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Nha Nhac, Vietnamese court music

Meaning “elegant music”, Nha Nhac refers to a broad range of musical and dance styles performed at the Vietnamese royal court from the fifteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Nha Nhac was generally featured at the opening and closing of ceremonies associated with anniversaries, religious holidays, coronations, funerals and official receptions. Nha Nhac shares a nationwide scope and strong links with the traditions of other East Asian countries. Nha Nhac performances formerly featured numerous singers, dancers and musicians dressed in sumptuous costumes. Large-scale orchestras included a prominent drum section and many other types of percussion instruments as well as a variety of wind and string instruments. All performers had to maintain a high level of concentration since they were expected to follow each step of the ritual meticulously. Throughout historical transitions, Nha Nhac’s cultural context and functions have shifted. Beside its re-enacted performances for spectacle purpose, Nha Nhac music and its expressions are viable and relevant to local communities in Thua Thien Hue, especially in festive events and ceremonies, such as festival, funeral, ancestral worshipping ritual, and birthday anniversary.

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Ca trù singing

Ca Trù singing has other names such as: A Dao singing, Dao nuong ca, Co Tou singing, Nha tro singing, communal house singing, Nha To singing..., derived from folk songs, folk music plus a number of performances and games. folk dance. From the way of worshiping at the communal house door, singing the congee, singing the crowd... Ca trù has gradually been professionalized. Belonging to a folk performance art form, the uniqueness of Ca Trù is that it is an art that combines poetry, music and sometimes dance and performance. The performance space of Ca Trù is diverse, each with its own singing style and performance method. Ca Trù singing has 5 main performance spaces: hát cửa đình (hát thờ), hát cửa quyền (hat cung đình hay hát chúc hỗ), singing at home (hát nhà tơ), singing Thi, and singing ca quan (hát chơi). The performance form of ca trù is a chanting consisting of three main components: a female vocalist (called "dao" or "ca Nuong") using a percussion set to take the beat; a male musician (referred to as "kép") plays the bass lute to accompany the singing, sometimes singing and dancing in both hat su and hat giai singing styles; people who enjoy ca trù (called "quan vien", connoisseurs of sound law, vocal music, and dance) beat drums to punctuate sentences and express their satisfaction with drum sounds. Both the singer, the man, the listener participate in the singing. Ca Trù's greatest contribution to Vietnamese culture is the birth of spoken poetry. In terms of music, the characteristic of Ca Trù is that there are three types of musical instruments: bottom lute, beat and drum, which have contributed to making Ca Trù become a special musical genre of Vietnam.

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Art of Đờn ca tài tử music and song in southern Viet Nam

Đờn ca tài tử is a musical art that has both scholarly and folk roots. It developed in southern Việt Nam in the late nineteenth century. People in southern Việt Nam consider Đờn ca tài tử to be an indispensible spiritual cultural activity and a highly valued part of their cultural heritage. It is performed at numerous events such as festivals, ‘death anniversary' rituals such as the Death Anniversary of the Ancestors held annually on the twelfth day of the eighth lunar month, and celebratory social events like weddings and birthdays. The performers express their feelings by improvising, ornamenting and varying the ‘skeletal melody’ and main rhythmic patterns of these pieces. The audience can join practicing, making comments or creating new song texts. Đờn ca tài tử is played on a variety of different instruments, including the moon-shaped lute, two-stringed fiddle, sixteen-stringed zither, pear-shaped lute, percussion, monochord and bamboo flute. Its repertoire is based on twenty principal songs and seventy-two classical songs.

