The first school in the border district of Nghe An teaching Mong flute dancing

Passing on to the younger generation

About Tay Son - a remote commune of the mountainous district of Ky SonspringNow, I have seen the flowers in abundance; I have heard the joyful and exciting sounds of the panpipes. The pink peach blossoms welcome and take the natives home to celebrate Tet, then go off to work far away. The yellow mustard flowers along the paths leading people to the fields... The sounds of panpipes, flutes, and cuxia singing resound from schools; from the village cultural house; from each house. The joyful and gentle sounds of the panpipes, high and low, seem to make the listeners more excited and enthusiastic.

Artisan Vu Lau Phong teaches Mong ethnic cultural values ​​to students. Photo: Thanh Cuong

In a multi-generational wooden house located on the mountainside in Huoi Giang 1 village, Meritorious Artist Vu Lau Phong (52 years old) is teaching his youngest son Vu Ba Tenh about the Mong flute. He plays the flute while dancing. The flute dances are both gentle and graceful, creating beautiful choreography. The flute sounds are like confidences, expressing thoughts. Artist Vu Lau Phong told his son: “The Mong people have a diverse and rich spiritual life in terms of customs, practices, religions, beliefs, writing, language, culture, and art. For the Mong people, the art of flute dancing is a special cultural characteristic with high aesthetic and humanistic values, like their soul and essence...”.

The art of the Hmong people's panpipe dance also demonstrates community cohesion and solidarity in community life. Originating from customs and practices, the Hmong panpipe has many themes and melodies. The sound of the panpipe penetrates deeply into the Hmong people's souls: With a happy sound, the Hmong people invite friends to go out in the Spring, call friends to go to the market, and wish each other good luck. When sad, the sound of the panpipe is slow and deep, often played at funerals to express condolences to the family, to send the deceased to the other world.

Mong village in the high mountains. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Artist Vu Lau Phong said: “My grandfather taught me the art of panpipe dancing since I was 12 years old, as well as musical instruments and folk songs. I must say that learning to panpipe dance and use musical instruments is not easy, especially for a child. At that time, there was a time when I wanted to quit and not learn anymore. But my grandfather told me: Panpipe dancing and how to use musical instruments were passed down to him by his ancestors. Now that your father is away on business, he has the responsibility to teach you, so that you can pass them on to your children. If you don’t learn, Mong music will be lost and then everything will be lost.”

From the encouragement of his grandfather, Artisan Vu Lau Phong fell in love with musical instruments, melodies, tunes, performing arts and formed the awareness of preserving the cultural values ​​of his people without realizing it. At the age of 18, Artisan Vu Lau Phong began performing at festivals and competitions at the commune, district, province, and national levels and won many awards, certificates of merit, and certificates of merit. At the age of 30, he had mastered most of the musical instruments and performing arts of the Mong people in Ky Son district... And when his daughter and son turned 12, he passed on the use of musical instruments and the cultural and artistic values ​​of his people to his children and grandchildren.

According to Artisan Vu Lau Phong: In Tay Son commune, not only his family but all other families are very conscious of passing on the cultural values ​​of the nation to the next generation. From a community perspective, since the year 2000, the commune has formed a model of a club to preserve the Mong identity organized by the elderly. Three times a month, the club operates at the village's community cultural house. There, the elderly tell their grandchildren and children about their ethnic origins and what cultural beauties need to be preserved.

In particular, the elders have passed down rituals, ways of playing musical instruments, and folk songs. The Khen dance in particular and the culture and art of the Mong people are not simply songs and melodies about working life but are historical stories and the soul of the ethnic group. Passing down these values ​​is to remind descendants to remember their roots. On holidays and Tet, the club organizes performances... The club's activities have generally been maintained quite well over the past 20 years. However, in the past 2 years, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the club has not been operating as regularly and with the same quality as before.

Spread the sound of the flute far and wide

The Covid-19 epidemic has saddened the artist Vu Lau Phong and more than 10 members of the club in Tay Son in particular... But then, joy suddenly came unexpectedly when in the 2020-2021 school year, Tay Son Ethnic Minority Secondary School decided to include the art of panpipe dancing and Mong musical instruments and folk songs in the extracurricular program, with the participation of a large number of students and teachers.

According to artist Vu Lau Phong: The Khen dance is a special cultural feature with high aesthetic and humanistic values. The sound of the Khen permeates the soul of the Mong people. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Ms. La Thi Thanh Huyen - Vice Principal of Tay Son Ethnic Minority Secondary School shared: “Tay Son Ethnic Minority Secondary School has 100% of students being Mong ethnic people. Learning in Vietnamese as a second language makes the quality of mass education not high. The school is always wondering how to create a learning environment that attracts students to participate in many meaningful educational activities, improve the quality of mass education, and attract students to love going to school. Besides, the school recognizes that Mong ethnic culture has many unique beauties. However, with the penetration of foreign cultures and the explosion of media, many beautiful cultural features are gradually being lost. Many students do not know how to play their ancestors' musical instruments, do not understand traditional customs and culture, and are not aware of preserving and developing the typical and beautiful cultural features of their ethnic group.

Through research and surveys of student psychology, the school has decided to include learning musical instruments, customs, and folk games of the Mong people in the school's extracurricular program; to contribute to educating students to love and be proud of the cultural values ​​of their nation; to create a playground, helping students go to school with a happy and comfortable mindset, thereby improving the quality of teaching in schools.

Students of Tay Son Ethnic Minority Secondary School perform a panpipe dance. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Since the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, every week, artisan Vu Lau Phong and other elders have been invited by the school to participate in exchanges and teach students throughout the school in extracurricular activities. The artisans have shared the cultural values ​​of the nation; performed skillful Khen dances. Students at the school are very interested, attentively watching and learning... At school and in the commune, a movement has been formed and there have been many exciting Khen dance competitions and folk song and traditional musical instrument performances. From here, the students' awareness of learning has gradually improved, and they like to go to school more.

Preserving and promoting national cultural identity is a national sustainable development strategy, a common task of the whole society, in which education plays the most important role. Tay Son Ethnic Minority Secondary School and local artisans have had a good way of implementing this strategy and task.

Mr. Phan Van Thiet - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district said: "Ky Son is one of the three districts of Nghe An ranked as the poorest district in the country. To develop the locality, improving the quality of human resources needs special attention. Investing in future generations, in recent years, 71 schools in the area have paid attention to educating traditional cultural values ​​of ethnic groups to create comprehensive development for students. In the coming time, the Education sector will continue to promote this work and there will be more models and good practices like in Tay Son"./.