Unique Liem Thuan ceramic drum

(NB&CL) Despite numerous ups and downs, the folk music genre of "drumming and singing" in Liem Thuan commune has proven its strong and enduring vitality. Now that it has become a national heritage, the Liem Thuan drumming and singing tradition has even more opportunities to spread…

A Thousand Years of Military Drum Melodies

"Anyone returning to Liem Thuan, our homeland/Rivers, Gura, Lau, Chay, Vai, Nga, Thi, Cham/We invite you to stop and listen to the sweet melodies of the military drum songs."

That was the welcoming song performed by Meritorious Artist Pham Thi Hue, opening the performance of the Liem Thuan Commune's Drum and Military Song Club. The people of Liem Thuan proudly boast to visitors that the Drum and Military Song tradition is over a thousand years old. According to artist Nguyen Dinh Lau, Liem Thuan is located in the Lieu Doi cultural region of Thanh Liem district, Ha Nam province. The commune's terrain is situated in a low-lying, flooded area, where in the past, water reached the base of bamboo trees, forcing people to travel by boat. It was because of these living conditions that the tradition of performing Drum and Military Song on boats originated in the ancient villages with vernacular names such as Lau, Chay, Gura, Cham, Thi…

“Currently, there are two hypotheses about the origin of the Trong Quan singing tradition in Liem Thuan. The first is that the Trong Quan singing tradition was brought back and taught to the people by Mr. Truong Nguyen - a general of Dinh Bo Linh, and also the tutelary deity of Gura village - along with the wrestling tradition,” Mr. Lau said.

Another opinion suggests that the Liem Thuan military drums date back to the Tran Dynasty. At that time, this area was flooded year-round, with the La Giang River forming a convenient waterway connecting the granary in Tran Thuong village with the Tran Dynasty's headquarters in Nam Dinh and the Tam Coc - Ninh Binh region. Therefore, the ancient villages in Liem Thuan were designated by the Tran kings as places to store provisions. When the Tran Dynasty's navy sailed to guard the provisions, they would beat the drums and sing songs to dispel the loneliness in the quiet night. One person would sing, others would hear and sing along, spontaneously responding. In this way, the military drum songs were formed and gradually became familiar, deeply ingrained in the lives of the people.

“The people of Liem Thuan still sing the 'Trong Quan' folk songs while rowing boats and setting traps at night, during work, or during festivals. Even without an organizer, the 'Trong Quan' folk songs have survived and been passed down for a thousand years, proving their enduring vitality,” shared artisan Nguyen Dinh Lau.

The performance space is the boat, the water, the moon.

The people of Liem Thuan can sing the "Trong Quan" folk songs anytime, anywhere. They can sing them in a structured style at village festivals, sing them casually while rowing boats on moonlit nights, sing them while working in the fields, or sing them to tease each other... The "Trong Quan" folk songs originated in the village, from those skilled in drumming and singing with clear voices; those who are eloquent and can both sing pre-written songs and improvise.

In particular, the tradition of singing "Trong Quan" (Drum Song) on ​​boats is a very unique cultural activity of the low-lying rice paddies. As a custom, when one boat wants to interact with another, they row close together, singing a greeting song, sometimes with playful banter. When the boats are side-by-side, they start beating their drums ("thi, thinh"), and the call-and-response singing begins. These singing sessions, with drums and percussion filling the fields, with boats, water, and moonlight, are lively and exciting…

According to researchers, the "drumming and singing" tradition can be found in many places, but the performance space entirely organized on the water is unique to Liem Thuan. Even today, when the village fields are no longer flooded, the traditional "drumming and singing" festival is still held on the lake next to the Chay village communal house.

