Final report
GGSGES seeds research funding program for construction of global environmental study basis
(Year 2018-2019)
Study on the change of functional usage in community houses of Katu ethnic group in Nam Dong district, Vietnam and preliminary recommendation for their
preservation and improvement April 2019
Research team
Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tung, Hue University of Sciences Dr. Truong Hoang Phuong, Hue University of Sciences
Ma. Tran Duc Sang, Vietnamese Institute for Art and Cultural Studies, Branch in Hue city
Ma. Nguyen Huu An, Hue University of Sciences
Ma. Tran Thi Thuy Huong, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry Prof. Hiroshide Kobayashi. GSGES, Kyoto University
Assoc. Prof. Miki Yoshizumi, CoHHO, Kyoto University (người cố vấn) (người cố vấn)
Contents
Page
Contents 2
List of tables 3
List of figures 3
Research title and research members 4
1. Scientific background 5
2. Objectives and Methods 6
3. Situation and evaluation of ecotourism in Thua Thien Hue province 6 4. Overview on Nam Dong district, Thua Thien Hue Province 12
5. Change of functional usage in community house 17
6. Conclusion 28
7. Reference 29
8. Appendix 31
List of Tables
Page Table 5.1:Information of 26 interviewees and surveyed community houses 17
Table 5.2:Twenty surveyed community houses 19
Table 5.3:Current activities in community house of Katu ethnic minority 24 Table 5.4:Differences between current community house and traditional community house 26
List of Figures
Figure 3.1:Distribution of eight main groups and the Katu ethnic minority 8 Figure 3.2:Layout of traditional Katu hamlet 9 Figure 3.3: Katu hamlet in A Tieng commune, Tay Giang district, Quang Nam province
9
Figure 3.3: Guol Patah (left), Guol Cho ri moc (middle), and Guol Duon (right) 11 Figure 4.1:Typical forms of the traditional community house in Nam Dong district in the past
17
Figure 3.3:Community house in A Rang hamlet, Thuong Quang commune 21 Figure 3.4:Community houses in A Xang hamlet, Thuong Long commune (old house is on the left side and new house on the right side)
22
Figure 5.5:Community house in Ta Ring hamlet in 2017 (left photo) and in 2019 (right photo)
23
Figure 5.6:Door is locked in Cha Mang hamlet, Thuong Lo commune 24 Figure 5.7:Local people are relaxing in Ta Lu hamlet, Thuong Nhat commune 24 Figure 5.8:Class in A Tin hamlet, Thuong Nhat commune 25 Figure 5.9:Weaving in Panoong hamlet, Huong Son commune 25 Figure 5.10:Difficult points for preservation of traditional community house 27 Figure 5.11:Ideas for future activities in the community house 27
Research title
Study on the change of functional usage in community houses of Katu ethnic group in Nam Dong district, Vietnam and preliminary recommendation for their preservation and improvement
Research members:
Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tung, Hue University of Sciences Dr. Truong Hoang Phuong, Hue University of Sciences
Ma. Tran Duc Sang, Vietnamese Institute for Art and Cultural Studies, Branch in Hue city
Ma. Nguyen Huu An, Hue University of Sciences
Ma. Tran Thi Thuy Huong, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry Prof. Hiroshide Kobayashi. GSGES, Kyoto University
Assoc. Prof. Miki Yoshizumi, CoHHO, Kyoto University
1. Scientific background
Viet Nam has 54 officially recognized ethnic groups of which 53 ethnic minorities account for about 14% of the total population. Among them, the Katu is the biggest minority group in Central Vietnam with the population of around 50,000 people. The live in the mountainous inland of Central Vietnam including Quang Nam province (Nam Giang, Dong Giang and Tay Giang districts) and the rest live in Thua Thien Hue province (Nam Dong and A Luoi districts) along the border to Laos.
In Katu ethnic group, the traditional community house named Guol plays an important role for their lifestyle, spirit and culture. However, since “Doi Moi” period began in 1986, the State’s policies on mountainous and rural regions and the influence of various cultures have led to the change of Katu identity including traditional community houses. In Nam Dong district, Thua Thien Hue province, some reconstruction projects using new materials have recently caused for rapid disappearance of many traditional community houses. Normally, these reconstructed projects built community house without any linkage with local people. According to our previous researches, leave roofs become decayed easily under revere climate, meanwhile, the Katu ethnic people feel pleased to get the modern tools and technique of Kinh people for construction work. Besides that, the Prime Minister of Vietnamese government decided to forbid all activities relating exploiting forest on July 2016. This has conducted a difficulty to collect good quality wood for constructing traditional community house. There are reasons why some traditional, mixed and modern types have been coexisted in each hamlet up till now.
Besides, the functional usage of those traditional community houses have been changed while, the young generation of the Katu becomingly forget their own traditional and unique culture. This conducts the gradual loss of tangible and intangible values of the Katu ethnic group in the near future. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the situation of cultural change of the Katu based on the survey of functional usage of traditional community houses. In addition, a study on situation of policies about forest management should be added. Then, a suggestion for revised policy for mountainous of traditional community houses can be provided.
In addition, there is a traditional community house has been constructed in AKA hamlet, Thuong Quang commune, Nam Dong district. This project is based on a cooperation between Kyoto Univ. (KU), Hue Univ. of Sciences (HUS), Vietnam Institute for Art and Cultural Studies (VICAS), and Nam Dong district. The community
house is constructed following traditional way of the Katu ethnic people. Thus, the project should be a great opportunity to record traditional skill and process to build traditional community house. A workshop should be organized to report traditional process for construction of traditional community house. Beside that, constructed guideline and online map of Guol house can be shared and transferred to local people and local government for their management and improvement of traditional and unique values.
2. Objectives and Methods
There are 3 objectives of the research as follows:
- Evaluate situation about culture, society, architecture and policies (forest management and construction regulation) of the Katu ethnic group in Nam Dong district, Thua Thien Hue province;
- Explore the change of functional usage in traditional community houses; and - Provide preliminary recommendations for sustainable preservation and valuable improvement of traditional community houses in specific and the Katu ethnic group in general.