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Xoan singing of Phú Thọ province, Viet Nam

As a form of performing arts, Xoan singing includes singing, dancing, drumming and clapper beating. It is closely attached to the Worship of the Hùng Kings, founders of the country. Phú Thọ people created Xoan singing and performed it at the village communal houses, temples and shrines worshipping the Hùng Kings in springs. “Xoan” means “spring”. Bearers and practitioners form four guilds, in which the male and female Trum play the most important role; they preserve the songs, select students, transmit the singing styles and repertoires and organize practices. They are also active in introducing and teaching Xoan singing at the four Xoan guilds, and in clubs and guilds. A full Xoan performance cycle includes 3 phases: Worship singing (Hát thờ) with songs praising the virtues of the Hùng Kings and the village guardian deities; Invocation for good health and fortune (Quả cách) with 14 repertoires praising nature, humankind, and the daily life of the community; Festive singing (hát Hội) with songs featuring the couple love. The special characteristic of Xoan is the modulation between singers and instrumentalists at the perfect fourth interval, and it has a simple structure with few ornamental notes. Xoan dance's movements have a sense of imitativeness, illustrating people's daily life activities. After singing at their communal houses from the 2nd - 5th day of the Lunar New Year, the Xoan guilds travel to other communities venerating Hùng Kings to take part in convivial cultural exchanges. Xoan practitioners are organized into music guilds called Phường. The Leader of each guild is called “Trùm”. In the past, only men could be “Trùm”, but nowadays women could also be leaders. The Leaders are in charge of transmission and organization of activities of the guilds. At present, each guild comprises of 30 - 100 members. Men are called “kép”, women are “đào”. As a community performing art, Xoan singing fosters cultural understanding, community cohesion and mutual respect. The Vietnamese Institute for Musicology has collected 31 Xoan songs, and thanks to the efforts of several Xoan artists four guilds have been established. 33 dedicated clubs also exist, and seminars are held to expand knowledge of Xoan.

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The art of Bài Chòi in Central Viet Nam

Bài Chòi is a diverse art form combining music, poetry, stage acting, painting and literature. It takes two main forms: "Bài Chòi games" and "Bài Chòi performance". "Bài Chòi games" are played during Lunar New Year by Việt people of Central Việt Nam. To play Bài Chòi, nine or eleven bamboo huts are built in a U-shape within a temple yard or in a vacant ground. The hut placed at the bottom of the U shape is called "main hut" (chòi cái), and the game leaders, who can be either male or female, are called Hiệu artists. The game leader takes a card out of a tube of cards, and then sings for people to guess what the card is. This part is called "Hô Thai". Players buy three cards and wait in the hut. Anyone whose three cards match the cards sung by the Hiệu artists will be declared the winner and given the prize. A new session will then restart. "Bài Chòi performance", male and female Hiệu artists perform on a rattan mat. They either travel from place to place to perform, or otherwise are invited to play for private families, forming rattan-peforming or mobile Bài Chòi styles. A single artist may also perform "solo Bài Chòi". In this case, the artists performs a number of theatrical roles. For some artists, Bài Chòi performances are a mean of earning a living. Musical instruments accompanying Bài Chòi include the two-stringed fiddle, clappers, shawm and war drums.

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Practices of Then by Tày, Nùng and Thái ethnic groups in Viet Nam

Then a ritual practice indispensable in Tày, Nùng and Thái ethnic groups' spiritual life, reflects concepts about human beings, natural world and the universe (the Earth realm, the 3-layer Heaven realm). Then ceremonies describe a journey in which Then Master (Male/Female) controls ghost soldiers travelling from the Earth realm to the Heaven realm, the residing place of the gods, to offer worshipping items and show their praying requests for peace, bad luck relief, illness treatment, good crops, new house inauguration, initiation/title-conferring ritual (cấp sắc), blessings and happy new year. Then Masters start the journey by singing and plucking the tính lute (two or three-string lute). Depending on worshipping purposes, Then Masters will arrange worshipping trays to pray different native Gods, among whom Ngoc Hoang is the highest God. Then Masters often use a summoning tablet, a seal, a demon-expelling sword, a yin and yang rod, a bell, a fan and items such as pork, chicken, wine, rice, fruits and votive papers to perform Then ceremonies in the believer’s house, outdoor or at Then altar of the Master’s house. While practising, Then Master wears ceremonial dress, sings the language of his ethnic group and plays the tính lute, shakes the chùm xóc nhạc (rattle-bells), waves a fan. In some ceremonies, a female dancing group will accompany. Then rituals performances express Tày, Nùng and Thái’s cultural identities, from customs to musical instruments, dance and music. Then is always transmitted orally while its rituals are being conducted, reflecting the succession between generations.

