THE ROLE OF HOANG VAN THUNG AS A LEADER IN SOCIAL & CULTURAL LIFE OF CO LAO PEOPLE IN TUNG SAN WARD, HOANG SU PHI DISTRICT, HA GIANG PROVINCE

Abstract

The Tay Con Linh land in Ha Giang province is the home of many ethnic groups such as Nung, La Chi, Hmong, Dao, Co Lao, and Hoa. Among them, Co Lao ethnic group belongs to the Kadai language group (Thai - Ka Dai language family) which still preserves their material and spiritual cultural values, strongly expressed through clothes, wedding customs, funerals and beliefs, traditional knowledge about medicinal plants as well as health care... These resuts shows that the process of cultural change has taken place in the Co Lao area, but slower than other ethnic groups residing in the region. In particular, an unique activity is the worship to Hoang Van Thung - a leader figure who is said to be the protector of the villagers still be celebrated every year by the Co Lao people in Ta Chai village, Tung San commune, Hoang Su Phi district. Based on some documents of "The survey on the cultural life of the Lo Lo and the Co Lao in Ha Giang province in 2017", this article aimed to mention the role and influence of Hoang Van Thung for the cultural and spiritual life of Co Lao people, in relation to their co-residence ethnic groups