Sweet sli melody on the plateau

Leaving their hometown Lang Son to live and work in Ea Sien since 1992, one of the things the Nung people here brought with them was the sweet, soulful sli singing. After hard working days, they sit together and sing to ease their hardships and their homesickness for their loved ones far away.

Mr. Hua Van Ly (village 3), a "veteran" known by many for his smooth yet hearty sli singing voice, said: "Sli in Nung means poetry. Sli singing is a genre of spoken singing performed in the form of love singing, two or more men and women sing in response, never sing alone like many other types of music . Sli singing has no accompaniment, no choreography, but the singers themselves harmonize with each other, expressing through facial expressions, through a few gestures, and hand movements to express the content when singing. Sli listeners do not enjoy the melody but mainly listen to the poetic words in each verse."

Mr. Hua Van Ly and his wife excitedly "show off" their sli dance.

Just like that, passed down from generation to generation, the sli singing is not simply a song but also a "specialty" of the Nung people's lyrical folk songs, creating an exciting, refreshing atmosphere, helping people have more joy and trust in life. Mr. Ly himself knew how to sing sli since he was in his hometown of Cao Loc (Lang Son). When he was young, he often followed the adults in his family to the market and festivals. Seeing people singing, he gradually learned and imitated them. Just like that, the sli singing gradually permeated his consciousness, firmly in his life from his hometown to his new land.

Since 2019, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has decided to include "Sli singing of the Nung ethnic group in Lang Son province" in the List of national intangible cultural heritage.

Currently, Mr. Ly and many Nung people in Ea Sien commune not only sing sweet sli melodies during Hang Po festival (love market) but also regularly practice and perform when participating in the Ea Sien commune sli singing club. As the Vice Chairman of the club, Mr. Ly is also the "locomotive" leading, guiding and connecting people who share the same passion and love for sli singing. Always concerned with preserving and spreading sli melodies, Mr. Ly as well as the artisans and elders in Ea Sien have become the "fire keepers" of traditional culture. They are not only sli singing artisans but also those who teach and guide the younger generation to understand and appreciate these cultural values.

Sli singing is considered a form of community cultural activity; a means of communication in all aspects of Nung people's life from matchmaking, blessing, confiding... Sli singing is also an invisible thread connecting groups of people who may not know each other; an opportunity to exchange feelings, express relationships, behavior, communication; especially many couples have become husband and wife, many have become close friends.

According to Mr. Ly, each branch of the Nung ethnic group has a different sli singing style. The Nung Giang group has Sli Giang; Nung Phan Slin has Sli Phan Slin, Nung Chao has Sli Sinh Lang, Co Lau... In addition to entertainment and love-making, sli is also a cultural form that helps to strengthen community, village or inter-village relationships and become closer and deeper. Not only that, sli singing also conveys folk knowledge, preserves the language of the community, has educational value, and conveys awareness of one's roots, respect, and gratitude to grandparents and ancestors.

Members of the Ea Sien commune sli singing club interact and perform sli singing at the Hang Po Festival.

No one knows when it started, but the Nung people have passed down the art of singing sli from generation to generation. Currently, in Ea Sien commune, there are quite a few people who know how to sing sli. In addition to the Ea Sien commune sli singing club with 30 members, most of the villages and hamlets where the Nung people live have established sli singing teams and groups. However, most of the people who know how to sing sli today are born in 1980 or earlier, while the younger generation seems to not know how to sing and is not very interested in the folk songs of their ancestors.

Therefore, in order to preserve and promote the cultural values ​​of the Nung ethnic group in the Central Highlands, in recent years, local authorities and the elderly in Ea Sien commune have been looking for ways to include sli singing in performance programs, exchanges, festivals and even cultural and artistic competitions to preserve and spread, attracting the attention of young people.

According to Vice Chairman of Ea Sien Commune People's Committee Nong Van Dung, the Ea Sien Commune government and Buon Ho town pay special attention to preserving the culture of the Nung ethnic group, including the sli singing. Recently, the sli singing has been strongly restored, the locality pays special attention to supporting costumes, creating all conditions for clubs, teams, and groups to practice and perform. At the same time, it has been proposing that functional agencies and sectors pay attention and support the locality in preserving and promoting the intangible cultural heritage of sli singing, such as organizing sli singing classes, seminars on ethnic culture, or building projects to preserve traditional music of the Nung people... in order to preserve traditional cultural values ​​for future generations.

Thuy Hong

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/van-hoa-du-lich-van-hoc-nghe-thuat/202505/ngot-ngao-lan-dieu-sli-tren-cao-nguyen-8f616b5/