Kinh or Viet People

Name of Ethnic Group: Kinh (Viet).
Population: About 65 million people.
Locality: These people live in all provinces but are densely clustered in the delta areas and urban centres.
Customs and Habits: The Kinh villages are usually surrounded by bamboo groves. The communal house is a place for meeting and conducting common ritual ceremonies. The Kinh also live in mud houses. They enjoy the habits of chewing betel, smoking water pipes and cigarettes, drinking tea, and eating ordinary rice.
The husband is considered the head of the family. Children take the family name of their father. The eldest son is responsible for the worship of dead parents and grandparents. Each family lineage has a temple for their forefathers and the head of the family lineage handles all common affairs.
Monogamy is observed during marriage. The family of the man approves the marriage and organizes the wedding for him. After the wedding party, the bride goes to live with her husband's family. The Kinh attach much importance to fidelity and the virtues of the bride.
They worship their ancestors and also practice Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism or Christianity to various extents.
Culture: The Kinh have a rich collection of literature which includes old tales, folk ballads, and proverbs. The written literature takes many forms such as poems, writings, books, and edicts. Song, music, sculpture, painting, dance and performance are also well developed and and popular.
Costumes:The traditional attire of the Kinh in the north is a brown pajama set for men. A four paneled robe, bra, and trousers for women, also in brown, are usually worn. In the southern delta plains, both men and women wear black pajamas. At present, the Kinh's costumes resemble western clothing.
Economy:Rice cultivation in submerged fields is the main economic activity of the Kinh. They also erect dykes and dig canals which helps in the growing of wet rice, gardening, and sericulture. They also raise cattle and poultry. Pottery production has been very developed for a long time.

Muong people

Name of Ethnic Group: Muong (Moi, Mual, Moi, Moi Bi, Au Ta and Ao Ta).
Population: More than 914,600 people.
Locality: The largest population is concentrated in Hoa Binh Province and the mountainous districts of Thanh Hoa Province.
Customs and Habits: In former days, the "lang dao" system characterized Muong society. The "lang dao" ruled the Muong regions. A head of a "muong" was a "lang cun", "lang xom", or "dao xom".
Muong marriage customs are similar to the Kinh. When a woman is giving birth to a child, her family surrounds the main ladder to the house with a bamboo fence. The child will be given a name when it is one year old. The Muong hold funerals with strict rules. Muong practice a polytheistic religion and ancestor worship.
Culture: The Muong language belongs to the Viet-Muong group. The popular literature and arts of the Moung are rich and include long poems, "mo" (ceremonial songs), folksongs, dialogue duets, proverbs, lullabies, and children's songs. The gong is a favorite musical instrument of the Muong, as are the two stringed violin, flutes, drums and pan pipes.
The Muong hold many ceremonies year round such as the Going to the Fields Ceremony ("Khuong Mua"), Praying for Rain Ceremony (during the fourth lunar month), Washing Rice Leaves Ceremony (during the seventh and eighth lunar months), and the New Rice Ritual.
Costumes: Men dress in indigo pajamas. Women wear white rectangular scarves, bras, long skirts, and short vests that are open at the front (or at the shoulders) without buttons. The skirt is complemented by a very large silk belt embroidered with various motifs such as flowers, figures, dragons, phoenixes, deer, and birds.
Economy: The Muong have practiced farming for a long time. Wet rice is their main food staple. Other family income is generated through the exploitation of forest products including mushrooms, dried fungus, ammonium, and sticklac. Muong handicrafts include weaving, basketry, and silk spinning. Muong women are known to be very skilled at loom weaving.