(VOVworld) – The M’nong have a system of diverse epics. The “Ot N’Rong”, the oldest epic, reflects the social history of the M’nong. Vietnam’s cultural researcher have worked with localities to collect and preserve the M’nong’s unique cultural values, especially their epics.

Dieu Klung and a collection of the Central Highlands epics which he was involved in the compilation

The epics of the M’nong are long narrative poems which are passed orally from generation to generation. The M’nong think some people are endowed by genies with the ability to remember many epics, which often contain tens of thousands of sentences. Dieu Klung of Tul A hamlet, Ea Wel commune, Dac Lac province is one of the most famous epic tellers of the M’nong. At over 70 years of age, he still remembers by heart about 100 epics. Dieu Klung said: “We don’t know when the epics originated. There are neither historical documents nor written epics. I learned them by word of mouth. When I was young, I followed my parents to listen to people telling epics.”

Professional epic tellers must remember many epics and not mistake the events and facts of the epics. They must have an emotive voice to appropriately express the contents. When telling an epic, the teller often reclines with eyes closed or unfocused, a hand on his forehead to concentrate his mind and emotion.

Dieu Klung (center) performs an epic for reseachers

M’nong epics are long poems that discuss many issues. They form an encyclopedia of the M’nong’s conception of the universe, genies, beliefs, community relationships, and customs. Epics reflect the history of the community, their conquest of nature, their hatred of war, their love of peace, and their aspiration to build a better life.

Because the narrative epics are verbally transmitted and most of the tellers are now old, the preservation of the epics has become a pressing issue. Vietnam has asked UNESCO to recognize Central Highlands epics as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and the Ot N’Rong of the M’nong as the world’s longest epic.

Since 2005 the Vietnamese Culture Research Center in cooperation with localities, has organized classes to teach the epics to young people. Luong Thanh Son, Director of the Dac Lac Museum of Ethnicity, said: “There are many ways to preserve epics. When I visited Chu M’gar district, Dac Lac province, I learned that the local M’nong have made an effort to teach their children the epics. They consider senior epic tellers living treasures. Preservation within the community is the most effective way, so it’s important to make them understand the need to preserve their culture and tradition.”

Epics play an important part in the life of the M’nong because they concern their roots, culture, and tradition.