When the H’mongs enter Clarion Music Center they go straight to the back where gongs are hung on the walls. They carry a soft mallet and a plastic bowl. A piece of paper with a small hole in the center is held over the bowl by a rubber band. The H’mongs are small in height, sturdy and seasoned by the sun. Most of them work in the farms in Fresno.
They select the gongs with bent edges as if they have been crushed by force. The bowl is placed on a small stool. One man takes a few grains of rice out of his pants pocket and carefully puts them near the hole in the center.
The gong is played one at the time. The H’mongs watch the bowl intently. When there is little activities on the surface of the bowl another gong is selected. They play until the magic begins, when the rice start vibrating and moving toward the hole, then falling into it one by one. The H’mongs are pleased, speak among themselves. When they see me watching they give me a big smile and thumbs up at the gong.
These men are shamans. The gongs are used for healing purpose. Many years ago they came to Clarion in search of their lost gongs. Unable to find their own type of gong they had to buy what the shop carried. Only after many years when one old shaman had enough confidence and courage to share the gong that he brought over from Vietnam was Clarion able to go to China and found a maker to replicate it. Now when the H’mongs come in they try the gongs out like shoppers for new clothes. Sometimes a whole afternoon is spent in finding the right one.
I spent three days in Fresno in 2003 selling the H’mong gongs and participating in the Hmong New Year celebration. It always happen during the week after Christmas and before New Year.