There are two kinds of documents are applied for solving the objectives:
There are two kinds of documents are applied:
- Secondary documents are conducted to obtain the background, history and situation of the Katu ethnic group in Thua Thien Hue province, especially in Nam Dong district. These documents are legal documents, reports, newspapers, magazines, basic maps and other forms of relevant data.
- Primary documents are derived from field survey in Nam Dong district. Location of community houses in each hamlet will be marked for making online map. Meanwhile, key persons (patriarchs and hamlet leaders) will be interviewed to collect information about functional usage of community houses in past and present.
3. Overview on the Katu ethnic minority
The Katu is the ethnic minority among 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, who has the Katuic language sub-group, belonging to Mon – Khmer language group, South Asia system, distributing along North Truong Son mount with ethnic groups of Ta Oi, Bru – Van Kieu from Quang Tri, Thua Thien–Hue provinces to Quang Nam province and
neighboring areas in Laos (Figure 3.1). In Vietnam, to 2009, there are approximately 61,588 people. In terms of population, the Katu ethnic minority ranks the 26thamong 54 ethnic minorities of Vietnam. According to the Census in 2009, Quang Nam province had 45,715 Katu ethnics ranking the 2ndafter Kinh people; Thua Thien–Hue province had 14,629 people living mainly in Nam Dong and A Luoi districts. In addition, there are the Katu ethnics who live in Se Koong and Xalavan provinces of South Laos with the number of 14,700.
Ethnic identity is the essential criterion to locate a community as an independent group. The Katu ethnic minority has many transcriptions and names as follows: Co tu, Katu, Kato, Kha Tu, Phuang, Ha, A sap, A Pang, Attouat, Nguon Ta, and so on. Among them, the name “Co tu” is primarily used in administrative documents of the government, and the name “Katu” appeared in the studies of domestic and foreign researchers with different interpretations.
Le Pichon (1938) said “Katu” really is not intended to refer to ethnic identity, which is referred to the wild [5]. Ta Duc (2002) suggested it is more likely that Katu is the old name of the Katu ethnics [11]. According to the residents’ interpretation Katu literally means people living in water-heads and above ("Ka" means people, "tu" is water-head), and this name derived from long-standing residential custom of this ethnic minority.
Nguyen Huu Thong (2004), Luu Hung (2006) traced the interpretation of the meaning of ethnic minority’s name as well as comparing with the cases used in their daily language to determine that: the word "tu" in the Katu language is to indicate the position of the tips, such as "tu long" means tree top, "tom tu" means speaking from start to the end, "tu dak" means water-head [6, 7]. The word "coh" is to indicate the direction and azimuth. The combination of the words "coh" and "tu" is the palatable interpretation in the meaning of association in order to identify the residential area directs “coh” water-head “tu”. In addition, the data that in pronunciation of the word
“coh”, people tilt in towards the sound “a” rather than “o”, therefore in this case, instead of calling “Co tu”, Nguyen Huu Thong chooses the pronunciation of the Katu, with the meaning of water-head. From the above analysis, in this thesis, the author uses the name Katu by name popularly used in domestic and foreign science books.
Figure 3.1:Distribution of eight main groups and the Katu ethnic minority (Source: Vietnam Geographic Atlat with added illustration by Truong Hoang Phuong)
The traditional hamlet of the Katu ethnics is call “Vel” or “Buol” in the Katu language. This hamlet can be one-way walk from that one. A Vel often has 20 to 30 dwelling houses, with the number of approximately of 150 to 250 members (Figures 3.2 and 3.3). They reside closely to each other; this house is only some-meter distance form that one. When establishing the hamlet, the residents always choose high and dry place, rather flat, at water-head or near the stream, but always lower than water source to make gutter for water use. Each Vel has separated boundary; the boundary can be a mountain, a waterfall, a stone jetty or a forest. The traditional Katu hamlet is dependent and relatively closed; it is restricted with surround bamboo or wooden fence with the height from 1.5 m to 2 m to prevent the wild animals and strangers. Therefore, the Katu hamlet can be considered as the characterized type of “defense hamlet”. Each hamlet is a social unit, a community which owns land and natural resources, as well as being a community in cultural activities. The Katu hamlet consists of the families gathering together, and depending on terrain, it can have the shape of circle, long or crescent.
N
Nam Dong Dong Giang Tay Giang Nam Giang
Figure 3.2:Layout of traditional Katu hamlet (Source: [10])
Figure 3.3:Katu hamlet in A Tieng commune, Tay Giang district, Quang Nam province (Source: [12])
The main direction of the house is frequently towards the yard in the middle. In the right middle of the yard is the traditional community house. In front of the traditional community house, there is a buffalo-stabbing pole. Sometimes, there are cases that the traditional community house is located at the end of the yard or in the same direction of housing. Each Katu hamlet has its own territory, land for living, cultivation land, daily use water source, cemetery for burring the dead, and forests to exploit forest products and raise cattle. The existence time of a hamlet is not stable, not permanent. Due to the shifting cultivation characteristics, the hamlet is frequently moved from this place to that one. “Longevity” of the hamlet depends on the natural condition, epidemic disease.
If the back luck comes many times like epidemic diseases of many bad deaths, they will look for the new land as they think the old position make the gods not pleased.
Similar to the “Dinh” of Kinh people, “Rong” of Gia Lai, Ba Na ethnics and so on, the traditional community house of the Katu ethnics plays a vital role in cultural life of this ethnic minority and is the symbol of the Katu hamlet. The traditional community house in the Katu language means “common property of hamlet”. Previously, each Katu hamlet had a traditional community house. Within the scope of hamlet land, the traditional community house was frequently erected in the central, high and dry position in order to observe the whole hamlet, as well as gathering the hamlet residents when there are eventuality or joint activities. The traditional community house is always the biggest and the most important building in the Katu hamlet with the contribution of the whole hamlet. Through the shape and size of the traditional community house, it can be recognized how big, powerful and talented the hamlet is. Most activities take place here.
