Hát ngâm của người Thái Dọ ở Nghệ An

Singing of Thai Do people in Nghe An

Connected Heritage – A Cultural Heritage project aimed at
Equal development

Singing of Thai Do people in Nghe An

24/09/2024
samcongdanh

In Nghe An, the Thai Do people (or Hand or Hand Ditch) is the Thai group with the largest population in the Thai community here. Their traditional living areas are mainly concentrated in the old Quy Chau Palace (now mainly the land of three districts Que Phong, Quy Chau, Quy Hop) and the old Tuong Duong Palace (now mainly the districts Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong).

Singing is a genre of folk performance, playing an important role in the cultural and spiritual life of the Thai people. In the Thai Do language, the original word for singing is close, with “hà̄p” meaning “to sing, to speak” and “lāi” meaning “writing, text”.

The content of the old chanted songs were often epics and poetic stories copied or written in books made of papyrus.sunshine – paper is handmade from the bark of the Duong tree, which is in the same family as the Do tree), when singing, the performer will open the book. However, the Thai Do (Lai Tay) script at that time was only taught on a limited scale. Therefore, the content of these works was passed down orally from generation to generation by the Thai community. It was this oral transmission that played a very important role in the formation of this genre of singing without the need to use Thai script.

Some famous texts that are often recited include: Khun Chuong (the hindrance), Khun Lu Nang Ua (Hun Lu – Uo Piem), Yellow-rumped thrush (Lai Nok Ieng), The First Prize Winner (the grinding wheel), Look (back to Mong Muong)…

Unlike some other folk genres of the Thai Do people such as stream, flow, flow – these genres are still known to many people, including the younger generation. But for chant, most young people do not have any interest. Not to mention, those who are capable of practicing singing fluently are old and even weak. Besides, the environment for chant The existence is no longer as frequent as before. Along with that rarity, the content of epics and poetic stories, which are the material for the genre, is almost forgotten and only lives in the memories of the elderly.

Below are 06 typical performances of the singing genre performed in 2024 by Thai Do artisans in Que Phong and Quy Chau districts of Nghe An province.

Implementation team:

Sam Cong Danh (Lo Kă̄m Xieng)

Sam Thi Tinh (Choosing Love)

IMAGE

A page of Thai Do (Lai Tay) script

These are two pages of the epic Khun Chuong, dating from the early 20th century.

VIDEO

Introducing the Heritage of Singing and Interviewing the Artists

https://youtu.be/bfepkZfLqkU

The meaning of the works performed

https://youtu.be/-E2DOBJYx80
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1. Khun Chuong - Sam Thi Vinh
In this story, Khun Chom was originally Khun Chuong's father. Because Khun Chom had no children, he prepared a ceremony to pray to heaven for Khun Chuong to come down as his son. Khun Chuong took five wives, but only had children with Muong Khua's wife. He had one son and one daughter. At that time, Khun Chuong was preparing to take his sixth wife when Khun Chuong was defeated in battle and died. Because when he was preparing to reincarnate to earth, she (the person Khun Chuong planned to take as his sixth wife) had scabies, and when she reached into a rice package to eat together, Khun Chuong criticized her for being dirty, so he whipped her hand, so she became angry and felt sorry for herself. She said that until she was reincarnated to earth, whoever wanted to marry her would be chopped to death with a long-handled knife. So, God ordered his son - Khun Chuong to come down, and when it was time to fight for his sixth wife, Khun Chuong was sent by heaven to have a storm, so Khun Chuong died in battle. The reason for this epic is like that.

2. Khun Lu & Nang Ua – Sam Thi Xuan
This story about Khun Lu and Ua Piem has the meaning: to teach future generations to remember not to have incestuous marriages (Khun Lu and Ua Piem are the children of two biological sisters).

3. The First Prize Winner (Tong Tran - Cuc Hoa) - Sam Thi Xuan
Regarding this story of Tong Tran, originally when Tong Tran was young, his circumstances were very difficult, even more difficult because his mother was sick and weak. At this time, it seemed that God had saved him, so he married a wife from a noble family. But it seemed that his father-in-law did not like Tong Tran. That made the story stand out: Tong Tran would try hard, he would hone his will to take the imperial examination. So that in the future, he would be able to take care of his family, his wife, and save himself.

4. Receiving Muong, Looking at Muong – Lang Van Cuong
These are stories passed down from ancient times. Talking about the words of our ancestors, that since ancient times we have had stories and legends. Not only stopping at teaching and instructing our descendants orally about how to live and make a living. For example, the text Trong Muong. This is a story from ancient customs, in addition to teaching and instructing, it also lets future generations know: in the time of our ancestors, we knew everywhere, every village had people living there. For example, where is Muong Ha Xai, where is Muong Cot, where is Muong Gan Ca Duoi Song (Cham Pa La Nam). That is also something that we can imagine, know, and that our ancestors truly had a deep understanding, covering everywhere on earth and in the world.
Not only that, the content also shows that the ancestors have long had friendships with many lands, both above and below, inside and outside. Through that, we can also see what the words of the ancients left for their descendants. And indeed, as well as what I just said and sang above, I really want to send to the next generations to know, understand, and not forget the customs and practices of our ancestors. And I also want to let the next generation know that our ancestors had a clear eye, looking at all lands like that.