Preserving the soul of traditional sounds.
Located along the historic National Highway 9, the space named "Phuong Gia Vien" in Huong Hiep commune is like a "miniature museum" preserving the unique cultural values of the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic groups. The owner of this space is Mr. Ho Van Phuong, who has spent nearly 26 years diligently collecting, researching, and restoring indigenous culture.
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| Foreign tourists enjoy learning about the traditional musical instruments of the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic groups at Phuong Gia Vien, owned by Mr. Ho Van Phuong - Photo: LT |
Upon entering Phuong Gia Vien, visitors can easily find hundreds of artifacts related to the lives of the mountain people, from agricultural tools and household items to traditional musical instruments such as gongs, horns, ta lu lutes, khen be flutes, and drums… Each artifact contains its own story about the cultural life of the Van Kieu and Pa Ko people through many generations.
After graduating from Hanoi University of Culture in 1999, Ho Van Phuong returned to work in the former Dakrong district. His time working in this area, home to a large ethnic minority population, nurtured his passion for local culture.
Initially, he only recorded the customs, festivals, beliefs, folk songs, and folk knowledge of the local people. The more he learned, the more he realized that many traditional values were gradually disappearing over time. From there, he began a journey of collecting and preserving cultural artifacts of the people in this region. Traditional musical instruments, in particular, are the area he has devoted the most passion to. According to him, each type of musical instrument not only serves the spiritual needs of the people but also reflects their lives, beliefs, and souls in the mountainous region.
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| Mr. Ho Van Phuong meticulously preserves the musical instruments he has collected - Photo: LT |
Mr. Phuong shared that, wanting to preserve the cultural values of the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic groups for future generations, he built a model of "Charitable tourism, connecting love" through his cultural space. However, what worries him is that nowadays, not many young people have the patience to learn and dedicate themselves to traditional musical instruments, which require understanding and passion.
“Cultural preservation is not just about storing artifacts, but more importantly, about making culture ‘alive’ in community life. Traditional gongs, flutes, and horns only truly have value when people still use them and they still appear in festivals and cultural activities of the people. Therefore, for many years, I, along with the village elders, have persistently taught local youth how to use these traditional musical instruments,” Phương confided.
Not only in Huong Hiep, but also in the border commune of Lao Bao, the sound of gongs and drums regularly resonates every week during community gatherings of the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic groups. At the community center in Khe Da village, members of the local gong and drum club maintain regular practice sessions. The elders enthusiastically teach the younger generation the techniques of using gongs, drums, horns, flutes, and other musical instruments, helping them to better understand their ethnic culture.
According to Mr. Ho Van Khun, head of the gong club in Khe Da village, to keep the sound of the gongs resonating, those who know how to play them will directly guide the younger generation to pass on their skills and experience. However, maintaining the club's activities also faces many difficulties as many young members go away to work, financial resources are limited, and musical instruments deteriorate over time. Nevertheless, driven by our love for our ethnic culture, we still strive to maintain regular activities so that the sound of the gongs does not fade away in modern life.
To keep traditional musical instruments playing forever.
Following the merger, Lao Bao commune has two gong clubs of the Van Kieu and Pa Ko ethnic groups. These clubs not only hold internal activities but also regularly perform at festivals and cultural events in the locality and neighboring areas.
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| The Gong Club of Khe Da village, Lao Bao commune, still holds regular activities to help young people better understand traditional musical instruments - Photo: LT |
According to Nguyen Thanh Nga, Vice Chairman of the Lao Bao Commune People's Committee, the preservation of gong culture has always been a priority for the local authorities through various activities supporting clubs, organizing exchanges, and creating conditions for people to maintain their practice.
“Traditional culture in general and musical instruments in particular play an important role in the cultural and spiritual life of the Van Kieu and Pa Ko people in the locality. Preserving and promoting this unique cultural feature will contribute to enriching the spiritual life of the people and making a positive contribution to socio-economic development. This process is not only a journey of preserving a traditional cultural form but also a way for the community to preserve memories, origins, and ethnic identity for today and tomorrow,” Ms. Nga added.
According to Mai Xuan Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the intangible cultural heritage of the Bru-Van Kieu, Pa Ko, and Chut ethnic groups is rich and diverse. Traditional musical instruments play a crucial role in conveying the thoughts and feelings of the people.
However, over time and due to various factors, many traditional musical instruments of ethnic minorities are at risk of disappearing. Preserving valuable traditional cultural values in general, and traditional musical instruments of ethnic minorities in particular, has always been identified by the department as one of its key tasks, with specific solutions. These include focusing on teaching the crafting and use of unique instruments such as gongs, reed pipes, flutes, and stringed instruments from elderly artisans to the younger generation; and integrating these instruments into real cultural spaces, especially major festivals, to help keep traditional sounds alive in the community.
Currently, in many localities within the province, there are numerous dedicated artisans who are striving to transmit, preserve, and safeguard the sounds of traditional musical instruments. These are "living treasures" that urgently need continued attention and support from local authorities, enabling them to truly act as an extension of the community in preserving and safeguarding the valuable traditional cultural values of the ethnic minority communities in the area.
Le Truong
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/van-hoa/202605/dethanh-am-dai-nganngan-vang-22c5c49/
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