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Drametse Ngacham: The Masked Drum Dance of Drametse

The Masked Dance of the Drametse community is a sacred dance performed during the Drametse festival in honor of Guru Padmasambhava, a Buddhist master. The dance also commemorates several significant figures in the monastery lineage: founder of the Tegchok Namdroel Ogyen Choeling Monastery, Ani Choeten Zangmo (late 15th cen); and venerable Khedurp Kuenga Gyeltshen (1505-/) who introduced the Masked Dance. These two are the eldest daughter and the fourth son respectively of the great treasure revealer, Tertön Pema Lingpa (1450-1521). According to oral accounts, the Drametse Ngacham in 1518, just three years before Pema Lingpa’s death. The name of the mask dance is derived from the Drametse village community, which falls within the Drametse gewog, village block, of Mongar Dzongkhag district in the eastern part of Bhutan. The term Ngacham refers to the dance implements held by performers, a hand-held circular flat drum and mallet. Ani Choeten Zangmo established the Tegchok Namdroel Ogyen Choeling Monastery in 1530. The three-day Drametse Tshechu festival takes place twice a year, organized by the monastery administration. The dancers include monks as well as laymen. The origin of the mask dance, its characteristic choreography, masks, and costumes are specified by Pema Lingpa in detail in his Kabum, Collected Works. Pema Lingpa had seven children, including a son Sangdag, the father of both Tenzin Chogyal and Choeten Zangmo. She also took monastic vows as a nun, earning the title Ani. Therefore, Ani Choeten Zangmo is the granddaughter of Pema Lingpa. Though Ani Choeten Zangmo had no intention to start family, she was forced to marry Yeshey Gyalpo, son of Sumthrang Choeje Sherab Drakpa. Nevertheless, driven by her destiny, she later became a renunciate and established her permanent seat at Drametse where she recognized a place of peace and tranquility. She named it Dra-me “No Obstructions” to her meditational practices, at the summit of a Tse, small ridge. During her stay, her brother Kuenga Gyeltshen who is popularly known as Khedrub Kuenga Wangpo visited her. Kuenga Wangpo is highly revered by spiritual masters for his outstanding philosophical knowledge and realization of the true nature of mind, thus he was given a title of Khedrup, great and realized scholar. In meditational states he met Guru Padmasambhava several times and visited his spiritual realm, Zangdok Pelri, the Copper Colored Mountain. While staying at Drametse, Khedrup was practicing his early morning meditation on the 17th day of the 8th month of Iron Male Tiger year 1530—while the Drametse Lhakhang Monastery was under construction. In this state, three khadroma celestial maidens appeared to him with white complexion, decorated with colorful silken robes, ornaments and flower garlands. They invited Kuenga Wangpo to Zangdok Pelri, to take a tour of the palaces of the realm. He asked, “What should I take for the long journey?” The maiden responded, “While you are experiencing pure vision without doubts, come along with us.” They took him to the realm, and into a palace called Pema yoe ki Phodrang, Kuenga Wangpo saw King Indra Bhuti. Then the maidens took Kuenga Wangpo to the majestic palace of Zangdok Pelri, where he saw Guru Padmasambhava in a youthful form smiling and telling him “I am happy to see you here.” Instantly, Guru manifested to a Jalue, Rainbow Body, and dazzled Kuenga Wangpo with a splendid dance performed by many gods and goddesses transforming themselves into Dampa Rigja, the Hundred Guardian Deities; forty-two peaceful forms, and fifty-eight in wrathful appearance or in human form with various animals’ heads. All wore exquisite robes and a melodious sound of their drum beats resonated with Choe-ngai dra, Buddhist teachings. It is also believed that the sound of the drum signifies victory over evils and celebrates joy as Buddha’s teachings flourish. Kuenga Wangpo was then told to introduce this dance in Jigten me-yul, the human realm, and that conducting the Masked Dance would liberate sentient beings. Coming out of this meditation, he jotted down the detailed choreography, masks, and costumes. The first introduction of this Masked Dance was at the sacred place of Drametse, thus giving it the name Drametse Ngacham. Due to the significance embedded in the dance, successive spiritual masters and farsighted monarchs suchas Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651) propagated the Masked Dance at monasteries and Dzong fortresses around the country.