The Katu ethnic groups in Quang Nam province have some different classifications of the traditional community house.
Based on scope, decorative art and architecture of the two gables, Luu Hung, an ethnographer divided the traditional community house (Guol) into the following types:
(1) Guol Apooc: This Guol is the smallest type, covered with double-splitted neohouzeaua (a kind of bamboo); the two gables are round and straight without decorative sculpture.
(2) Guol Adhu: the two gables are imitated crescent and the head is circle likeRon vegetable (a local vegetable that grows on the mountain); the roof is covered with thatch or palm leaves; the partition is wattle or double-knitted neohouzeaua. This Guol has few decoration and and sculptures.
(3) Guol Azee:This Guol has the same decoration of the two gables as Guol Adhu;
the roof is covered with thatch, rattan or palm leaves; Its floor and partitions are made with vertical wooden boards, and the house has many decorations and sculptures.
(4) Guol Ga-ning la-lua:the partitions are made with horizontal wooden board and the upper part of the partitions is uncovered The house has many decorations and sculptures
(5) Guol Ga-ning co-rnooch: This Guol is the most beautiful and sophisticated type and has many decorative patterns, sculptures inside, outside and on the top of the roof.
According to patriarch Briu Pram in B’hoong hamlet, Song Kon commune, Dong
Giang district, Quang Nam province, based on the height of residential topography, the Katu ethnic minority has the three following types of the traditional community house (Figure 3.3):
(1) Guol Duon: This Guol has circle shape, upturned-conical hat shape roof, popular in the Katu hamlet in the low region.
(2) Guol Cho ri moc: This Guol has trapezoid shape, rounded at the two sides of gables, popular in the Katu hamlet in the middle region.
(3) Guol Patah:This Guol has the valuable timber roof, popular in the Katu hamlet in high region.
Figure 3.3: Guol Patah (left), Guol Cho ri moc (middle), and Guol Duon (right) Source: [12] (left and right photos) and Truong Hoang Phuong (middle photo)
Thus, the Katu ethnic minority has different types of the traditional community house. Whatever the type is, the traditional community house of the Katu ethnic minority is the medium house on stilts (from 6-meter to 7-meter height from the ground to the top of the roof). The curved roof is in the two sides of gables (shape of tortoise-shell), and the floor has oval shape. The house is made on the basis of wooden force-bearing frame; especially there is a central pillar (called father pillar) in the middle of the house, popped straight to the top, and it surrounded by many main pillars (called mother pillars) and lean-to pillars (called children pillars). The shape of roof and the central pillar are the distinctive features between the traditional community house of the Katu ethnic minority and“Rong”of Ba Na, Xo Dang and Gia Lai ethnic minorities.
According to Luu Hung [6], this is a relatively special structure, along Truong Son – Tay Nguyen, such structure can only be seen in the traditional community house of the Katu ethnic minority. The form of erecting central pillar in the middle of the house evokes the harmonious association of the layout of traditional hamlet with a traditional community house in the center previously. It also embodies the prestigious hamlet patriarch, and is a symbol for the hamlet strength.
In the traditional community house, the popular number of main pillar and lean-to pillars is six. In the Katu ethnics’ conception, even number is considered the good
number. This reflects the dualistic thinking (dialectical thinking of the original) and attaches with the desire for balance, harmony and fertility of the universe. More specifically, the Katu ethnics adore number 6. There is an explanation that number 6 is the sum of number 2 and number 4. The number 2 represents the women, tied to the two-leg animals; number 4 is the number of men, associated with 4-leg animals. The number 7, the sacred number of Ede, Jarai is considered relevant to the moon, to the dominant symbol of the moon rituals in Ede, Jarai, and number 6 of the Katu ethnics deeply relates to dominant symbol of the sky and circle in a variety of cultural factors as we have seen [11].
The traditional community house has many stoves, but the most popular type is the two stoves symmetrically located either sides of the main pillar, one for hamlet residents and one for guests. These stoves have the great meaning to the hamlet residents’ activities; they are not only used for heating, smoking for anti-timber-boring worm, cooking, creating light for activities but also have sacred religious significance, an expression of life, vitality of the hamlet.
4. Overview on Nam Dong district, Thua Thien Hue Province
Thua Thien-Hue Province is located in Central Viet Nam. It is next to Quang Tri Province to the north, Danang to the south, and Quang Nam Province to the south-west.
This province leans up against the Truong Son mountain range and is washed by the East Sea. The province also accommodates the Tam Giang-Cầu Hai Lagoon, the largest lagoon in Southeast Asia, which has 68 km in length with 22,000ha of water surface.
Thua Thien Hue comprises four different zones: a mountainous area, hills, plains and lagoons separated from the sea by sandbanks. It has 128 km of beaches. The mountains, covering more than half the total surface of the province, are along the west and southwest border of the province.
Nam Dong is one of the two districts in Thua Thien - Hue province which has the high rate of ethnic accounting for high number with the population of around 10,600 (according to Nam Dong annual publication in 2010, the ethnic minority makes up around 43% of the population of the district) (table 4.1). Among them, Katu - the biggest ethnic minority group in Central Vietnam, make up the overwhelming majority and live mainly in 6 communes including Thuong Lo, Huong Son, Thuong Nhat, Huong Huu, Thuong Long and Thuong Quang.
