The Lo Lo ethnic group can be divided into Flower Lo Lo and Black Lo Lo. Living in Lung Cu since ancient time, the Lo Lo people have made many efforts in reclaiming the virgin land and in grasping to this northernmost part of the country. The Lo Lo folkloric culture is very rich and unique, demonstrated with dances, songs, legends. The decoration on their turbans, shirts, skirts and trousers are particularly colourful. The Lo Lo calendar divides a year into 11 months, each corresponding to an animal’s name.
The ancient bronze drumps are the holy thing of the Lo Lo people, burried for protection and sometimes dug out only for use. The head of each family is entitled to keep the drumps which are used only during funerals or festivals to maintain rythms for dances. The Lo Lo people are among the few ethnic groups in Vietnam who still use bronze drums, a traditional musical instrument closely associated with a legend about the Flood. According to the legend, a catastrophic flood took place to raise water up to the sky. The God saved a girl and her younger brother by putting the girl in a big bronze drum and the boy in a small bronze drum. When the flood retreated, the sister and brother stayed on in the mountains, becoming a couple, the re-Creator of the mankind.The Lo Lo people’s perception on Yin and Yang, on birth is perhaps still preserved by playing at the same time the male and female drums. The drums are hanged on a stand at the feet of the dead, facing to each other. The drummer stands in between, playing alternately each drum with only one end of the same drumstick. Only single men or married men but whose wives are not pregnant can play the drums. The bronze drums are not only a precious asset but also a holy instrument. Only with the sound of the drums can the soul of the dead find the way to return to the birthplace of his/her ancestors.
