Ca Tru Co Dam - Timely preservation solutions needed

(Baonghean.vn) -Co Dam Commune (Nghi Xuan – Ha Tinh) has long been known as the “cradle” of Nghe An Ca Tru with melodies that have touched the hearts of many listeners; the stories, anecdotes, and great human values ​​of Ca Tru here have contributed to enriching the rich culture of the Vietnamese people. However, few people know that this “treasure” of art is gradually fading away over time and is in need of “urgent protection”.

Historical pages of the "ancestral land" of Ca Tru

According to legend, the birthplace of Ca Tru is Co Dam, the founders of Ca Tru are the couple Dinh Le and Bach Hoa in Tong Co Dam, Nghi Xuan district - Ha Tinh. According to legend, the founder Dinh Le was given a piece of wood and a drawing of a Day zither by two fairies. Based on that drawing, Dinh Le carved the instrument, the sound of which was so beautiful that even birds and fish were stunned to listen. Dinh Le traveled everywhere to teach people the captivating melodies that are still called Ca Tru today.

Nguyen Cong Tru Ca Tru Club, a gathering place for "some of the
The few people who still have love and want to continue to be attached to Ca Tru on the land of Nghi Xuan - Ha Tinh

Once Dinh Le went to Thuong Xuan district (Thanh Hoa), the district governor here named Bach Dinh Sa had a daughter named Bach Hoa, who was sixteen years old but could not speak. When she heard Dinh Le's zither, the girl was eating and immediately used her chopsticks to tap the tray to the rhythm of the zither. Bach Dinh Sa invited Dinh Le into the house to play and sing, and when the zither stopped, Bach Hoa was able to speak. Thinking it was fate, Bach Dinh Sa arranged for the two to become a couple. The couple returned to Co Dam to start a business, the husband taught zither, the wife taught dancing and singing, many boys and girls in the area came to study. Later, Dinh Le was taken to heaven by an immortal, transformed into a blue bird, Bach Hoa also fell ill and disappeared, turning into a red peach tree. The people built a temple to worship the couple, conferred them the titles of Ca Tru Founders, and took the 11th of December every year as their death anniversary.

According to historical records, since the 16th century in this land of Co Dam, the art form of Ca Tru has begun to exist and formed the Co Dam religious guild, and until the Nguyen Dynasty (17th century), Co Dam Ca Tru was very prosperous, becoming the Ca Tru center of 4 prefectures, 12 districts of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, along with the great contribution of Nguyen Cong Tru that Ca Tru in Nghi Xuan became famous throughout the country...

Compared to Northern Ca Tru, Co Dam Ca Tru has its own characteristics such as faster and sharper singing; clearer rhythm and no slurring; more leisurely and relaxed breathing; the accompaniment of the strings, drums, and clappers also has differences when the volume of the beats is louder and crisper...

Ca Tru Co Dam carries a deep voice of affection, imbued with national identity, passed down from generation to generation, playing a leading role in UNESCO's recognition of Vietnamese Ca Tru as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (October 1, 2009). There have been successive generations of Ca Tru artists from here, they have made many contributions to Vietnamese Ca Tru and received many awards related to this art form...

What is troubling is that in recent years, although Ca Tru still holds a certain position in the hearts of every Co Dam resident, there are many unavoidable reasons why it is gradually fading away in the very land where it was born...

Sad reality through the stories of artisans

Coming to the "cradle" of Ca Tru Co Dam, I tried to meet four famous Ca Tru artists here with the hope of hearing all four of them sing with their cherry voices that... "once captivated many righteous and noble people", but that could not be fulfilled when the people of Co Dam informed me that the commune currently only has two elderly artists, Mrs. Phan Thi Nga and Mrs. Tran Thi Gia, both of whom are over 90 years old, and Mrs. Nga is no longer lucid. I went to Mrs. Tran Thi Gia's house following the people's instructions, a small, simple thatched house appeared before my eyes... Despite her old age, Mrs. Gia is still quite lucid and especially her singing voice is still smooth and soft like the "Dao" in her prime...

Mr. Gia was sad when asked about the current situation of Ca Tru Co Dam.