Table 4.1:Population ratio of Kinh and Katu in 6 communes in Nam Dong
(Source: Office of ethnic minority- People’s Committee of Nam Dong District)
Before 1975, Nam Dong District nowadays belonged to District 4 including 8 communes: Thuong Nhat, Thuong Quang, Thuong Long, Thuong Lo, Huong Huu, Huong Son, Huong Nguyen and Huong Lam. After 1975, Nam Dong district was newly established on the basis of 6 communes of previous District 4 (Thuong Nhat, Thuong Quang, Thuong Long, Thuong Lo, Huong Huu, Huong Son) and three new- economy communes consisting of Huong Loc (belonged to former Phu Loc), Huong Phu (Huong Thuy), Huong Giang (Hue City). Huong Lam and Huong Nguyen Communes were then incorporated into A Luoi District. In 1997, Nam Dong became a part of Phu Loc District, Binh Tri Thien Province. In 1989, after being separated into Thua Thien - Hue Province from Binh Tri Thien Province, Nam Dong District was split from Phu Loc District including 9 communes (6 communes of Katu minority) and three new- economy communes. Until 1994, because of the establishment of district capital, Huong Loc Commune was divided into three units including Huong Loc, Huong Hoa and Khe Tre town. Therefore, nowadays, Nam Dong has the total of 11 administrative units with 10 communes and 1 town.
The origin of the Katu ethnic group in Nam Dong district is closely related to the Katu ethnic group in Quang Nam province and Laos. Besides the Katu ethnics who have lived in Nam Dong district for a long time such as in Thuong Lo, Thuong Quang, and Huong Huu communes, a number of the Katu ethnics have settled in Thuong Nhat and Thuong Long communes since the early 1970s. Some came from Quang Nam province, while others came from Laos, for example, the Katu ethnics in Huong Son commune.
The four remaining communes and Khe Tre town are the main residential areas of the Kinh people, who have settled since 1975 under the New Economic Zone Planning Project. The Katu ethnics in Nam Dong district have lived in the low mountainous areas by the government's policy of settlement redistribution of ethnic minorities; thus, they
No Commune Area (km2) Total population Katu population
1 Thuong Lo 106.4 1,222 1,143
2 Huong Son 43.8 1,386 1,386
3 Thuong Nhat 114.1 2,043 1,906
4 Huong Huu 9.9 2,577 2,483
5 Thuong Long 51.3 2,483 2,386
6 Thuong Quang 156.3 1,906 1,064
live near Kinh people and the district center. As a result, they have been much affected by modern living styles, and they can inquire about the latest farming techniques as well. In addition to tilling and hunting, their main income in recent years is from wet rice, other food plant cultivation, cattle breeding and industrial plantation (rubber and acacia trees); therefore, their quality of life and intellectual standards have been rapidly improved. Changes in lifestyle have led to changes in the residential forms. The Katu hamlets in the Nam Dong district are currently located near the roads and on even and flat terrain. Consequently, traditional dwelling houses on stilts are no longer necessary and have been replaced by the houses on earth (like the Kinh people’s), which are built with new materials. Thus, the hamlet residents must not mind collecting replacement materials; furthermore, this type of house is suitable for modern furniture, which is reason why so far, the Katu ethnic groups in Nam Dong district have been losing their traditional community houses.
Among the projects invested in Nam Dong district from the past until now, the community house construction is one of the main targets of the project. These community houses help the hamlet residents organize the public activities. Depending on the conditions of the project and the characteristics of each commune, the number of hamlets in these communes participating in these projects would be different. One common characteristic of these projects is the participation of many stakeholders such as local authorities, NGOs, and local community. Through these projects, many E-CHs (community house on earth) have been built in many hamlets of the communes in Nam Dong district. However, the different approaches of these projects have created the variation of form of the E-CHs in this area.
The previous traditional community house of the Katu in Nam Dong district was rather abundant in form, material, and there have been clear alternations through different historic periods. Based on field research in 36 Katu hamlets in Nam Dong district with the description in memory of the interviewees, collating with the collected images and documents, four primary periods of the alteration of the traditional community house can be identified as follows: before the 1960s, between the 1960s and 1970s, from the 1970s to 2000s and from 2000s till now.
According to the results of the surveys, before 1960s, when the Katu ethnics lived in the traditional hamlets in high mountainous areas, close to Quang Nam province and Laos, their traditional community houses were the most important and outstanding architectural buildings. Most of the Katu hamlets in Nam Dong district had the traditional community houses. The size, structural type, and material of the traditional
community house were determined by the scale and conditions of each hamlet. Some populous hamlets with sufficient conditions could build large traditional community houses featuring a central pillar with precious timber that symbolizes the patriarch;
other hamlets with limited capabilities could only build smaller traditional community houses; some might not have any central pillar and would be erected only with medium or low quality timber.
From the 1960s to 1970s, the Katu in Nam Dong district had to move to deep forest to avoid warfare; consequently, the traditional structure of the hamlets was changed into small parts. The traditional community houses were almost not erected as the hamlet residents had to continuously change their residence.
Between the 1970s and 2000s, the Katu ethnics moved to live in lowland, nearer to the Kinh people by the mobilization of Vietnam revolutionary government. Based on the conditions and capability of each hamlet and commune, the construction of the traditional community house in this period was gradually but not continuously restored.
In this period, the traditional community houses began to change in structure, construction technique and material use. Especially, since 1990s, the comprehensive and opening economy development policies of the Vietnam government made many projects on agricultural development, infrastructural construction, traditional cultural restoration in Nam Dong district have the cooperation of international organizations;
among them are the traditional community houses restoration projects. The traditional community houses were rebuilt in the traditional method with the financial assistance of several outside organizations.
However, since the 2000s, the physiognomy of the traditional community house has greatly changed due to the appearance of the modern community house construction projects established by the government with the financial support of international organizations. These the sub-projects belongs to projects that aim to foster the economy in mountainous areas. The construction of the modern community houses has been broadly deployed in most of the hamlets in Nam Dong district. For these construction projects, the role of hamlet residents is no longer appreciated.
These community houses were built with some designs and undertaken by outside builders. In the district leaders’ explanation, from 1990s, a few hamlets in Nam Dong were invested to build the traditional community houses by some NGOs, and these houses are being used effectively. To 2000s, although some hamlets desired to build a traditional community house, the mobilization for cooperation of the hamlet residents as well as the exploitation of traditional materials to re-erect the traditional community
house faced many challenges. In addition, the number of people who master the traditional technique of the traditional community house erection has become scarce.
