(VOVworld) - In Vietnam, the Viet people have their unique culture, including communal festivals and religious belief. On today’s edition of Colorful Vietnam-Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups, VOV reporter Lan Anh visits the Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi.

The small exhibition corner showcasing the Viet people in the Museum of Ethnology is about 20 square meters, but has a nice arrangement of items. Hoang Minh Nguyet of the museum’s education division explains: “This is the section about the Viet people, who are associated with the wet rice and village culture. Village is an administrative unit as well as cultural, political, economic and social center”.

From time immemorial, the Viet people have settled in villages and each village has a boundary, pathways, alleys and places of worshipping. The villages are situated in the low land near rivers and streams. That’s why the Viet people’s traditional occupations are wet rice cultivation and fishing.  “Vietnam has favorable topography: more than 3,000 km of coastline and zigzagging canals. So fishing has developed and the production of fishing tools has thrived as well. There are special bamboo cages called đó to catch fish. There are other tools to catch crabs and eels”.

The museum displays traditional Viet craft such as conical hat making, bronze casting, pottery, and lacquer. “Chuong village is famous for its conical hats. The hats are made of Lui leaves. After being dried, the green leaves turn white and wavy. The artisans skillfully sew the leaves with silk threads. Then the leaves are painted with oil. The conical hats are closely associated with the Vietnamese women. 300 years ago, the hats were flat and large in diameter. Over the past 100 years, they have had the conical shape to match new living conditions”.

Viet houses are harmoniously integrated into nature, focusing on the position of land. Houses differ through regions, but share some similarities. Vu Thi Thanh Tam is from the Research Division of the Museum of Ethnology:  “Usually, a house of the Viet people comprises a main chamber, an a secondary chamber, a kitchen, a cattle raising area, an orchard and a large courtyard. The house at the museum has a very large courtyard because its owners are rich and the yard is used to dry rice. There is also a herbal garden in each house. The Viet people also build a tank to hold rain water”.

An altar is placed in the main chamber. “This is the altar of the head of a clan. There is a throne, where titles conferred by the king are placed. In the middle is a tray of fruits surrounded by other offerings. The Viet people’s altar always contains 5 elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. The incense burner is made of metal, wooden ware represents wood, liquor represents water, candle symbolizes fire, and a pottery vase typifies earth”.

 The museum showcases the Viet ritual of worshipping of the Mother Goddess. The mother plays a very important role in every family: “The 3 statues here represent 3 mother goddesses who oversaw 3 regions. The Goddess of Sky is in the middle, the Goddess of Mountain is on the left and the Goddess of Earth is on the right”.

The Viet people believe they can communicate with the Gods through a human medium who goes into a trance during a ritual.