Need to understand correctly about the "bonus" of Quan Ho singers

However, for a long time now, the practice of Quan Ho singers offering betel and receiving money at festivals has given the community an incorrect view.

Quan Ho people do not "beg for money"

Lim Festival is a big festival of Kinh Bac - Bac Ninh region. Coming to Lim Festival, you have the opportunity to immerse yourself in Quan Ho cultural activities - Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Come and go, and when the festival ends, someone is still stunned and moved by the melody "Nguoi o dung ve".

Lim Festival comes again

From ancient times until now, Quan Ho folk songs are the crystallization of the most unique and quintessential cultural values ​​of Kinh Bac people, especially after Bac Ninh Quan Ho was recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (September 30, 2009), this type of folk song seems to go deeper into people's lives, becoming a way of life, close and natural like eating and drinking every day. Therefore, every child of Kinh Bac region understands, knows, appreciates and wants to contribute a part of their efforts to preserving, conserving and promoting the good values ​​of Quan Ho to last forever.

To make quan ho more widely spread, during the festival season, almost all villages in Kinh Bac region organize quan ho love songs. Especially when Lim festival comes, quan ho singing on dragon boats is still the most favorite place for tourists. The male and female singers dress up in their beautiful costumes. The male singers wear tunics and turbans, the female singers wear three-piece-and-seven-piece dresses and row the dragon boats to sing at the lake in the Lim communal house area. While the second and third male singers take off their hats to offer betel, many audiences, out of admiration, give them money. This is called "reward" money (or bonus) for quan ho singers.

However, in recent years, because of some "bad apples" that "spoiled the whole pot of soup", as well as because of incomplete understanding, public opinion has been "stirred up" about the use of loudspeakers in Quan Ho singing. A group of Quan Ho lovers are so "extreme" that they have associated the image of Lien Anh and Lien Chi singing on dragon boats by village ponds, in front of pagodas, singing on communal houses' roofs, holding up their conical hats to offer betel as "holding up their hats to ask for money".

Meritorious Artist Pham Xuan Mui - former Deputy Director of Bac Ninh Quan Ho Folk Song Theater once sadly shared: Saying "anh, lien chi" "tip their hats to ask for money" is completely wrong. Giving money is not something that someone just thought of, but it has been a long-standing tradition in Vietnamese folk culture. When an artist is given a little lucky money, those coins only show their sincerity. Saying "quan ho tip their hats to ask for money" greatly affects the image of quan ho artists.

Mr. Nguyen Thua Ke - a quan ho artist of Lim region who is 95 years old this year said: There are two ways to play quan ho, which are to play and sing quan ho. Singing quan ho means to pay a deposit and sing together, while playing quan ho is just to sing, whoever gives money is free to do so, without any problem. Now, when people who love quan ho give money, the singers do not refuse. If they are singing on a boat and people give them money, it is easy to fall into the water, so quan ho singers often hold out their hats to receive it, not asking for money.

Singers still receive "bonus" money but must ensure culture

This year, the Lim festival will be held on February 21 and 22, or January 12 and 13, in three communes of the former Noi Due commune, now Lim town, Noi Due commune and Lien Bao commune. The center of the festival is Hong Van mountain (Lim mountain) in Lim town, Tien Du district.

Mr. Le Xuan Loi - Vice Chairman of Tien Du District People's Committee, Head of Lim Festival 2024 Organizing Committee - said: " All the Lien Anh and Lien Chi singers singing in the Lim Festival area, as well as singing on dragon boats around the villages of the old Noi Due commune, are all volunteers to sing Quan Ho. Because Lien Anh and Lien Chi have always been passionate about singing in the first days of the year. However, the Organizing Committee also has a compensation regime for the clubs according to regulations. The visitors' rewards for Lien Anh and Lien Chi are considered lucky money ."

Sharing about the issue of "receiving money when singing Quan Ho", according to Mr. Nguyen Dai Dong - Chairman of Tien Du District People's Committee: It is not correct to say that Quan Ho people raise their hats to ask for money at Lim festival. In the land of Quan Ho, at the beginning of the new year, if people like or want to encourage the Lien Anh and Lien Chi after a certain performance, they often "thuong" (equivalent to the word "reward"). This is a good tradition, not forced, whoever likes it will be rewarded. The receiver and the rewarder both feel happy in the early spring atmosphere.

As a person who has been going to Lim festival for many years, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Ha (Cau Dien, Hanoi ) said: " After listening to the singing, I find it interesting, admire it and want to express my feelings for the singer by giving a little money. It's not a big deal, it's just like a little bit of salary to encourage the singers to bring joy to tourists from all over ..."

“Bac Ninh people value love. Bac Ninh people value friendship”. The love of “brother and sister” of quan ho singers has remained the same for thousands of years. When spring comes, quan ho singers temporarily put aside housework, farming, and production to welcome friends to sing at the spring festival to enjoy the spring until the end of the shift and the end of the work. Quan ho singers sing to express their love for life, love for couples, responding to each other out of gratitude, respecting each other for their talents, not because of the hardships of life that they “beg for money”.

So, whoever goes out this spring, remember to stop by Lim festival to listen to the deep and passionate Quan Ho love songs. Quan Ho people are not too strict, but they must have fate to come together. So, let's preserve and spread the most quintessential values ​​of this unique folk song, an intangible cultural heritage of humanity - Bac Ninh Quan Ho folk songs.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/can-hieu-dung-ve-tien-thuong-cua-nguoi-quan-ho-304322.html