Meanwhile, the policy of the local government directs that every hamlet needs to have a community house to be used for hamlet common activities as an essential cultural institution. However, the government only has the capability of establishing the modern type which is designed by outside organization. Therefore, after many meetings, the hamlet residents agreed to construct a modern community house in their hamlet.
Some of the typical traditional community houses were identified in the previous hamlets in Nam Dong district through descriptions of hamlet residents (Figure 4.1). The first type is the most popular type, including two central compartments and two semicircle- shape lean-tos with the total of 13 pillars (six main pillars, six lean-to pillars and one central pillar). The central pillar is the most important component of the traditional community house, is not only considered as the element in supporting the roof but also as the symbol of house and hamlet. As the description, the central pillar of the previous traditional community house was big, with the circumference from five to six spans(Châda), and there were often two stoves placed in the two lean-tos. There was one main entrance in front and two subsidiary entrances on the two sides. The second type is similar to the first but wider with three central compartments. The third type is the variant with the two central pillars but these are smaller ones. The fourth type does not have any central pillar and is frequently smallest. In the hamlet residents’ explanation, the limited workforce causes the disappearance of the central pillar because it is unable to collect timber for a big central pillar. The fifth type is the big circular-shape house with a very big central pillar supporting the whole roof. This type is often found in the hamlets with great workforce. Thus, this type was not widespread in the previous hamlets in Nam Dong district.
Figure 4.1:Typical forms of thetraditional community housein Nam Dong district in the past
5. Change of functional usage in community house
Table 5.1 shows 26 interviewees, who were interviewed to find the change of functional usage in community houses. Most of interviewees are old (the average age of the interviewees is 73.9, ranged from 50 to 97) and them have experienced about history and construction of community house of Katu ethnic minorities. This implies that the information derived from them can be reliable. However, there has no stilt community houses in six surveyed hamlets. Therefore 20 stilt community houses are conducted surveyed by taking photos and observation (table 5.2 and appendix 1). Besides that, community houses are mainly existed in Thuong Lo, Thuong Long, Thuong Quang, Thuong Nhat, Huong Huu and Huong Son communes. The other 3 communes (Huong Loc, Huong Hoa, Huong Phu) have no community house because they are new economic communes and have been influenced by modern style of Kinh people.
Table 5.1:Information of 26 interviewees and surveyed community houses
No. Name of
interviewee Age Location Construction
year Construction cost 1 Tran Van Dinh 73 Doi hamlet, Thuong Lo
commune 2004 30 million VND and
hamlet people’s labor
2 A Rac Chon 64 La Ho hamlet, Thuong Lo
commune 2006 169 million VND
3 Ho Trong Tinh 76 Cha Mang hamlet, Thuong Lo
commune 2006 169 million VND
4 Ho Sy Met 73 Tarung hamlet, Huong Son
commune 2004 105million VND
5 Nguyen Ngoc A
Rac 85 Panoong hamlet, Huong Son
commune 2006 210million VND
6 Tran Xuan Doi 85 A2 hamlet, Huong Son
commune 2008 180million VND
7 Tran Xuan Minh 97 La Van hamlet, Thuong Nhat
commune 2004 95.5million VND
8 Ho Van Thai 57 Ta Lu hamlet, Thuong Nhat
commune 2008 280million VND
9 Le Thanh Pong 75 A Tin hamlet, Thuong Nhat
commune 2007 250million VND
10 Ho Van Leo 88 Ta Rinh hamlet, Thuong Nhat
commune 2008 (2014) 280million VND (500
million VND)
11 Le Huu Ninh 72 Hop Hoa hamlet, Thuong Nhat commune
12 Ho Van Thi 80 A Rang hamlet, Thuong Quang
commune 2002 40 million VND
13 Ho Van Bon 76 AKA hamlet, Thuong Quang
commune 2018 125million VND
14 Ho Van Vinh 84 Ta Rau hamlet, Thuong Quang
commune 2004 105million VND
15 Hoang Xuan Mai 62 A Ro hamlet, Thuong Quang
commune 2004 145million VND
16 Nguyen Minh Liet 78 Ra Pang hamlet, Huong Huu commune
17 Nguyen Thanh
Nhan 67 Con Gia hamlet, Huong Huu commune
18 Ho Van Than 72 Rung Ghenh hamlet, Huong Huu commune
19 Quynh An 75 5 hamlet, Huong Huu commune
20 Ho Van Vinh 75 Ga Hin hamlet, Huong Huu commune
21 Ta Rung Goi 87 Ka Dong hamlet, Thuong Long
commune 2007 240million VND
22 Pham Van Tin 66 A Gon hamlet, Thuong Long
commune 2005 147million VND
23 Pham Van Kho 50 A Chieu hamlet, Thuong Long
commune 2005 147million VND
24 Ho Van Vuoc 71 A Dai hamlet, Thuong Long
commune 2007 250million VND
25 Ho Minh Teu 65 Ta Vat hamlet, Thuong Long
commune 2004 97.6million VND
26 Ho A Ray 69 A Xang hamlet, Thuong Long
commune 2003 Labor of villagers
Table 5.2:Twenty surveyed community houses
Community house in Doi hamlet, Thuong Lo commune (GIS:
577855; 1786002)
Community house in La Ho hamlet, Thuong Lo commune
(GIS: 577235; 1786520)
Community house in Cha Mang hamlet, Thuong Lo commune
(GIS: 577105; 1787758)
Community house in Ta Rung hamlet, Huong Son commune
(GIS: 572644; 1788522)
Community house in Panoong hamlet, Huong Son commune
(GIS: 572239; 1788493)
Community house in A2 (Bha Bha) hamlet, Huong Son commune (GIS: 572794;
1789129)
Community house in La Van hamlet, Thuong Nhat commune
(GIS: 573237; 1784865)
Community house in Ta Lu hamlet, Thuong Nhat commune
(GIS: 573391; 1783669)
Community house in A Tinh hamlet, Thuong Nhat commune
(GIS: 573171; 1783304)
Community house in Ta Rinh hamlet, Thuong Nhat commune
(GIS: 572706; 1782879)
Community house in A Rang hamlet, Thuong Quang commune
(GIS: 567342; 1782399)
Community house in 3 AKA hamlet, Thuong Quang commune
(GIS: 567319; 1781972)
Community house in Ta Rau hamlet, Thuong Quang commune
(GIS: 567928; 1783073)
Community house in A Ro hamlet, Thuong Quang commune
(GIS: 567164; 1782817)
Community house in Ka Dong hamlet, Thuong Long commune
(GIS: 568138; 1780879)
Community house in A Gon hamlet, Thuong Long commune
(GIS: 569162; 1781589)
Community house in A Chieu hamlet, Thuong Long commune
(GIS: 569605; 1782113)
Community house in A Dai hamlet, Thuong Long commune
(GIS: 569166; 1783200)
Community house in Ta Vat hamlet, Thuong Long commune
(GIS: 568705; 1783200)
Community house in A Xang hamlet, Thuong Long commune
(GIS: 568651; 1780878)
There are four traditional community houses, which have wooden structure, while other surveyed houses are modern style with concrete columns and sheet metal roof.