When asked about the decline of Co Dam Ca Tru, Mr. Gia could not hide the sadness in his eyes, he confided: “It’s very sad, uncle, not many young people sing Ca Tru anymore. I remember that in the past, our commune had a communal house, young men and women still gathered to perform, the older generation taught the younger generation, and the younger generation also liked it very much, unlike now… Moreover, Ca Tru is no longer as popular as before, even the commune did not pay much attention, in the years when we were still singing, we had to find and hire drums, instruments… to perform…”

For Mr. Gia, he always had a worry, the worry that Ca Tru would be lost, and he had no children, so he accepted 22 grandchildren from the neighbors around his house as students and taught them Ca Tru singing. But according to Mr. Gia, among the children who were taught to sing, only 2 of his nephews really loved and had a talent for Ca Tru. Mr. Gia also shared some information about his generations of students, according to him, his most outstanding students were the couple Mr. Tran Van Dai and Ms. Duong Thi Xanh in Village 10 - Co Dam Commune, Mr. Dai and Ms. Xanh had many achievements in preserving and promoting the art of Ca Tru Co Dam, and also received many big and small awards related to Ca Tru art at competitions nationwide...

Saying goodbye to Mr. Gia, I immediately went to Mr. Dai and Ms. Xanh's family. However, it took me several hours, when it was completely dark, to talk to them, simply because that was the time when they returned from their daily chores to support their families.

Currently, Mr. Tran Van Dai is the Chairman of the Nguyen Cong Tru Ca Tru Club. He confided: “My husband and I came to Ca Tru simply because of our love for it. Because of our love for it, we took on the task of restoring and promoting Ca Tru; establishing the Nguyen Cong Tru Ca Tru Club, which meets every Tuesday and Thursday. The Club has achieved many successes in competitions such as the Vietnam Folk Song Festival, the National Ca Tru Club Festival, etc.”

However, Mr. Dai did not hesitate to express that although he loved and performed Ca Tru, Ca Tru could not support himself and his family. On the contrary, he and his wife had to do other jobs to support their family and "support" Ca Tru. Mr. Dai often jokingly called his job "using a profession to support a profession".

Referring to the current situation of Ca Tru Co Dam, Mr. Dai frankly said: Ca Tru Co Dam is gradually fading away, also because Ca Tru is very selective about its listeners, and the younger generation today is not very interested in Ca Tru anymore. Moreover, there are many reasons, for example, when it was first established, the Nguyen Cong Tru Ca Tru Club had more than 40 members, but now it only has 10 people, because some people go to work far away, some go to school, some get married, etc. It's sad to think about it! In my opinion, the State, from the ministerial level to the local level, needs to pay attention and invest properly, for example, the old artisans need to be given more attention and especially the cooperation of the community, otherwise I'm afraid that one day Ca Tru will no longer exist..."

Ms. Duong Thi Xanh shared: “For us, the biggest regret is not being able to retain members of the Ca Tru Club. Many people are very talented and talented, but in the end they all leave. We cannot blame them. It is all because of money and food, common worries. Ca Tru cannot support them!”

Nguyen Cong Tru Ca Tru Club is day by day reviving the fragile hopes to “save” Co Dam Ca Tru, but “can one tree make a forest?”, there are too few members to create “a miracle”. Will anyone still come to this place, the “rarest” place in Nghi Xuan land, if not the only place for those who love Ca Tru to “take refuge”.

The desire to restore the unique art form that our ancestors left behind is not only the desire of each artist but also of the whole community. The project to preserve and promote the intangible cultural heritage of Ca Tru Co Dam - Nghi Xuan (2013-2020) is being elaborately developed, proposing many solutions, but so far there has been no "movement", is it all just in theory?

It has been nearly 4 years since UNESCO recognized Ca Tru as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. According to the roadmap, there is only one more year, by 2014, we must complete the task of bringing Ca Tru beyond the boundary of "urgent protection". If we cannot do that, the consequences will be unpredictable, UNESCO may abolish the noble title we received, or even worse... "we are losing ourselves". However, to do that, it is indeed not simple, it requires a specific plan, high feasibility; requires appropriate investment; and most of all, requires... the cooperation of the community!

Truong Ky (SVTT)