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One of the most entertaining mask dances is the Ging Tsholing Cham, a dramatic ritual dance in which the intensity of the drum beat captures the audience attention. This beat intensifies leading into a fight scene beloved by children in particular. The mask dance is also locally known as Tro-ging, or entertaining dance in local Nabji dialect, for its entertaining presentation and performance. The dance is performed by two sets of performers. Boecham pa dancers are laymen trained in the dances, the regalia gives them the wrathful appearance of celestial beings known as Ging, which includes daka and dakini sky spirits. Monastic dancers, called Tsun cham pa, take on the role of the Tsholing emanation of guardian deities and Dharma protectors. These include the Four Kings of the cardinal points and the Eight Classes of Gods and Goddesses; these roles are usually performed by monks. According to literary sources, the mask dance was introduced by Tertön, treasure revealer, Pema Lingpa (1450-1521). In a vision he entered the spiritual realm of Guru Padmasambhava, known as Zangdok Pelri, the copper-colored mountain. There he saw this dance being performed and was able to transmit the dance to this realm. Pema Lingpa, who had a strong connection to Guru Padmasambhava across many lifetimes, met his enlightened master several times. On these occasions, Guru Padmasambhava conveyed predictions for the future; gave Pema Lingpa the list of treasures to be discovered in disguise; guided him to discover sacred sites; and often invited him into his realm during meditation states and dreams. On this particular occasion, Pema Lingpa came to Zangdok Pelri and found Rang-jung Trulpai Phodrang, the magnificent self-arising palace. There he saw the Guru Padmasambhava manifesting in a rainbow body from which millions of his forms emerged, filling the three realms of the universe, multiplying beyond our imagination. This is known as Ja-lue rainbow body or wisdom body. Among these magical representations, Pema Lingpa saw the enlightened sages of India and Tibet sit in the right row and the scholars sit in the left row. In between them sat the 108 treasure discoverers, who are incarnations of Guru Padmasambhava and his 25 chief disciples. Overhead, a cloud of gods and goddesses transformed into one hundred Dampa Rigja Protective Deities– forty-two took peaceful forms, and fifty-eight took Ging wrathful appearance. These deities made various sensuous offerings, including the performance of Dorji-lugar Vajra Dances, dancing upon the air, rejoicing in the doctrine. Outside the entrance gate of the palace, in each of the Four Directions are thousands of warriors from the Pho-jued and Mo-jued, male and female classes of protecting deities, the Eight Classes of Gods and Goddesses, led by the kings of the Four Directions who are Tshoglings, getting ready to overcome obstacles to the sacred teachings. In the war scene between the Gings and the Tshoglings, the drum beats of the Gings arouse a sense of fear in the obstacles and samaya oath breakers, the Tshoglings aggressively guide them to follow the righteous path of humanity. The vibrating sound produced by the beating of the drums symbolizes the Choe-ngai dra, the Buddhist teachings. A similar performance was originally introduced by Guru Padmasambhava to aid Tibet’s King Thrisong Detsen (c. 755-797 or 804 AD). Padmasambhava used his supernatural powers at the great Samye Monastery in Tibet, he manifested in the form of Ging and Tshogling, producing an immense positive force to fight and subdue the evil spirits that hindered the construction of the monastery. With the demons subdued, Samye became an important part of establishing the teachings of the Buddha in the region. When Pema Lingpa saw the spectacular performance he realized its benefits for the liberation of sentient beings. At Korphu Temple, Trongsa, one of his seats in central Bhutan, Pema Lingpa introduced the sacred mask dance to Jigten me-yul the human realm. Korphu Drub is the annual mask dance festival that coincides with the temple's dedication ceremony, and continues this dance tradition. There is still a saying that goes, "If you are not sure about the choreographies of Ging Tsholing, you should visit Korphu Drub." Due to the importance of the dance, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651) who unified Bhutan later spread this mask dance to most annual mask dance festivals. The successive Je Khenpo spiritual leaders as well as the Druk Desi temporary continued this legacy.

