Village culture keepers

Artist Hoang Thi Vien.

House of festivals

In Na Lang area, Binh Lieu town, Binh Lieu district ( Quang Ninh province), people are familiar with the sound of Tinh lute mixed with the deep and deep Then singing coming from the house of Mrs. Hoang Thi Vien.

“Anyone who is free, happy or sad will come to Mrs. Vien’s house to watch plays and listen to music. Every day at Mrs. Vien’s house is a festival,” an officer from the Center for Communication and Culture of Binh Lieu district introduced when taking me to Mrs. Vien’s house.

Nearly 70 years old this year, Ms. Vien still works tirelessly every day to collect and teach Tay culture, especially her people's Then melodies, to the younger generation.

Artist Hoang Thi Vien said: Then singing is not simply a form of expressing content through melody, a way of communication and lovemaking between men and women, but is also associated with religious and spiritual activities by the ancient Tay people. Ancient Tay families often prepared offerings to invite Then masters to their homes to perform ceremonies to ward off bad luck, pray for blessings and health to start new work. Over time, Then singing has gone beyond those rituals, becoming a way of communication between families and lovemaking between men and women of the Tay people in Binh Lieu.

There was a time when Then singing was at risk of gradually fading away in the spiritual and cultural life of the Tay people in Binh Lieu. In order to preserve and conserve this precious cultural heritage, Ms. Vien and other artists devoted all their passion and enthusiasm to reviving Then singing in community life; helping the younger generation not only know how to sing, but also understand the origin and meaning of each song.

To prevent singing lessons from becoming boring, Ms. Vien combined teaching with performances at village festivals and traditional holidays. She and other artists encouraged young people to join the art club, helping them love and be more proud of their ethnic culture.

Not only does she have the task of passing on to the younger generation the beauty of the traditional culture of the Tay people, artist Hoang Thi Vien also explores and composes new songs, thereby contributing to enriching the treasure trove of Then singing art of the Tay people.

San Chi people in Dai Duc during the Soong Co festival.

The Priest keeps the "treasure" for the villagers.

Coming to Dai Duc commune, Tien Yen district, now it is no longer a difficult and remote commune. The San Chi people here know how to do community tourism , building accommodation facilities in the form of homestay. In addition to possessing pristine natural scenery, the San Chi people understand that Dai Duc also has special cultural values ​​that attract tourists.

That is what the excellent artisan Ly Minh Sang (75 years old, Phai Giac village, Dai Duc commune) always reminds his children and grandchildren, the young generation of the San Chi people. As one of the few people who still know by heart how to perform, dance, sing and practice the ritual of praying for a good harvest - one of the traditional rituals of the San Chi people in Tien Yen, since childhood, Mr. Sang has been passionate about the traditional rituals of his people.

In a small house in Phai Giac village, Mr. Sang said: In 1986, he went to the house of a village elder in the commune to ask to study, learn to sing and dance the San Chi ethnic rituals. It took Mr. Sang 3 years to master and start practicing the rituals for the villagers. Gradually, Mr. Sang gained the trust of the villagers, and then became the village's High Priest. Every time there was a traditional holiday, Mr. Sang represented the wishes of the entire village to pray for peace and good harvest.

Showing off his "treasure", Mr. Sang flipped through each page of the book he had handwritten, filled with Soong Co songs. He said that Soong Co songs had many themes, themes about love between couples, with questions, suggestions, and humorous responses between young couples; themes about praising the merits of the ancestors who paved the way; songs about gratitude to ancestors, gratitude to parents; themes praising labor, songs about the four seasons...

"Not only has he contributed to preserving the original harvest-praying ritual, Mr. Ly Minh Sang also contributed to preserving Soong Co - the traditional singing style of the San Chi people in Tien Yen district" - said Mr. Hoang Viet Tung, Secretary of the Party Committee of Dai Duc commune.

Occasionally, Dai Duc people see Mr. Sang walking to local schools, coordinating with the commune to organize classes to teach writing, ethnic dances, the art of management, practicing the San Chi people's harvest praying ceremony and singing Soong Co...

Artisan Chieu Thi Lan introduces the traditional costume embroidery technique of the Dao Thanh Y people.

In Quang Son commune (Hai Ha district), everyone knows artisan Chieu Thi Lan in Mo Kiec village, who has made many positive contributions to preserving and teaching traditional costume embroidery techniques and hair-tying techniques of the Dao Thanh Y people.

Every day, outside of work, Ms. Lan meticulously works on her embroidery frame, her hands deftly threading each stitch, creating brilliant patterns on the black fabric.

Stopping her embroidery, artisan Chieu Thi Lan shared: For Dao Thanh Y women, the costumes are very elaborate, many patterns must be hand-embroidered and the colors must be coordinated in a unique, individual way. To make a complete traditional costume, each worker must spend at least 3 months embroidering, and for those who are not familiar with it, it can take up to a year. Because it is difficult to learn and takes a lot of time, in Mo Kiec village now there are not many people who know how to sew traditional clothes.

Not wanting to let the traditional craft fade away, artisan Chieu Thi Lan proactively organizes training sessions for women in the village. She also actively encourages young people to wear traditional costumes during festivals, ceremonies, and weddings, so that Dao Thanh Y costumes are always present in community life.

More than anyone else, people like Ms. Vien, Ms. Lan, and Mr. Sang have been contributing to enriching cultural identity, preserving valuable resources for tourism and cultural development, aiming at the goal of sustainable development of the land and people of Quang Ninh.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/nhung-nguoi-gin-giu-van-hoa-ban-lang-10305310.html