Among four traditional community house, the house in AKA hamlet (Thuong Quang commune) was constructed in 2018 based on a project collaborated among Kyoto University, Hue University of Sciences and VICAS (Hue Institute for Art and Cultural Studies). Through the project, local people constructed the house following traditional process. The traditional community house in A Rang hamlet (Thuong Quang commune) is quite unique when it has two center pillars (figure 5.3). This house was constructed in 2002 based on labors of local people and a support from outside organization (40 million VND). There is a new additional traditional community house in A Xang hamlet, Thuong Long. The new house is located next to the old one (figure 5.4) and is constructed by one local villager.
Figure 3.3:Community house in A Rang hamlet, Thuong Quang commune
Figure 3.4:Community houses in A Xang hamlet, Thuong Long commune (old house is on the left side and new house on the right side)
The other community houses of Katu ethnic minority are concrete houses. These houses have concrete columns and sheet metal roof. The beams, rafters, floor can be concrete or wood. Normally, these houses are constructed after 2004 under the support of some projects such as Netherlands Development Organization, Nordic Assistance to Vietnam, Community Based Rural Infrastructure Project and Central Livelihood Improvement Project. The supported budget is from 95.5 million VND to 280 million VND. It is interesting that The houses with smaller supported budget are constructed following traditional architecture (A Xang hamlet with no support, Doi hamlet with 30 million VND and A Rang hamlet with 40 million VND), while the houses with bigger support are usually constructed following modern architecture. Ta Ring hamlet (Thuong Long commune) has two community houses. One house was constructed in 2014 following traditional architecture under a project of Poitou Charentes, France with 500 million VND [13]. However, it was collapsed in 2018 because of hash climate and lack of preservation (figure 5.5). The second community house in this hamlet was constructed in 2008 under the support of Central Livelihood Improvement Project with 280 million VND.
We conducted the interview with 26 old local people (mainly patriarchs, leader of elderly association, and communist party). The contents of interview are about activities happening in the community house in past and present; reasons of the changes;
difficulties for preservation of traditional community houses; ideas for preservation of those houses. The following is detail of the interviews.
Figure 5.5:Community house in Ta Ring hamlet in 2017 (left photo) and in 2019 (right photo)
According to the interviews, current activities in community houses are community meeting, meetings of all association and group of the hamlet (women union, communist party, farmer association, young union, etc.), ceremonies in Tet holiday, and Great national unify (table 5.3). The community meetings are held from 4 times to 12 times per year depending on number of evens in the hamlet. Normally, all villagers join the meeting and the hamlet leader Incorporated with the secretary of communist party to organize and lead the meeting. In the meeting, plan of the hamlet will be discussed and unified. Other meetings are periodical meetings for associations or unions. However, there are three or four big evens in each hamlet, which are Tat nien(held in the end of the year), New year ceremony, ceremony for woman day, and ceremony for Dai doan ket cac dan toc (Great national unify)1. Depending on each hamlet, each villager will contribute for the even from 20.000 VND to 50.000 VND. Currently, it is rarely that hamlet organizes Buffalo sacrifice. Normally they use meat of chickens, pig, or cow for the ceremony.
In traditional community houses, every people can use as space for relaxing, taking a nap, taking a rest, etc. Meanwhile, in concrete community houses, the space inside is mainly locked and is opened when having even (figure 5.6). Normally, the hamlet leader will be the person, who keeps the key of the community house. However, in some hamlets, villagers can use the space under ground for relaxing and taking a nap (figure 5.7).
1The meaning of the Great national unify is to express a unification among all ethnic groups in Vietnam.
The day is normally happened in November.
Figure 5.6:Door is locked in Cha Mang hamlet, Thuong Lo commune
Figure 5.7:Local people are relaxing in Ta Lu hamlet, Thuong Nhat commune
Table 5.3:Current activities in community house of Katu ethnic minority
No. Activities Density Participants Organizer
1 Community meeting 4-12
times/year
All villagers Hamlet leader and secretary of communist party
2 Meeting of some unions, associations (woman union, elderly association, communist party, young union, farmer association, etc.)
4-6 times/year
Members and representative for communist party or hamlet
Leader or chairman
3 Ceremonies of community (Tet holiday, Tat nien, Great national unify, etc.)
2-4 times/year
All villagers Hamlet leader,
Patriarchs and secretary of communist party
4 Relaxing It’s
depends
All villagers
5 Class It’s
depends
Depends on the type of class
Commune or hamlet
6 Weaving 2
times/week
Woman union Spontaneous
7 Wedding party It’s
depends
All villagers Family having wedding even
In Nam Dong, the space of community houses in some hamlets is currently used as class to teach Vietnamese for old people (figure 5.8). In addition, it can be the place that
patriarch to teach young people about traditional dancing, playing gong. In Doi hamlet (Thuong Lo commune) and Panoong hamlet (Huong Son commune), the woman union organize group of female to weave in the community house (figure 5.9). Then, they can make papoose, mat and other things that can be sold. The income from this activity can be contribute to the fund of woman union and hamlet for other activities.