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Shawa Sha-khe/chi Cham, which translates to "The Mask Dance of the Stag and the Hounds," is also called Acho Phen-to, "The Hunter and the Servant." In Bhutan, most masked dances fall within three broad kinds of masked dance; Nam-thar zhi-chol gi gar-chham is a category of dance based on biography. This mask dance uses episodes extracted from the life story of Milarepa (1052-1135) as the content of a theatrical play that conveys Buddhist principles of compassion, arising faith, and human value that lead to a harmonious life. The story of this mask dance points back to the 11th century in the life of Jetsun (venerable) Milarepa, the great yogi from Tibet. Milarepa converted Gonpo Dorji, a fierce hunter, who became one of his principal disciples and took the name Khe-rawa Gonpo Dorji. The story takes place in a region on the present-day border between the Tibetan autonomous region of China and Nepal. While Milarepa was meditating in a cave known as Katya in Nyishangkurta, he heard a couple of hounds barking somewhere near his hermitage. Soon, a stag glistening with sweat and exhausted bounded into his cave seeking refuge with Milarepa, who was lean from meditation. Out of great compassion and pity, Milarepa sang a song to calm the terrified stag, which eventually lay down peacefully near to the great yogi in the cave. Two ferocious hounds, one red and one black, followed the scent in pursuit of the stag. With lightning speed they appeared and rushed inside the cave. Yet, they too heard Milarepa's song and were calmed by another stanza. That verse he dedicated to the hounds, which subsided their rage, and they calmly sat beside Milarepa, wagging their tails. Next, the merciless hunter, Gonpo Dorje, arrived in pursuit of his hounds and the stag. He stepped into the cave frustrated, drenched in sweat, tired, and holding his bow tight with an arrow ready to release. The sight of his hounds and the stag calmly sitting together with Milarepa infuriates him; he thinks that the yogi has used some kind of black magic on the animals. Dragged by his rage, he shoots an arrow at Milarepa, but slips the arrow from his bowstring. Milarepa sings the hunter a verse of the song to calm his mind and open it to the Dharma. However, the hunter remains uncertain whether Milarepa is a great saint or else a black magic practitioner. Gonpo Dorje inspected Milarepa’s cave and noticed there was nothing in it but an empty bowl. Surprised and overwhelmed by feelings of profound respect for Milarepa, Gonpo Dorje felt deep remorse for all his past sinful actions and thereafter vowed never to commit such acts and became a faithful disciple. Often in the dance version, Gonpo Dorje is accompanied by a servant, Phento. This dance is quite vibrant in Bhutan, where it is performed during annual tshe-chuu masked dance festivals. Several episodes portray the different scenes from the biography and feature the various characters, including Shawa (the Stag), Sha-khi/che (two hounds), Acho (the hunter), Phen-to (servant), Milarepa (the saint), and a group of Atsa-ra (clowns) who interact with the audience.

