Artist Hoang Van Loi: The singer in the fields

(Baonghean) - “My dear… Then the season comes when the leaves are dry, the straw is dry/ When you return to your hometown, where will you find it?”… I don’t know why he chose such a sad song when we asked him to sing. It seemed that his entire miserable childhood, immersed in folk songs and folk songs, was welling up in his eyes. He said, “I will forever be a country person - a country person who plows deeply, hoes hard, a country person who sings in the village fields” - he said.

Artist Hoang Van Loi was born in 1954 in a singing-loving family in Dien Loi commune, Dien Chau. His family was considered a miniature theater troupe. His mother, Mrs. Luu Thi Ton, was a famous folk singer in the Nho Lam region. Even when she was busy with a bunch of small children and had to work hard day and night to raise them, she still did not forget her singing voice. She sang lullabies to her children, she sang while working in the fields, she sang at village festivals. Sometimes, she also followed her village theater troupe to perform. Hoang Van Loi said that he and his siblings were "absorbed" in their mother's singing voice since childhood and even luckier, his hometown, the working atmosphere of that day, all the feelings were put into the songs.

Artist Hoang Van Loi in a folk song teaching session.

Working in agriculture, relying only on rice, and being passionate about singing, his family was always poor. Many times, his parents went to the village stage hungry. The children stood below, engrossed in watching the performance, forgetting their hunger. After watching, when they returned home, the brothers invited each other to carry bamboo poles and stretchers to the yard to make a stage, reenacting the play their parents had just performed. “Back then, it was both hard and fun. The village often performed cultural nights. Tuong, cheo, cai luong… everything” - Hoang Van Loi recalled. The plays performed the night before were reenacted by his brothers not only in the yard, but also when they went to herd buffaloes and check on the rice fields. Mr. Loi said he could not remember all the beatings that were the “consequences” of his passion for singing. Every time they went to the fields, letting the buffaloes out to find food, the brothers would find a mound of land to make a stage. The plays “Trung Trac - Trung Nhi”, the cheo “Quan Am Thi Kinh”, “Mother Dop”…

The performance often ended only when a man or woman came out with a whip because the buffalo was eating their rice or trampling their fields. Once, thanks to singing, Mr. Loi and his brothers avoided a beating. He remembered that it was the time when they let the buffalo eat Mr. Dong's rice. Mr. Dong was very angry, after beating them in the field, he forced them to go home. In a stern voice, Mr. Dong questioned: "What were you doing that you let them destroy my fields?". Mr. Loi replied: "Sir, we were busy singing." "What song did you sing?". Hearing that question, Mr. Loi started singing: "Every time I pass by, I get drunk on betel and wine...". Mr. Dong laughed: "Okay, I'll let you off this time. Remember, next time you're busy singing, just sing inside the house, do you hear? If you're still singing in the field, you'll get beaten."

But how can one go to the field without singing? The whole field is filled with the scent of straw, the scent of young rice, the scent of mud, the scent of wind and sun. The whole field is filled with singing. The singing of the wind, of rice, of dry straw, of new soil on the plowed furrows. The singing of the brothers, sisters, and uncles, even those who are hired to plow or hoe in the field, is still so bustling and passionate. “Looking up at the sky with silver clouds and pink clouds/ I pity you and ask if you really have a husband yet?”. “Oh my dear! When the season comes, the dry straw will fall, when you return to your hometown, where will you find it?”

But memories of Mr. Loi are not only about the beatings in his childhood. His most memorable and cruel beating was when he had become a famous artist in the area. That year, around 17 years old, he was invited to teach folk singing to some women in Dien Thang. While he was passionately singing Nghe songs, suddenly a man in the neighborhood with a mental problem ran up and grabbed a stick and hit him straight on the body. He collapsed on the spot. Everyone gathered to take him to the hospital and that time "the whole Dien Thang village went to the hospital to take care of me" - Hoang Van Loi said with a smile.