Figure 5.8:Class in A Tin hamlet, Thuong Nhat commune
Figure 5.9:Weaving in Panoong hamlet, Huong Son commune
According to the interviews, some activities in the traditional community house in past are similar to present such as community meetings or meeting among patriarchs, head of families, head of households when there is important events. Besides, the community house is space for relaxing of young male people, place for welcoming guest of the hamlet, and traditional ceremonies. However, there are some different activities that has not been observed at present such as trial court of customary law (resolving conflicts, violations of customary laws under the head of hamlet’s management in the presence of patriarch, the place for referendum of the community from the internal activities like manufacturing, sacrifice to the external activities like twinning, land borrowing and marital relation of different hamlets). In past, young male villagers can stay and seep all night in the traditional community house. It also has a military function regarding to defense and stronghold of the hamlet. Activities relating to culture (religion, beliefs and folklore) in the past are more than present (the ceremony for peace, for the season, a new rice ritual, victory celebration, hamlet establishment and so on) together with buffalo sacrifice ceremony, folk performance (Tung Tung – Ya Ya dances, gongs performance and so on).
There are some reasons for changing function in the community house, which are lifestyle, impact of Kinh people, and the change of location for living. In past, Katu people live on the mountain in forest. It is quite easy for them to collect material for
constructing traditional community house. At present, Katu people move to live in urban area. Thus, many factors can impact their life such as environment, geography, micro climate, etc. Change of lifestyle is also another main reason for changing function.
In past all villagers have concrete relationship each other. When the village welcome guest, each family can bring food, wine, etc. to the community house for the guest.
Besides, they always follow and implement idea of patriarch But at present, it is quite hard to gather and ask all household in the hamlet to follow idea of the patriarch. They also have many chance to observe and be influenced by Kinh people. In past, Katu people use their body modules and traditional tools for constructing traditional community house. But now, they can reach new techniques and modern tools from the Kinh for construction. That is why some interviewees mentioned about using concrete column and sheet metal roof for construction of community house.
All interviewees claim that the community house in past is more beautiful than it at present. Some of them said that they can construct traditional community house local government allow them to collect wood materials from the forest. However, 17 interviewees mention that the current house is more stable and stronger.
Table 5.4 show the differences between present community house and traditional community house. Regarding hamlets having concrete community house, the interviewees mention the traditional house in past has higher shape with more sloping roof. The materials were natural with wooden columns, bamboo wall, bamboo floor, corypha saribus (or rattan) roof. Function of traditional community house as served for village while current house is additionally served for official functions such as meeting of communist party, unions and associations. For hamlets having current wooden community house, the interviewees said that their current houses are similar to the houses in past.
Table 5.4:Differences between current community house and traditional community house
No. Content Differences
1 Shape Higher, open shape
2 Materials Wood columns, bamboo wall, corypha saribus (or rattan) roof, etc.
3 Function Females could not enter inside the community house, kitchen. In past for village, but now for official function
4 Others Pattern design
Most of interviewees said that the most difficulty to preserve the house is collecting materials such as wood, roof leave (figure 5.10). Lack of budget for preservation, few
villagers know about traditional technique for construction and local government does not care about traditional community are the gradual answers of 21, 17, and 13 interviewees.
Figure 5.10:Difficult points for preservation of traditional community house
There are some ideas for future activities in the community houses for preservation of the house (figure 5.11). 21 interviewees said that the hamlet should have more evens in the house such as meetings, relaxing, classes, etc. Through these activities, it is a chance to improve awareness for villagers about preservation of the house. Opening training courses and establishing management board should be necessarily for protection of the house (17 interviewees). Other ideas are create ecotourism (architecture of the house, traditional dancing, local food, and natural landscape can attract tourists), create library, ask for support from commune are other ideas derived from interviewees.
Figure 5.11:Ideas for future activities in the community house
6. Conclusion
The research conducted interview survey with 26 interviewees (mainly patriarchs, old people in Katu hamlets) and 20 stilt community houses (wooden and concrete community houses). Based on the results of the survey, it can be concluded some points as follows:
- Community house plays an important role for Katu hamlet. The house in the past is space for various cultural activities of hamlet in past, such as the trial court of customary; meeting space of patriarchs, head of family clan or all villagers; military function; place for traditional ceremonies including dancing, Buffalo sacrifice, and other performance. However, the function of the house have been changed under the impact of some factors such as relocation for living, change of lifestyle, decline of community linkage and influence of Kinh society. According to the interviews, the community house is currently served as community meetings, periodic meetings for some unions, organizations (woman union, young union, communist party, farmer association, elderly association, etc.). In some hamlet, the community house usually locked that local people could not enter inside. It is still used for cultural activities of the hamlet such as class, weaving, dancing, etc. but the density is not frequently. Community ceremonies can be organized 2-4 times per year, which is mainly for woman day (8March), Tất niên, Welcoming new year, and Great national unify.
- The traditional community house is more beautiful than modern community house but it is not stable as the modern house. The differences between community house in the past and present are in the materials. In the past, local villagers can get natural materials for construction such as roof leave, wooden column, bamboo wall, etc. At present, it is hard to collect wood and other materials. Function of the community house is mainly served for official evens of local government, while the house in past is served for the village.
- The most difficulty to preserve the house is collecting materials such as wood, roof leave. Lack of budget for preservation, few villagers know about traditional technique for construction and local government does not care about traditional community are also important reasons for difficult preservation of the house.
- For future activities in the community house, it should have more evens such as cultural meetings, classes, training courses, eco-tourism, etc. Through these activities, it is a chance to improve awareness for villagers about preservation of the house.
