Living Treasures of the Central Highlands

Keeping the spirit of the mountains alive through music

In Dieng Du Hamlet, Quang Tan Commune, village elder Điểu Dớ has dedicated his life to the sounds of gongs and lithophones — the sacred instruments of the M’nông people. In his village, only a handful of people still know how to play the lithophone, and he is among those few. Fearing the loss of his people’s identity, Điểu Dớ patiently teaches the younger generation — including his daughter Thị San, now a high school student who can already play both gong and lithophone with skill, continuing her father’s passion and the music of the mountains.

During every festival season, he can be found tuning gongs and guiding the youth on rhythm and tone. “To preserve the gong is to preserve the soul of the people,” he says. For him, every note carries the voice of ancestry — a bridge between past and present, and a prayer for peace and prosperity in the village.

Similarly, artisan Thị Py Ơn from N’Jang Lu Hamlet, Duc An Commune, devotes her days to teaching M’nông folk songs to children and young people. Now in her sixties, she still teaches without chalkboards or classrooms — just her voice rising under the trees or in her small home filled with laughter and song.

“If our folk songs are no longer sung,” she says, “it means a part of our soul is lost.” Through her teaching, the melodies and breath of the highlands continue to be sown in the hearts of the young — naturally, tenderly, and with love.

Beyond her village, Thị Py Ơn is also a familiar face at district and provincial cultural festivals, where she performs and inspires others to embrace traditional music. Some songs took her nights to restore — finding original lyrics, relearning old pronunciations. For her, these melodies are not just music but the rhythm of life itself — sung in lullabies, in the fields, and during the new rice celebrations.

Preserving heritage through hands and heart

In N’R Jieng neighborhood, three generations of artisan H’Bạch’s family continue to sit by their looms. At 75, she still weaves every day, teaching her daughter H’Bình and granddaughter H’Nhàn how to select threads, set up looms, and weave intricate motifs.

From her calloused hands, threads curve into shapes of mountains, streams, birds, and deer — each pattern a memory of the Mạ people’s past. For her, weaving is not just about clothing or decoration; it is a way of telling ancestral stories and keeping her people’s identity alive.

Her daughter, H’Bình, who learned weaving as a child, is now head of a traditional brocade weaving cooperative and one of Lam Dong’s seven recognized master artisans. Their products have been showcased at festivals and exhibitions across Vietnam and abroad, becoming a source of pride for the Mạ community. “As long as I still have the strength, I will continue teaching,” says H’Bạch. “I only hope my children and grandchildren will carry on, so our people’s soul will never fade.”

The guardians of identity

Artisans like Thị Py Ơn, Điểu Dớ, and H’Bạch are true living treasures — quietly nurturing and passing on the fire of cultural pride in today’s changing world. Alongside them, village elders and respected community leaders play vital roles in guiding villagers, preserving customs, and working with local authorities to revive traditional festivals and cultural practices.

Today, local cultural departments and commune authorities are actively organizing training programs and heritage preservation projects, continuing the devotion of these artisans. Thanks to their collective efforts, the timeless values of the Central Highlands are being preserved, celebrated, and kept alive for generations to come.