To compensate, his singing also brought him a beautiful, hard-working wife. “She also loved my singing so much that she followed me home to be her wife, but I stood next to her like a mismatched pair of chopsticks,” Mr. Loi said. Mrs. Hoa, his wife, was truly in love with him because of his singing. She still joked, “I was so foolish back then,” but her eyes sparkled with joy: “When I was with him, I still couldn’t get angry at the most annoying times.” She said, “One day, the rice in the field was already ripe and covered in mud, and I was alone, pregnant, going to the field, while he was busy… teaching singing. That time, when she saw him coming home, she declared: “From tomorrow on, no more art performances or ginger performances.” Instead of explaining, he said: “Madam, please stop and listen to me. You and I have worked hard for so many years…” Then, through his singing, he told stories of his youth, stories of the hardships they had shouldered together, stories of the intimacy they had kept intact for so many years. So why would I be angry with him? He brought “karma” upon himself, I love him because of karma, there is no reason to blame him anymore - Mrs. Hoa thought so. Because of this, Mr. Loi loved and admired her even more. To him, she was always beautiful. Not since her youth, when she bravely stood next to the skinny, dark man “because of being exposed to the sun”, but even now “she is still very beautiful”.

Mr. Loi also served 3 years in the army. At that time, in addition to his political duties, he was also appointed as the leader of the art troupe. In 1979, after being demobilized and returning to local agricultural production, he was appointed as the leader of the art troupe of Vin Cau Cooperative, Dien Loi Commune, and together with his sister, taught folk songs.

His family has 5 brothers, all 5 of whom love singing. And the stage they have been attached to all their lives is the village field. In the same year, 2 siblings were awarded the title of folk artist, Mr. Loi and his younger sister, Mrs. Hoang Thi Nam. That is the pride of Dien Loi people. Now, the two siblings are active in the same folk music club, of which Mr. Loi is the chairman.

Artist Hoang Thi Nam is always proud of her brother: "Ever since I was little, I followed him around and listened to him sing. He sang well, and attracted listeners with the joys and sorrows of the songs. Brother Loi can sing many folk songs such as: Vi Do Dua, Vi Nong Thuong, Vi Dong Rung, Dam Cua Quyen, Dam Duc Son, Dam Ru Phu Tu Tinh Tham... Thanks to that, I also know many songs: Many nights after teaching folk songs, the two brothers chatted excitedly, forgetting the long road. Mrs. Nam added: "When we were young, the two brothers held hands and sang, now that we are old, we can join the same club, there is even more joy...".

For the people of Dien Loi and Dien Chau, artist Hoang Van Loi is known and called "teacher". He was appointed as the head of the commune's Folk Song Club, and also the Vice Head of the Dien Chau District Folk Song Club. Although the work is voluntary, and sometimes he has to spend his own money to run the activities for the members, he is still very happy. He always worries that most of the youth nowadays only like lively music, and few like to sing or listen to folk songs. The more he worries, the more he tries to get closer to the young. He wants to instill in them a love of folk songs with all his heart. Perhaps thanks to that, his Folk Song Club has more and more young people signing up to participate. That is what makes him happiest.

Not only did he teach folk songs in his home commune, he also participated in building the movement in many other communes. Some typical communes in the folk song movement such as: Dien Tho, Dien Thinh, Dien Thanh, Dien Binh, Dien Hoa, Dien Xuan... thanks in part to his dedication.

In particular, since the policy of bringing folk songs into schools, Mr. Loi has been the one who has compiled Vi and Giam melodies to teach to children in primary schools in Dien Chau district.

The more people know how to sing folk songs, the happier he is. Folk songs are the cultural heritage of our ancestors, the roots, the character and soul of the Nghe people, so even if we cannot do much, we should teach our children to sing, to preserve and promote the good things of our homeland and our people.

We left when the large yard of his house had begun to be crowded with people. It turned out that, for a long time, that yard had also been a place for folk singing activities. And among them, there were not only him and Mrs. Nam, but also his wife, his daughter and son-in-law. The singing had begun: “My dear, if one oath is not fate, it is a debt/ But two oaths are not husband and wife/ But three oaths are to create mountains and block rivers/ Remember to follow me to the end of my duty, lest I wait in vain”…

Article and photos:Thuy Vinh - Thu Huong