7. Reference
[1] College of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University and Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University (2008) Participatory Construction of Traditional Community House in Mountainous Village of Central Vietnam. National Political Publisher.
[2] Đinh Hồng Hải (2006), Nhà Guol của người Cơ-tu (Guol community house of the Katu people). Văn hóa dân tộc publishers. (in Vietnamese)
[3] Iizuka Akiko (2012). Traditional community houses of the Co-tu ethnic group in central Vietnam. SANSAI journal of GSGES, Kyoto University No 6,pp. 97-114.
[4] Kobayashi Hirohide, Nguyễn Ngọc Tùng (2013). Body-based units of measurement for building Katu community houses in Central Vietnam, Vernacular heritage and earthen architecture: contributions for sustainable development. Proceedings of International Conference on Vernacular Architecture CIAV2013 | 7ºATP | VerSus - 16-20 of October 2013 Vila Nova Cerveira, Portugal, pp. 359-364.
[5] Le Pichon, J. L. (2011). Những kẻ săn máu (the blood hunters). Vietnamese translation version of Ta Duc. The Gioi Publisher, Hanoi.
[6] Luu Hung (2007), A contribution to Katu ethnography, The Gioi publishers,
[7]Nguyễn Hữu Thông, Nguyễn Phước Bảo Đàn, Lê Anh Tuấn, Trần Đức Sáng (2004). Katu kẻ sống đầu ngọn nước (The Katu – the one who lives in the riverhead). Thuan Hoa Publishers, Hue. (in Vietnamese).
[8] Nguyen Phuoc Bao Dan (2016), Communal house viewed from the community: The role of Katu’s Fuol in present social background, Traditional Architecture and Community. Thuan Hoa publishers, Pp. 237-246.
[9] Nguyen Xuan Hong (2016), Restoring the traditional communal house in Hong Ha commune, A Luoi district: Lesson from approaches for conservation, Traditional Architecture and Community. Thuan Hoa publishers, Pp. 295-304.
[10] Nguyễn Khắc Tụng (1996), Nhà ở cổ truyền các dân tộc Việt Nam (Traditional dwelling houses of Vietnamese ethnic groups). Xây Dựng publishers, Pp. 130 – 135.
[11]Ta Duc (2002), Investigation into the Katu Culture, Thuan Hoa Publisher, Hue
Truong Hoang Phuong, Hirohide Kobayashi (2016), The impact of policies on traditional community house of the Katu ethnic group in Nam Dong district, Thua Thien Hue province, Traditional Architecture and Community. Thuan Hoa publishers, Pp. 247-264.
[12] Trần Tấn Vịnh (2009), The Co tu in Vietnam, Vietnam News Agency Publishing House.
(in Vietnamese and English).
[13] Trương Hoàng Phương, Kobayashi Hirohide, Nguyễn Ngọc Tùng (2013). Typological research on traditional community house of the Katu ethnic minority in Vietnam. Vernacular Heritage and Earthen Architecture: Contribution for Sustainable Development. Proceedings of International Conference on Vernacular Architecture CIAV2013 | 7ºATP | VerSus - 16-20 of October 2013 Vila Nova Cerveira, Portugal, pp. 343-349.
8. Appendix
Appendix 1: Distribution map of surveyed community houses of Katu ethnic minority in Nam Dong district, Thua Thien Hue province
Appendix 2:
QUESTIONNAIRE FORM
Study on the change of functional usage in community houses of Katu ethnic group in Nam Dong district, Vietnam and preliminary recommendation for their preservation and improvement 1. Basic information
Interview date (Interviewer): / / ( ) Interviewee name:
Age (Birth year):
Hamlet:
Commune:
Construction time of current community house:
Budget for the construction of current community house:
Location (GIS): x y
2. Current usage of the community 2.1. Cultural activities
No. Activities Frequency Participants/Con tribution
Organization
1 Community meeting
2 Meeting of elderly association 3 Meeting of Woman union
4 Meeting of veteran’s organization 5 Meeting of communist party 6 Meeting of farmer’s association 7 Meeting of Young union
8 Ceremonies of community (Tet holidays, buffalo sacrifice, etc.) 9 Space for community guests 10 Relaxing
2.2. Economical activities and others
No. Activities Frequency Participants/Price Organization
1 Tourism
2 Dance show 3 Rent for meetings
4 Classroom 5 Workshops
6 Cafe, restaurants, etc.
3. Functional usage of community house in past 3.1. Activities in past
No. Activities Frequency Participants/Con tribution
Organization
1 Community meeting
2 Ceremonies of community (Tet holidays, buffalo sacrifice, etc.) 3 Other meetings (Specific……
4 Space for community guests 5 Relaxing space for villagers 6 Space for males
7 Space for female
3.2. What are reasons for functional change in community house?
….………..….………..….
………..….………..….…
………..….………..….……
………..….………..….………
…………
3.3. Plan for new activities in community house in the future No. Activities Who organize How to
implement
Price
1 Tourism
2 Class
3 Rental space for meetings and workshops
4 Home stay 5
6 7
4. Preservation of community house
4.1. How do you feel about traditional community house?
….………
………
….
4.2. What are different points between the current community house (your hamlet) and traditional community house?
- Shape:
- Materials:
- Functions:
- Others:
4.3. What is difficulty for preserving traditional community house?
□ Hard to collect materials such as wood (for which components?………), roof leave, etc.
□ There is few people, who know about traditional technique for construction
□ Awareness of local people to preserve the house
□ Lack of budget for preserving
□ Local government does not care about traditional house
□ Others, specific……….
4.4. Do you have any idea for preservation of the community house?
□ Establish ecotourism
□ Training courses for preserving the house
□ Should have more activities in the house such as firing kitchen, community meetings, relaxing, classroom, etc.
□ Should have management board to take care the house
□ Should organize some events in the community house to improve awareness, knowledge for young people (old people will teach young people about culture, traditional technique, knowledge, etc.)
□ Others, specific………
Thank you very much!