Because the drums are performed entirely on boats, the Liem Thuan military drums have another unique feature. Instead of being made by digging holes in the ground as in other places, the people of Liem Thuan use earthenware jars as drums. A wooden board is placed tightly over the mouth of the jar, and a bamboo rope is threaded across the center. Next, a bamboo pole is erected to support the rope, and the rope is pulled taut on one side and loose on the other, so that when struck, it produces the unique "thump, thump" sounds. The sound is transmitted from the rope into the earthenware jar, then into the boat, and, thanks to the water's surface, spreads for kilometers. Artisan Nguyen Dinh Lau says that a "standard" Liem Thuan drum must always have an earthenware jar and the bamboo rope should never be replaced with any other material.

For the singing festival, according to ancient custom, before the full moon of the eighth lunar month, villages begin preparing boats and drums, and selecting singing teams to represent their village. On the day of the festival, the villages hold ceremonies at the village communal house and then row their boats out to the fields to hold the singing competition. The festival is especially lively, with hundreds of boats belonging to the singing teams and villagers jostling each other, filling the entire field. The men's teams are led by a manager, while the women's teams are led by a female manager; their duties include directing and judging. The two rows of men's and women's boats are moored opposite each other, with reserve boats behind them; spectators keep their boats at a sufficient distance for the competing teams to clearly hear the singing exchanges.

During the singing competition, one side would sing while the other responded, with some adding witty remarks, suggesting lyrics, or offering hints and advice when their team was in a difficult situation. Sometimes, spectators would prompt a team if they couldn't respond. The losing team would have a few people "taken" by the other side's boat and transferred to theirs until they could respond successfully. Each time this happened, the atmosphere of the singing festival became much more lively. The singing continued throughout the night, with the boats bobbing and swaying to the rhythmic drumming amidst the vast expanse of moonlight and water. Only when the moon set and the night ended, after the farewell singing, the organizers awarded prizes to the winning teams, and everyone returned to the village temple for the ceremonial offerings.

“Another distinguishing feature of the Liem Thuan military drum is that, in addition to using only the six-eight verse form for performance, the fourth note of the six-line and eight-line verses must always be a falling tone. In terms of meter, two notes must equal one beat,” said artisan Nguyen Dinh Lau.

Preserving the cultural heritage of the lowland rice paddies.

With its unique values, at the end of 2023, the folk art of Liem Thuan's drum-singing performance was included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. According to Mr. Ngo Thanh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ha Nam province, this provides a legal basis for all levels and sectors in the province to develop plans to protect the heritage.

“We have outlined 10 areas for preserving and promoting heritage values. Among them, we need to focus on preserving the cultural space of the lowland rice paddies, especially the La Giang River and the local historical and cultural spaces, so that Liem Thuan's drum-singing tradition has a suitable environment for practice,” Mr. Tuan said.

Sharing further details, the distinguished artisan Pham Thi Hue - Head of the Liem Thuan Drum Singing Club - said that at the end of November, the locality will hold a ceremony to receive the decision recognizing the drum singing as a national intangible cultural heritage. However, for more than 20 years, the drum singing in Liem Thuan has been revived by the people working together. After a period of spontaneous activity, seeing the effectiveness, the government and the cultural sector have allowed the establishment of a club at the commune level.

To date, the club has over 30 members, including two artisans, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Lau and Ms. Pham Thi Hue. Along with a schedule of two fixed monthly meetings, the club receives many invitations to perform and exchange performances in many places inside and outside the province. The Liem Thuan drum-accompanied performance is not "conservative" with a rigid old style but is staged, capable of being performed in various spaces… The drum-accompanied singing has also been incorporated into music lessons or extracurricular activities in local schools. Thanks to this, even preschool children have had the opportunity to practice drum-accompanied singing.

"The people of this homeland have always dedicated their passion and enthusiasm to the drum-accompanied folk songs. I believe that the smooth, heartfelt melodies of these songs, along with the unique 'thump-thump' sound of the drums, will forever resonate during village festivals and every time Tet (Lunar New Year) comes around," expressed artisan Pham Thi Hue.

The Vu

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/doc-dao-trong-quan-vo-sanh-liem-thuan-post320350.html