Proposal to recognize Xoan singing as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity

The Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to coordinate with the Vietnam National Committee for UNESCO to prepare a dossier on Xoan singing and send it to UNESCO before March 31, 2016.

The Prime Minister agreed that the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, on behalf of the Government, would sign the National Dossier "Phu Tho Xoan Singing" to submit to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for consideration of inclusion in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to coordinate with the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO to complete the necessary procedures to submit the dossier to UNESCO before March 31, 2016.

Phu Tho Xoan singing.

Xoan singing, also known as Khuc mon dinh (singing at the communal house gate), is a form of worshiping the gods, said to have existed since the time of the Hung Kings. In ancient times, the Van Lang people organized Xoan singing in the spring to welcome the new year. There are three forms of Xoan singing: singing to worship the Hung Kings and the village's tutelary god; ritual singing to pray for good crops and health; and festival singing, a form for men and women to flirt.

According to historical records, Xoan singing has existed for more than 2,000 years and is an extremely valuable folk cultural heritage. Ancient Xoan melodies all originated from ancient villages located in the central area of ​​Van Lang during the time of the Hung Kings. The origin of Xoan singing is in Phu Tho region, then spread to the villages on both banks of Lo River, Red River, and throughout Vinh Phuc province. The four ancient Xoan guilds are An Thai, Phu Duc, Kim Doi and Thet, located in Kim Duc and Phuong Lau communes (Phu Tho).

Xoan music is a performance music with all forms of singing: spoken singing, chanting, poetry recitation and songs; there are female choirs, male choirs, group singing, duet singing, polyphonic singing, chasing singing, interlaced singing, singing with a leader and responding singing. In terms of musical nuances, Xoan music has both solemn, leisurely voices and strong chasing melodies, and graceful, lyrical voices. In Xoan singing, dancing and singing always go together and combine with each other, using dance to illustrate the content of the lyrics. The vitality of Xoan singing lies in the combination of ritual singing and love singing, which has existed for a long time and is loved by many generations.

On November 24, 2011, Phu Tho Xoan singing was officially recognized by the UNESCO Inter-National Committee meeting in Bali, Indonesia as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in need of urgent protection./.

According to VOV.VN