The Tha gong - A treasure of the Brau people.

In late 2008, a piece of information astonished cultural researchers: the Brau people – one of the smallest ethnic groups in Vietnam – possessed as many as 10 sets of tha gongs, one of the oldest and most valuable types of gongs in the Central Highlands…

In the fairytale mist

Mr. Thao La, one of the owners of the precious Tha gongs, recounts that this set of gongs is linked to a story from the time when the earth was still close to the sky. A son went in search of medicinal leaves to cure his mother's illness. He walked and walked, hundreds of cries echoing from his village, but still couldn't find the medicine. Knowing his mother would die, in despair, he went to a towering waterfall, inside which were deep caves, and shouted: "Oh, Yang! How could you take my mother away? If you want to take my mother, you must give me something as precious as my mother so that I will not grieve or miss her so much..." His cries moved Yang. Yang then sent a deity transformed into a fly to land on the son's ear and guide him away. He walked deeper and deeper into the caves and found the gongs. Knowing they were a treasure given by Yang, he couldn't lift them. Only after bringing offerings to the cave to worship heaven and earth could he bring the gongs back to his village. That is the traditional gong passed down to the Brau people today.

With the belief that "all things have spirits," the people of the Central Highlands often imbue their heirlooms with a mystical, fairytale aura. In fact, the tha gong is the oldest type of metal gong still preserved by the Brau people. A typical gong set in the Central Highlands consists of at least four gongs, and can have up to 12-14, but each tha gong set only has two, called "wife gong" and "husband gong." The "husband gong" is larger, and if a pair is made, it's called "Mui tam ron"; if it's a single gong, it's called "Mui la tha."

As a sacred object, the tha gong is only used for important festivals, at least for the sacrifice of one or more oxen. The way to play the tha gong is also different from other types of gongs. When playing, the gong must be hung from a wooden beam, with two people sitting opposite each other, using their feet to support the base of the gong for balance. One person plays the gong, while the other uses a striking instrument to poke the two gongs. The tha gong has no melody, only rhythm, but its sound far surpasses that of ordinary gongs. It is both deep and high, resonant and widely spread. People very far away can still clearly hear the sound of the gong when it is played...

Mr. Thao La with his family's pair of traditional gongs.

Conservation solutions are needed.

The Brâu are an ethnic minority group that has long resided along the Vietnam-Laos border. In 1976, they were relocated to settle in Dak Me village, Bo Y commune, Ngoc Hoi district, Kon Tum province (now Bo Y commune, Quang Ngai province).

Like other ethnic groups, the Brâu people's community cultural life is based on festivals. And of course, the sound of gongs and drums is indispensable in these festivals. The Brâu have many different types of gongs, such as goong (don) gongs and mam (Lao) gongs, but the rarest is the tha gong. Families that own tha gongs must be wealthy, as each set of tha gongs requires trading at least 30 buffaloes.

Regarding the materials used to craft the tha gong, the exact composition is currently unknown. The Brâu people only hear stories that it was cast from an alloy of pure gold, silver, copper, and black copper (?), and the casting technique has not been passed down to future generations. The uniqueness of the tha gong lies in its completely flat surface, lacking any ridges or waves to differentiate sounds and rhythms. According to Mr. Thao La's "judgment," the reason the gong resonates with different rhythms is due to the casting technique, and the secret to the sound lies in the varying thickness of the gong's surface. Because the crafting technique is complex and has been lost, no one in the Brâu community today knows how to cast this gong…

In fact, the tha gongs are not made by the Brau people. According to some researchers, the tha gongs may have been made in Laos or Myanmar. The Brau people are merely the owners and promoters. The tha gongs are passed down to descendants from generation to generation as a family heirloom. The person entrusted with ownership must not only be prestigious but also wealthy – that is, someone with a "strong spirit." The Brau believe that only those with a "strong spirit" can keep the tha gong. If, for some reason, the "strong spirit" becomes "weak" due to business decline or other unavoidable circumstances, the tha gong must be taken out of the house and hidden, waiting until the owner's business prospers again – that is, when the spirit becomes "strong" again – before a ceremony can be held to bring the gong back home… The reason why the 10 sets of tha gongs of the Brau people have always been kept secretly in the forest is precisely because of this.

There have been instances of antique dealers or collectors of rare musical instruments traveling to Dak Me village to solicit the purchase or exchange of the Tha gongs. The people of Dak Me are still poor; who can be sure they won't be tempted someday? The risk of the Tha gongs being stolen is also a concern, as they are currently all hidden in the forest because their owners are considered "unlucky."

However, the most noteworthy point is that the skill of using the tha gong may be lost. Currently, in Dak Me village, only a few people know how to skillfully use the tha gong, and most of them are elderly. According to these artisans, striking the gong is easy, but the skill of "poking the gong" is very difficult. Mr. Thao La said: "The young people in the village now only like to play new, modern music!" Also, because it is considered a "family heirloom," families with many children, when they get married, must receive a share of the tha gong set by converting it into cash or livestock. If there are two brothers in the family, each owns one, so the "Mui tam ron" is left with only the "Mui la tha".

Conservation measures are urgently needed to prevent the Tha gong from disappearing!

Ngoc Tan

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/van-hoa-xa-hoi/van-hoa/202603/chieng-tha-bau-vat-cua-nguoi-brau-69042c4/