Meet the people of the old firewood and grass guild...

(Baonghean) -When we came to learn about the Reo singing tune of Nho Lam village (in Dien Tho commune, Dien Chau district, Nghe An), Mr. Dang Quang Lien - who has done research on this unique Reo singing tune shared: "Reo singing is a unique folk song of Nghe An, but unfortunately, in the whole Nho Lam village now, there are only a few people who know and can sing Reo. They are the remaining people of the old firewood and grass guild...".

“Hey, you who cut firewood along the long road. The east wind makes the willows east. The west wind makes the willows east. I thought we should be husband and wife. There is no job that is so hard…” The familiar Reo singing melody once echoed throughout the Dai Vac mountains, but now it is gradually fading into the past…

We were fortunate to meet Mr. Hoang Kim Kha, born in 1920, and Mrs. Hoang Thi Hoi, born in 1916, two children of Nho Lam village who were at a rare age. Yet what surprised everyone present was that they still remembered and sang enthusiastically the once-famous Reo songs…

In the story of reminiscing about the past, when talking about the Reo songs, his voice was excited and clear: “Back then, we were strong young men, every morning we had to go to Dai Vac mountain to chop wood and pull grass before dawn. When the sound of the horn sounded loudly throughout the village, we started walking and singing. The songs followed one another, accompanied by loud shouts, dispelled fear and made everyone excited, forgetting fatigue…”.

Mrs. Hoang Thi Em, although she is over 95 years old, no longer has the strength to cheer after each song like before, but her wrinkled face suddenly brightens up strangely when singing familiar Reo songs: “Why don’t you remember, when we went up and down the cave. We bundled firewood into a beam, and ate from the same package. When we got home, my parents asked me who I was infatuated with. I was infatuated with someone, I was very, very infatuated…”. Wiping the betel juice from the corner of her mouth, she is still as shy as when she was a girl: “We grew up knowing how to sing and were “infatuated” with singing Reo. There are many couples who love each other but don’t dare to express their feelings. Thanks to Reo songs, we became husband and wife…”.

Mr. Hoang Kim Kha and Mrs. Hoang Thi Em were absorbed in singing Reo.

In Nho Lam village in those days, wherever people went, they could hear the sound of the trumpet and the clear singing of the Reo. It became an indispensable part of the daily life of the people of Nho Lam village. There are not many people from the old firewood and grass guilds today, and the melodies of the Reo are gradually fading into the past...

“Nho Lam is complaining heavily / If you are able, you will return to Nho Lam”. This folk song describes the hard and difficult life of the people of Nho Lam village in the past. It is considered a condition for the birth of Reo singing melodies. According to Mr. Dang Quang Lien, Reo singing has two main characteristics: it is a collective singing form and was formed during the process of hard labor. It has become a form of cultural activity that has been passed down for hundreds of years in Nho Lam, and many people know and can sing it.

According to legend, in Nho Lam village in those days, every morning, boys and girls had to go to Dai Vac mountain to chop firewood and pull grass from the time the rooster crowed. They formed groups of firewood and grass. The journey was long and the work was tiring. At first, they only blew the horns to invite each other to go and sing songs composed by themselves to the tune of folk songs to forget their fatigue. When the sun was setting, 20 to 30 people carried firewood on their shoulders, running and singing all the way back. It was a form of collective singing, each person sang a line, the previous person passed it on to the next person until the end of the song. After each song ended, they blew the horns and shouted loudly throughout the mountains and forests. That is why they called these songs to the tune of folk songs Reo singing.

The musical instrument of the Reo singing is just a buffalo horn, but it has inspired dozens of people to sing together. Born in the process of hard labor and composed by the people, the content of the Reo singing is very rich and diverse. These are songs praising love for the homeland, country, love for nature, reflecting life and love between couples, praising good people and also satirical songs, criticizing bad habits... The special thing is that the Reo songs are sometimes hundreds of verses long. The participants must all know them by heart to sing one after another. Although the tone of the Reo singing is influenced by the Ve Dam tune and other folk songs of Nghe An, because it was born in the process of hard labor, the tone of the Reo lyrics is often firm, heavy, concise, and not melodious.

Hat Reo also bears the mark of the Neolithic period at the Ru Ta – Dong Mom relic site left for the wood and grass guild of Nho Lam village. People also associate it with the way the ancients hunted. When seeing an animal, the leader shouted loudly and then everyone cheered and surrounded to catch it…

Until now, there are still hundreds of Reo songs circulating among the people, of which Mr. Lien has only collected a very small part. “The unfortunate thing is that there are very few people who remember and know how to sing Reo, especially the young people are not interested in learning about it. This is a unique folk song, which needs to be preserved in time before it is at risk of being forgotten…” - Mr. Lien shared.

A sunny afternoon. The wind on Dai Vac mountain range was still blowing. The old couple, “toothless”, chewed betel, still as enthusiastically as when they were in their twenties, singing the familiar Reo songs. But now, after each song, there was no sound of the horn, Ọ lu tu lu tu ọ… and cheers, but only lingering regret…

Bien Luan