Muong

▪ people

      ethnic minority in Vietnam, located in the mountainous area southwest of Hanoi. Considered the only surviving descendants of the early Vietnamese, the Muong, unlike the lowland northern Vietnamese, have been little influenced by the Chinese. They staged unsuccessful rebellions against the French-ruled Vietnamese in 1822, 1833, and in the 1880s. Their language, called Muong, is a subset of the Vietic branch of Mon-Khmer, a language family of Austroasiatic stock. They numbered about 1,100,000 in the late 20th century.

      The Muong social structure is patrilineal and has as its foundation the extended family; only males own property. Originally, the Muong had an organized feudal system of landed nobility (including a headman for territorial units) and a peasant class. Although the upper classes still have some privileges over the peasant class, today private ownership of land has gradually replaced ownership by the nobility.

      The Muong economic base is agrarian; wet rice is grown on terraced land, and dry rice is also cultivated. They raise pigs, oxen, buffalo, and chickens; hunting is done in order to provide meat for festivals. The Muong gather wood and cinnamon for trade. They live in clusters of 10–25 houses, portions of which are used to hold animals and store crops. A number of their towns have become trading centres. The Muong practice a religious animism, worshiping ancestral and supernatural spirits, many of which are also recognized by the northern Vietnamese.

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