"The Strange Man" on the top of Pha Mo

(Baonghean) - “Today I come here to meet you/ Will you return my feelings? The wind blows the leaves by the stream/ If I were a drop of dew/ I would like to melt in your hand…”, Old Song Thai sang loudly in his ethnic dialect. The high, spreading notes seemed to cover all the noise around. The music in the cafe was loud. The young and old guests with many small and big stories suddenly stopped. They looked at us, looked at Old Song Thai. Old Song Thai did not know, he was still immersed in the world of his village, where there was Pha Mo mountain covered in mist all year round…

Elder Song Thai and Mong ethnic delegates at the 2nd Provincial Ethnic Minority Congress.

In his hometown of Huoi Vieng (Dooc May, Ky Son), the villagers still call him “stranger”. They affectionately call him “Song Thai! You are not a Huoi Vieng! There has been no one like you in our village for thousands of years!”. Oh, why isn’t Old Man Song Thai a Huoi Vieng? He is definitely a Huoi Vieng, a son of the Mong people of Ky Son. He was born in the village, grew up in the village, all the hardships and happiness of his life, the villagers have witnessed, right? Song Thai held out his two hands in front of him: “Here, look, these hands are truly the hands of our Mong people, the hands that climbed mountains, clung to steep cliffs to find streams in the dry season, the red hands in his father’s forge, the hands that raised crossbows on big festivals…”. Old man Song Thai, no one doubts anything, I already know that you have the "quality" of a fellow countryman in your blood, the quality that once you choose someone as a friend, you will be loyal and devoted to them for the rest of your life. However, to the villagers, you are still a stranger, because in the village a few decades ago, your education alone was already very strange.

Old Song Thai learned to read and write when he was 10 years old. Like many other Mong children, Song Thai was almost the main laborer in the house. The house had his father's blacksmith's furnace, and every morning before dawn, Song Thai would crawl into the furnace to light a fire. The coal fire from the Mong furnace did not burn quickly, but it was hot evenly. Every morning, when the furnace was finished, Song Thai's face was already black in streaks. His father's blacksmith's furnace was located on the hill behind the house. From here, looking up, he could see Pha Mo peak hidden in the white mist, and could clearly hear the babbling of the streams where Song Thai and his friends often went down to get water. Having sat on this hilltop hundreds of times, Song Thai still saw the same scenery. The scenery of Thai's Dooc May countryside was so beautiful that it was heartbreaking! But Old Song Thai kept looking, looking and wondering, what was on the other side of the mountain? Were there streams, samu-roofed houses like Huoi Vieng village? And Song Thai imagined... And Song Thai wished...

Old Song Thai said to his father: I want to go to school! The only son's firm wish made his father startled. Studying? In this Huoi Vieng, he was already the 4th generation, who knew how to read? However, he also indulged his son's wishes, every day measuring rice into a basket, adding some corn cakes and salt, a small sharp knife to go through the forest, through 3 mountains, 2 streams to reach the school in Pa Lach Phay. Song Thai was 10 years old, Song Thai began to write the first letters of his life. The letters were like a dream that existed, like a magical world. Even now, sitting and thinking back, Old Song Thai still cannot clearly understand, at that moment sitting on that familiar hilltop, what strong motivation urged him to seek out learning and persevere, persevere, overcome all hardships to study to the end like that? Perhaps, at first it was curiosity and adventure, later, it could be the desire to assert himself. Whatever the reason, those personalities are strange to the steady and somewhat conservative pace of life of the Huoi Vieng villagers.

Old Song Thai was the first son of the village to finish high school. Later, he attended many other advanced courses, and is now holding the position of Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Dooc May commune. A son of the village has come such a long way... However, the strange story of Old Song Thai does not stop there. Song Thai is also the first person of the village to find every way to preserve the magical sound of the panpipe of his ancestors. The sound of the Mong people's panpipe has become a "brand", but is increasingly at risk of being lost due to other modern means of entertainment. "How many people use the panpipe to call friends anymore? The children only call on the phone, only text, and even on big festivals, they don't know how to use the panpipe. So sad!" So sad! Old Song Thai sighed! The sadness weighs heavily on every word this morning, the sadness permeates the bustling atmosphere of Thanh Vinh city streets, and weighs heavily on the space of the coffee shop where we stopped to chat on the occasion of the “event” of Old Song Thai going to town to attend the Congress of Ethnic Minorities in Nghe An province. Old Song Thai, for so many years, you have been deeply concerned about the loss of the traditional Khen sound, and you have done everything you could. You have returned to your village, organized a meeting, and told the villagers - fathers, uncles, mothers, aunts, and even children in your clan - in the heartfelt voice of your people, that the Khen sound must not be lost. It must not be lost, and it must not be justified by any excuse.

