Hanoi - Museum of Ethnology

Vietnam was ruled by China for a long period of time. Like China, Vietnam also has a lot of ethnic groups. The Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi offers to showcase the 54 different groups in a very interesting set up. It presents the 54 ethnic groups in seven ethnolinguistic groups: Viet-Muong, Tay-Thai, Kadai, Hmong-Yao, Sino-Tibetan, Mon-Khmer, and Austronesian. Each ethnic group maintains its own distinctive cultural features but also share some similarities. This creates a common culture of diversity and unity.

The exhibits in the Ethnology Museum are shown both exterior and interior. Outside, full scale replica of houses of different tribes are displayed. Visitors can go inside the houses to experience and imagine the living of the various ethnic groups.

We started the visit with the houses of different tribes. One of the most spectacular tribe houses is the Bahnar communal house. The height reaches 19 metres. The floor is 90m² and elevated 3m above the ground. It can be accessed via 4 staircases.

Traditionally, communal house serves as a meeting hall for men in a village and as a spot where rituals, celebrations, and preparation for war or defense of the village take place.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany through the German Embassy supported the finance of the construction. 42 villagers from Kon Rbang village in the Central Highlands built the communal house in 2003. The construction was based on extensive research and restored many of the traditional features that have been lost in today’s village houses.

The Ede Longhouse is another distinguished house. It accommodates several generations of the Ede clan. Whenever a girl living in a house gets married, the house is lengthened by one compartment.  “The longer the house is, the more prosperous the family is. The longest reaches 200 metres long.

The Gah of Ede Longhouse

An Ede house is divided into two main parts: the Gah and Ok. The Gah occupies one third of the total area. It is used for receiving guests, family gatherings, worshipping, displaying valuable items and  as a sleeping place for single men. The Ok was a private space for bedrooms, food preparation and storage.It was separated from the Gah by a partition.

The Ok of Ede Longhouse

Inside the house, the Ede carve images of animals such as elephants, crabs and fish. Only families who possess real elephants carve elephant images in their houses. 

An Ede Longhouse has male and female staircases. The staircase for men is almost plain and at the front of the house. The staircase for women is at the back of the house carved with images of female breasts and a crescent. 

Giarai Tomb is from the Arap sub-group of Gia Lai province. The tomb was built by 5 Arap villagers in 1988. The most striking characteristic of the tomb is large wooden sculptures encircling the tomb.  They sexually explicit figures and pregnant women are symbols of  fertility and birth.  They are intended to accompany the dead into the afterlife.

Broken or inverted serving dishes, bottles, cups and trays, and wooden models of tools are placed inside the tomb to provide the deceased with the necessities they will need in the other world. The tomb’s wooden roof is covered with a tightly plaited bamboo matting. Crowning the roof is an intricately carved openwork panel depicting the rituals that accompany the tomb and its abandonment ceremony. Once the ceremony is concluded, the tomb will be abandoned to fall to pieces.

Nice exhibits are shown in the main building. The major ethnic groups were detailed in geography, rituals, specialties, etc. Each group has its own colourful clothing. Key celebration and important events are detailed by text, photos and models. 

There is also a South Asian building.  Art, daily used necessities are displayed in a few floors.  

We were curious about transportation by local bus and asked the receptionist the information. The walk took around 10-15 minutes. We could get on the bus 14 very soon. It brought us back to Hoan Kiem Lake. Cost per person is VND7,000.  It was very cheap relative to our taxi ride in the morning, VND100,000.