Culture

What are their lives like? Different Nung subgroups differ in the design of their homes. Some build houses level with the ground, others build them on stilts. Commonly the walls are built of wattle and daub (clay plastered over a bamboo or stick framework). Roofs are usually of tile. If stilts are used to raise the house off the ground, the space under the house is often used as a barn to house poultry and other farm animals. In more progressive villages, the area under the house is used for storage, and separate barns for livestock are built some distance from the house. The front of the house is reserved for household altars and is used to entertain visitors. The back part is used for bedrooms and the kitchen.

Their villages in the past were small and scattered. Recent trends are toward larger population centers. Villages have an unplanned appearance, with narrow, winding paths between houses. Each has an altar in honor of the ancestors. Often the villages are situated on hillsides. The lowlands below the village are used for rice fields, while the steeper uplands are often burned and used for corn and vegetable crops.

Nung villages are ruled by a chief and elders. Nung people have a quite cohesive society, and are very loyal to their leaders. They consider land to be the private property of the family, particularly the family that constructed the terrace or otherwise reclaimed the land. Communal property is not the Nung custom.

Nung society is based upon the nuclear family, which is strongly patriarchal. Marriage is considered to be a commercial contract between families, and is costly to conclude. All matters concerning inheritance and marriages are considered the province of men to arrange. After marriage, a woman is completely dependent on her husband and parents-in-law. Confucianism affects the family structure, since it demands that a married woman keep a clear distance between her husband's father and brothers.

A rich treasury of literary and artistic works is the heritage of the Nung. Songs involving groups singing alternate stanzas, called sli, are very popular. On market days, all the Nung people, old and young, men and women, enjoy singing sli. Another genre is marriage songs, called co lau. Nung songs often celebrate nature, or tell stories of suffering from war, injustice and tyranny. Sli songs always have the twin themes of love and hope. Another folksong, called then, combines and harmonizes many elements, to include verse, performance, decoration, and costume.

Ceremonies are held to celebrate important events of Nung life. Weddings and funerals are mostly conducted much like the Tay people. However, since they have been influenced by Confucian customs, they often follow the ceremonies typical of the Viet (majority Vietnamese). The Confucian guide book, Tho Mai Gia Le may be consulted for details of rites and ceremonies. The Nung hold many ceremonies on an annual cycle. Going to the Fields (Lung Tung) is an important Nung ceremony, popular with all ages. It is held on the first month of the lunar year.

Livelihood Agriculture, particularly intensive rice production, is basic to the Nung economy. The Nung have a particular gift for horticulture. They are said to produce the best fruit and vegetables in Vietnam. They grow persimmons, tangerines, pear, plum, orange, pomelo, banana and other fruit trees, as well as anise, bamboo and lacquer. Garden crops include corn, sorghum, peanuts, sweet potatoes and other vegetables. But unlike groups such as the Muong, gathering, fishing, and hunting are not important activities. They do raise domestic livestock such as chickens, other poultry, pigs, horses and water buffalo. They also practice aquaculture, raising fish in farm ponds. The weaving of cloth and making of handicrafts items are important. Each woman is expected to have her own garden to grow cotton and indigo, which she hand-weaves into cloth on her own loom. The cloth is repeatedly dyed and then beaten until it takes on a glossy appearance. The subgroup called Nung An are famous as blacksmiths.

Nung are hard workers. One evidence of this is the many terraced fields and irrigation works that they have built, often with much manual labor. Their cooking is somewhat similar to their Viet neighbors, although the Nung have a fondness for food fried in pork fat.