's life. When beasts are destroying crops or a war rages, the gong seems to urge young people to dash to the battlefield and struggle for the survival of the community. If the gong sounds joyful and fast, it heralds a victory or the ceremony of killing a buffalo. When the gong sounds slow, sinister and heavy, then it carries news of a human death.

Current status

The Tay Nguyen gong culture has been described as unique, but many central highlanders have turned a blind eye to it.

Associate Professor Dr Dang Viet Bich who has spent many years researching the Tay Nguyen gong culture lists the three causes leading to what he calls the gong’s “bleeding” issue.

Firstly, in the context of a modern society as the structure of the original society, the sound of gong beats seem to be less frequently heard.

Secondly, practicality has been part of people’s lifes. When they are poor, if any one offers a lot of money for a gong or a set of gongs, they are ready to sell it.

Thirdly, as society becomes more modern, young people prefer modern musical instruments to gongs, they want to listen to Western music or modern Vietnamese music instead of the sound of gongs. For many young ethnic people, they think it is stylish to play western musical instruments, sing western songs or the songs of the King people who are in the majority.

Associate Professor Dr Ngo Van Doanh agrees that many young ethnic people have turned their heads against the gong culture. “Sometimes, they have even dared to use the gongs to play modern music,” says Dr Doanh.

According to Dr Doanh, other reasons leading to the disappearance of the gongs was the introduction of the Protestant Church.

“Wherever the Protested Church is spread, the gong culture vanishes,” says Dr Doanh.

Measures

The Tay Nguyen Gong Cultural Space is a very important part of mankind’s oral culture heritage. The sound of the gong is the pride of the Tay Nguyen highlanders in particular and of the Vietnamese people in general.

There are different measures that could be taken to preserve the Tay Nguyen gong culture. The first is to make the people, particularly those of the ethnic minority groups, understand the need of keeping the gong culture alive.

In order to do that we should promote the Tay Nguyen Gong Culture to make everyone aware of its values and also the need to preserve this cultural heritage.

The second measure is to conduct further research and gain deeper knowledge about the value of gong culture and then tell the general public about it.

The third measure is the documentation of research, which could be in the form of museums, documentaries, CD – ROMs, festivals and clubs.

The 2007 Tay Nguyen Gong Cultural Festival to be held in Dak Lak from November 21-24, 2007 is a good example. The festival is an occasion for Tay Nguyen people to promote their culture to other parts of the country. It is also an occasion to remind everyone that it is their duty to preserve the Tay Nguyen Gong Culture.