Along with Xoe dancing and melodies throughout, Han Khuong is a very unique form of traditional cultural activities, handed down through many generations of the Thai people in the Northwest, and is recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. nation.
Couples of boys and girls sing love songs on the floor in the Han Khuong activity.
HANH KHUONG in Thai means "courtyard floor", meaning a floor erected outside the yard to organize cultural activities. It is just an environment for exchanging, confiding and exchanging life experiences, but Thai people have to be picky about building a floor in the middle of the central area, because in the past, the villagers were sparse, and the mountains and forests were wild with many wild animals and insects. .
The floor is paved with bamboo or thatch, about seven meters long, five meters wide and 1,2 meters high, surrounded by lattice-shaped bars, with stairs up and down. In the middle of the floor, there is a fire stove, next to it is a bamboo tree called "main shaker" made of bamboo, leaving the entire top of the leaves intact hanging with the shapes of cicadas and birds woven with brilliant red and green, similar to trees. mentioned in the Tet holiday of the Kinh people. The four corners are the four "shaking mill" trees, representing the four directions of the east-west-south-north.
The main thing in Han Khuong's activities is the love song. Each Han Khuong has a group of five to ten Thai girls with beautiful hair, wearing a scarf on the floor, and then pulling out a ladder. The leader of the group (referred to as “disturbing the frame”) lights a fire, then sets up the spinning wheel, and the other girls split up to spin or embroider. The leader of the group is the seniors who have played Han Khuong with many years of experience in singing and replying, who will "untangle" the "chao nong" (young girls) who are still inexperienced. The boys holding the trumpet and pí sang "all over" to the girls until they were allowed to go on the floor.
Often girls sing "all over" to reject guys who have a wife or lover. They kept singing like that, until the son confirmed that he did not have a wife and won the trust of the girl, then the girl released the ladder for the son to go to the floor of the term Khuong. However, the guy who wants to do something must sing "all over" to get the girl's permission, such as if he wants to sit, he must sing for a chair, if he wants to drink water, he must sing for water, if he wants to smoke, he must sing for a cigarette. …
The boy finds the girl he likes and sings back and forth, expressing his love for a marriage. At the end of the singing session, they exchanged farewell songs and did not forget to meet again the next day to dance, play spinning, dance... Couples who fell in love confessed their love for each other, over time to find each other. understand thanks to the matchmaker to come to the two families to talk, please become husband and wife.
LIMITED is not only a place for cultural activities, a place for young people to come to know each other, but also a place to exchange and discuss the work of the whole community. The old people, the elderly come to Han Khuong activities to teach and teach their children and grandchildren beautiful words and beautiful songs. Children come to term Khuong to learn to sing, to spin, to spin...
The restoration of the Han Khuong festival in recent years not only creates a useful playground for people to have fun and exchange after tiring working days, but also creates community cohesion, with a sense of cultural preservation. tradition for the younger generation of the Thai ethnic group.
