Thousand years of proverbs

(Baonghean) - In the culture and folk music art flowing from ancient times, Yen Thanh is known as the cradle of Vi and Giam folk songs. From generation to generation, from generation to generation, the Yen Thanh village and commune communities always cherish, preserve and pass on the passion for Vi and Giam folk songs - a cultural heritage of the homeland that will forever exist and resonate.

Practice session of the Vi and Giam Folk Song Club of Phuc Thanh commune (Yen Thanh).

Yen Thanh is an ancient land. The village and commune communities of Yen Thanh from generation to generation, from generation to generation, are bound together by the love of village and neighbor, by hard work, by the desire to love, to overcome natural disasters, enemies, and hardships. From the labor and desire to live of the Yen Thanh people, the magical, sweet, affectionate, and profound folk melodies of Vi and Giam have been formed.

According to senior artisans, every village in Yen Thanh knows how to sing Vi and Giam folk songs. This special cultural form is as abundant as the Dinh River, which never dries up. The lifeblood of folk songs, Vi and Giam melodies has never faded, despite going through many generations and many changes in the times.

Nowhere like in Yen Thanh, people from young to old, everyone can sing Vi and Giam folk songs so fluently and sweetly, captivating people's hearts. Coming to Yen Thanh is coming to the Vi and Giam land, with simple, rustic folk songs but imbued with the humanity of honest farmers, working hard in the fields. They sing with passion, pouring into it their love for people, their homeland, their country and their working life. Nowadays, Vi and Giam folk songs in the rice land are increasingly rich and vivid, an endless source of inspiration for the people of Yen Thanh, especially during Tet and Spring....

Mr. Dang Duy Hung, Director of Yen Thanh District Cultural Center, said: To preserve, transmit and develop this special folk art form, in 2009, Yen Thanh District Cultural Center directed the establishment of Vi and Giam folk singing clubs. Currently, the district has 5 clubs in the communes of Phuc Thanh, Dong Thanh, Vien Thanh, Bao Thanh, and Hop Thanh.

Each club attracts 25 to 30 participants. The core of the club's activities are artisans and professional staff of the Cultural Center who directly come to each club to direct and practice. Operating costs are supported by the District and Commune Cultural Centers. In addition, we also go to localities to discover and nurture talented young buds. At the same time, we gradually bring folk songs into schools and develop more clubs.

Currently, Vi and Giam folk songs in Yen Thanh are not only developing in the villages but have also spread to the community. From 2012 to 2014, at Vi and Giam folk song club festivals organized by the province, the three clubs of Phuc Thanh, Dong Thanh and Vien Thanh communes always won high prizes.

Currently in Yen Thanh, there are 4 artists honored by the State as folk artists - living human treasures, preserving and transmitting Nghe folk songs and Giam in the community through generations. They are folk artists Phan The Phiet. Tran Quoc Minh, Nguyen Canh Son (Dong Thanh) and Mai Truc, Quoc Tu (Vien Thanh).

Contacting and talking with folk artists in Yen Thanh, we understand that in every vein of their blood is always full of love for Vi and Giam folk songs. These artists seem to be born from Vi and Giam folk songs and then spend their whole lives wandering far and wide following those folk songs, to preserve, cherish and pass on the flame to a cultural heritage of humanity.

A typical example is folk artist Phan Thế Phiết (born in 1948) in Hoa Thành commune. Most of Mr. Phiết's life was spent teaching singing and staging folk plays for the art troupes of communes and districts. Now retired, Mr. Phiết is still invited by communes and district leaders to stage art programs and build folk clubs for Vi and Giam in hamlets. Not stopping there, Mr. Phiết also teaches folk singing for free at schools. He confided: "I do this also with the purpose of "passing on the fire" of Vi and Giam folk songs to the younger generation."

Following the footsteps of folk artist Phan The Phiet, we visited the Vi and Giam folk singing club in Dong Thanh commune. In early December (the year of the Horse), people were busy with the rice planting season, but at night, the Vi and Giam folk singing clubs of the commune were still enthusiastically practicing Vi and Giam singing, still resounding in the peaceful moonlight of the countryside.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thang (45 years old) - Club President said: “The members of the Club are all farmers. We came to the Club with a simple love for art. We are willing to leave our farming work and leave our children behind to practice serving the people. When we are on stage, we forget everything to transform into our characters. Up to now, the Club has won many awards from Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces through competitions on Vi Giam folk songs”.

We have been to many villages of the rice land of Yen Thanh, and wherever we go, we can hear the sweet and profound folk melodies of Vi and Giam that move people’s hearts. The songs spread and leave an impression of a cultural land, a sacred land with outstanding people, with its own characteristics in the heart of Nghe An…

Tien Dung (Contributor)