Old Song Thai recalled that day, the villagers looked at him like a stranger. They looked at Song Thai. They looked at each other. Was this Song Thai, the only son of Old Nhia Hua? Was this Song Thai, who when he was young, had accompanied his father to all the upper and lower villages to perform funeral ceremonies for the villagers? That's right, but what strange things was Song Thai talking about? Everyone knew about the Khen of the people. "Everyone knows that every Mong family must have a Khen, Mong men must know how to play the Khen, know the difference between playing the Khen at funerals and the Khen during festivals... But now, does anyone remember everything? Any of the young men sitting here remember?", Song Thai asked.

Silence. No one spoke. No one dared to admit that they still remembered the full, standard sound of their people's Khen. So Gia Song Thai took another step, the villagers had forgotten many Khen sounds, so they had to learn them again, the old taught the young, those who remembered a lot taught those who remembered less, those who did not know anything had to listen patiently. They also had to find the Khen, many of them had been lost. The Khen of our people was easy to make, it was a musical instrument with a very simple structure, the main materials were bamboo and wood in the forest. The most elaborate and important part was the bronze lam inside the Khen pipes, the Mong people used thinly ground bronze, cut it into small pieces and attached it to the Khen pipes. There were forges and the skillful hands of our people. No sooner said than done, he personally worked with the villagers to recreate the traditional panpipes - panpipes that, when played, with the ups and downs of the feet and the expressions of the face, the sound that came out seemed to evoke all the vastness of the mountains and forests. There is a true story about Gia Song Thai that the villagers throughout the Dooc May region still tell each other, that Gia Song Thai had a panpipe that was nearly 100 years old, the body of the panpipe had turned a glossy brown color, and wherever he went to the village, he carried the panpipe as if it were an inseparable object. He played the panpipe passionately, passionately, like a charming enticement, and in no time the villagers had gathered in a circle around him. At that moment, he put down the panpipe and said, "Look here, such a beautiful panpipe, so passionate are we, we must learn it, we must remember it, we must use it often." The Khen is the spiritual symbol of the Mong people, a historical story in sound. If the Khen is lost, where will future generations rely on to find their roots?

That passionate origin is the strongest motivation that urges Elder Song Thai to find every way to retain the traditional identity of the Mong people, which is in danger of fading away. Not only the sound of the panpipe, but also many other cultural symbols, such as the embroidery secrets of Mong women, love songs, the throwing of con festival, the housewarming ceremony... Elder Song Thai acts decisively, sometimes in the role of a son of the people, whispering, confiding, advising; other times in the position of Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, Elder Song Thai proposes to put the issue of preserving and maintaining cultural identity into the annual Party resolution, from which specific solutions and programs are proposed. Up to now, we can rejoice at the changes of Dooc May village, that the generation of young people aged 14, 15 have used the panpipe skillfully and every house has a high and solemn panpipe, as a reminder and honor.

I asked Elder Song Thai, what is his greatest wish now? In the near future, to successfully organize classes on Mong ethnic culture for the Mong people themselves. Things that seem to be so well understood are actually still vague. We must find the elders to record ancient songs, prayers, and customs. If we don't do it in time, tomorrow, the Mong people will be lost in their own rich culture...

Old Song Thai stopped talking. I looked in the direction of his distant gaze. What is it, Old Song Thai? It was still the endless stream of vehicles of the young city, the noise, the laughter of everyday things, the shimmering colors in the midday sunlight. But no, it seemed that the man had immersed himself in his own world, a world filled with the vibrant sound of the flute on the misty top of Pha Mo?!

Phuong Chi - Thu Huong