Mong Instrumental Music - Last Article: Music Associated with the Cycle of Life
(Baonghean.vn) - Not only during the off-season and free days do folk cultural activities take place, but Mong people's instrumental music is present in daily life, from the fields to the villages, from family holidays to clan holidays, to the Tet and Spring festivals of the whole community; not only the youth - the age that knows how to use music to express their feelings, but also children, old men and women all have the need.
>> Lesson 1: Musical instruments from the great forest
>> Lesson 2: Interesting legend
At the naming ceremony for the 3-day-old baby
For the Mong people, the birth of a child is not only the joy of the parents but also of the whole community and clan. However, according to custom, after crying at birth, the child has not been given a name, is not yet a member of the family, of the clan community, but must wait to see "whether the child will stay with its parents or not". On the third day, depending on the circumstances, each family organizes a naming ceremony for the child, big or small, but no matter how small, a chicken and a small pig must be killed. The ceremony begins before sunrise. The shaman holds aShareorcursedRead the prayers in high and low tones, loud and soft.cursedkeep the beat also soft sometimes loud, or soundShareshake back and forth rhythmically
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A shaman performs a family worship ceremony for the Va clan in Tham Hin village, Nam Can commune, Ky Son district. Photo courtesy: Dao Tho |
Instrumental music in times of illness
The Mong people in Nghe An believe that a person has three souls, the first soul is on the top of the head, the second soul is on the chest, and the third soul is on the navel (different from the Mong people in the northern provinces: the three souls are on the top of the head and two hands). When one of the three souls leaves, the person is sick and a ceremony must be held.Ua Nenh, Huplì.
CeremonyHuplithen family members can do it themselves, andShouldusually have to rely on a shaman. The important thing in these ceremonies is the procedure, the order of implementation and the forms when performing the ceremony, with the treeShareorcursedbeat the rhythm for the prayer. The person praying sometimes stands in place, sometimes walks around the place of worship, chanting mysterious prayers; or with a pair of "nênh" characters intertwined between two fingers, the shaman sits on a chair, his head covered with a red scarf; he reads, calls out, sometimes as if shouting in harmony with the ringing sound of the "nênh" characters, creating a sacred and mysterious feeling, sometimes as if threatening to chase away evil spirits and bring the soul back to the sick person.
Happy wedding music
To get to the wedding day, young couples must go through a period of getting to know each other. During national and family festivals, during Tet, Spring, at friends' weddings and even at funerals, young men and women secretly pay attention to each other, and so in the following days, the young men begin to show off all their talents and abilities.
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A young Mong man in Nhon Mai commune (Tuong Duong) dances with a panpipe. Photo: Cong Kien |
During the day, when they go to collect firewood or tend crops in the fields, young men and women visit, joke, and tease each other through the sound of forest leaves. Thanks to the sound of leaves, they understand each other better. Then, day after day, month after month, every afternoon in the mystery of smoke and mist, the sounds of the Khen and the horizontal flutes of the young men resound as if to probe and send their lovers a message of appointment; at night, there will no longer be the bustling and exciting sounds of the Khen, there will no longer be the clear, sweet sounds of the horizontal flutes of the young men, but instead there will be the sounds of the vertical flutes with gentle blowing, the sounds of the flutes are low, warm, and profound, as if evoking images of love and affection.
The sound of the flute lulls the elderly into a deep sleep after a tiring day of work, but it is also a refrain that repeats the promise and urges lovers to prepare to welcome each other...
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Nowadays, making panpipes is also facing many difficulties because very few people can still make panpipes that meet sound standards. Photo: Document |
Without the sound of the flute, the night deepens, the mountains and forests become more immense, the villages become quieter, allowing the lovers' mouth harp to whisper or bustle to the beat of their hearts. When love is ripe, it is time for the wedding ceremony.
When the boys bring the girls home, they hold a ceremony.fireto enter the girl's body. During the ceremonyflood(wedding ceremony), the father stands in the house in front of the main door, eyes looking out, hands holdingcursedtap the beat and sing the songssaunaDuring the wedding days at the bride's and groom's houses, the soundjust xiaof the bride and groom's friends resounded throughout the night. Through the songs, people advised and reminded the bride to fulfill her duties to her husband's family. Also from these weddings through the nightsjust be cool(teasing, challenging song),just leave(singing to express feelings) to proceed to the ceremonies of other boys and girls...
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Artisan Vu Lau Phong, Huoi Giang 1 village, Tay Son commune (Ky Son) performs Mong flute. Photo: Cong Kien |
The singing and instrumental music in weddings that resound day and night are also indispensable in the rituals of the clan, the village and in the New Year and Spring days of the nation, especially in funerals, from the moment the deceased stops breathing until the burial. From fresh funerals to dry funerals to funeralsmarket, market,Instrumental music is always present in rituals, making funerals and other ceremonies more solemn and sacred.
