Preserving the old features in Nghia Lac

(Baonghean) - Nghia Lac is a remote commune of Nghia Dan district, with three ethnic groups living together, of which the Tho and Thanh ethnic groups account for 97.8% of the commune's population. This is also a locality with many traditional customs and festivals such as gong festivals, wrestling festivals, new rice offerings, new year blessings, and going to the fields with folk games such as carving beds, bamboo pole dancing, xoe dancing, san khan, and con throwing...

The Nghia Lac Commune Gong Club was established in January 2014 with the aim of bringing the songs and dances of the Tho people to serve the people and to teach the next generations a unique cultural feature of the people. The members of the Gong Club are non-professional artists, they seek music after a hard day's work, and dance and sing to strengthen the neighborhood relationship. Up to now, the Club has 40 members. We visited the house of Mr. Le Huu Chi (61 years old) in Lac Hamlet, who initiated the establishment of the Gong Club and is currently the Club's secretary. Mr. Chi has been able to sing and respond, dance folk songs and play gongs skillfully since the age of 15. His parents are also famous artists who sing well, dance beautifully and play gongs well. Mr. Le Huu Chi said: Lac Hamlet has 146 households, 669 people, 98% of whom are Tho ethnic people.

On major holidays, the Club often organizes gong exchanges with clubs inside and outside the commune such as Lung Ha hamlet club, Mit hamlet in Nghia Loi commune, Tan hamlet in Nghia Lac commune. At the same time, it organizes gong competitions between inter-family groups. Gongs are the spiritual beliefs of the Tho people, the deep, resonant sounds, blending with the sound of streams and winds, will live forever with the earth and people. In terms of musical instruments, the gongs of the Tho people are no different from those of other ethnic groups, but the way of playing and the rhythm and tempo have their own characteristics. While the way of playing gongs of the Thai people is more diverse with single gongs, double gongs, triple gongs and quad gongs, the Tho people only play triple gongs and quad gongs; The gong is often used in rituals to pray for peace and good harvest, while the gong is used in festivals and to organize con throwing games... "The good news is that when the club was established, the elderly and the young actively participated in training, so there were conditions to teach techniques as well as preserve the cultural values ​​of the Tho people, especially gong culture," Mr. Chi proudly said about his club.

A meeting of the Gong Club in Lac hamlet, Nghia Lac commune.

While the Tho people are preserving the love songs and gongs, the Thanh people in Nghia Lac are proud of their rhythm of carving the luong and the bustling dance of the bamboo poles, and the fluttering xoe. According to the explanation of Ms. Le Thi Huong - one of the first people to establish the Luong Carving Club in Mon hamlet, in the past, the luong (loong) was a trough used for pounding rice, closely associated with the daily life of the Thanh people. Only three or five people pounding rice together were needed to carve the luong. When carving the luong, people hold a pestle to hit the wall of the trough or stab it down into the trough, making loud, strong, decisive or rapid sounds. This is a unique primitive musical instrument of the Thanh people performed during holidays and Tet. Especially when welcoming distinguished guests, the people here organize a very bustling ring-carving ceremony... "Initially, there were only about 10 women in the hamlet who knew how to carve rings. Every time there was an art movement or a festival, we formed a group and participated spontaneously. In early 2014, with the suggestion of the Commune People's Committee, we established the Mon Hamlet Ring-Carving Club to operate in a more organized and disciplined manner. After a year and a half of operation, the club has now attracted 97 members, organizing activities once a month on the 16th at the hamlet's cultural house. The operating costs are contributed by the members, of which the Hamlet Front Committee allocates 50,000 VND/month for the club," Ms. Le Thi Huong added.

Also with the desire to pass on their national identity, in 2014, the Xoe dance club of Xoè Xoè Xoè was established. Ms. Ha Thi Linh, Head of the Xoè dance club, said: Xoè dance is an indispensable dance in major holidays and festivals and is considered a traditional dance of the Thanh ethnic group. Normally, in each festival, when the Xoè dance is the last part, everyone holds hands and joins the Xoè rhythm, always creating many emotions for the participants. The Xoè dance of the Thanh people is also a dance that shows solidarity in the community, making festival participants forget the fatigue and worries after hard working periods. A good and beautiful xoè circle is a natural one, everyone holding hands comfortably, walking in the same rhythm, turning in the same direction... "After days of hard work, we dance xoè together and our fatigue seems to disappear. Especially, after the xoè festival, everyone feels more love for life and more enthusiastic about working to wait for the new festival", Ms. Linh confided.

Mr. Ha Van Lieu, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghia Lac Commune, said: In order to continue to preserve and promote the cultural values ​​of ethnic minority communities in the area, Party committees and authorities at all levels have stepped up propaganda work to raise awareness of all classes of people about the profound significance of cultural values, and at the same time, mobilize people to do a good job of socialization to have more resources to serve the preservation and restoration of traditional festivals and unique folk art forms. In addition to the above clubs, currently in Nghia Lac Commune there is also the Khap singing club (Gay hamlet), the love singing club (Tan hamlet) and the bamboo dancing club (Men hamlet). The establishment of the clubs has attracted a large number of people from all classes to participate. Through the activities of the clubs, members can exchange, learn, enjoy the cultural beauty of their ethnic groups and pass on to the younger generation how to preserve and promote the national cultural identity...

Article and photos:Ngoc Anh