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The name Zhana Ngacham comes from the zhana, black hats, worn by the dancers and the use of the ngachung, a small drum, during the Cham performance. It is another form of Zhana Cham, or black hat dance. Usually, the dance is performed by monks thus falls under the category of Tsun Cham, monks dance. Such dance is exhibited normally in fortresses, monasteries and temples during Tshechu, annual mask dance festivals and also during Drubchen, large ritual ceremonies. However, sometimes the monastic dancers are replaced by lay people if there are no suitable monks in the community. The dance falls under the category of Tsun cham, or monastic mask dance performances. The dancers wear a long brocade robe called phoe-gho with long and wide sleeve ends, a dorji gong, a crossed vajra collar, over the shoulder, and two phoe-cho or phoe-tog, bevels attached to either side of the hips that helps the robe turn smoothly and elegantly as the dancers twirl. The distinctive feature of the Black Hat dance is the black, spherical hat with decorations of stylized human skulls and peacock quills, and Thro-pang, an angry face wrapped around the front of the abdomen. Zhana Ngacham is usually performed by twenty-one dancers under the direction of Cham-pon, dance leader, and Cham-jug, deputy leader. In the seventeenth century, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651) gave more importance to the performance of such dances and including them in the curricula of the central monastery under the title Gar-thig-yang-sum, putting mask dances alongside mandala proportions and ritual intonation, to their cultural significance in Bhutan.

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Rigma Chudruk Cham is a pacifying dance, performed solely by monks wearing exquisite costumes to represent the sixteen goddesses that make various offerings to enlightened beings. The sixteen goddesses not only bestow wisdom but also entertain and bring enjoyable offerings to the enlightened spiritual beings. Generally, the dance takes two forms: Rigma Chudruk Cham, which is performed with a drilbu bell and daru/damaru drum in hand; or Rigma Chudruk Nga Cham in which dancers play Nga drums with Ne-tok, drumsticks. Though the costumes are identical, these dances can be easily differentiated by the instruments dancers use. The dance is known by various names across different Buddhist traditions: Rigma Chudruk Cham; Khandro-mai Cham, Dance of Dakinis; Zhe-wai Cham pacifying dance; Dorji Lhamo Chudruk, sixteen Vajra Dakinis; Choe-pai Lhamo Chudruk Sixteen Offering Goddesses; and Dodyon-gi Lhamo Chudruk Sixteen Pleasurable Goddesses. These goddesses are generally classified into three groups: Outer, Inner, Secret Offering Goddesses. The first group consists of four members: 1. Gegmo-ma Skt. Lasya Goddess of Grace 2. Threngwa-ma Skt. Mala Garland Goddess 3. Lu-ma Skt. Gita Singer 4. Gar-ma Skt. Nirti Dancer The second group has also four members: 1. Meto-ma Skt. Pushpe Flower offering Goddess 2. Dhugpe-ma Skt. Dhupa Incense offering Goddess 3. Nangsel-ma Skt. Aloka Lamp offering Goddess 4. Drichab-ma Skt. Gandhā Perfume offering Goddess The third group has five goddesses: 1. Piwang-ma Violin player 2. Lingbu-ma Flute player 3. Ngadum-ma Drum player 4. Zanga-ma Skt. Muranyyaze Clay-drum player 5. Zuk Dorji-ma Skt. Vajra Dakini Vajra Form Goddess The last group has three. 1. Ro Dorj- ma Taste Vajra Goddess 2. Rek-ja Dorji ma Feeling Vajra Goddess 3. Choying Dorji maSkt. Dharmadatu Vajra Goddess of unfabricated awareness

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Rūkada Nātya, traditional string puppet drama in Sri Lanka

Rūkada Nātya is a type of drama performed using string puppets, traditionally meant for providing innocuous entertainment and conveying moral lessons to village communities. Themes are chosen from folktales, Buddhist stories, ancient literature, historical narratives, and the trivia with humorous anecdotes from contemporary life or from nādagam, an extinct form of ‘folk opera’. Puppeteers prepare their own handwritten scripts with dialogs and songs, and recite them, while manipulating the puppets. Puppeteers make their own wooden puppets with movable joints that represent either ‘static roles’ with fewer movable joints and of near life-size; or ‘active roles’ with many movable joints and of 3.5’ to 4.5’ in height. Puppets are dressed with colourful costumes that identify the characters they portray. Puppeteers manipulate them using strings tied to single short bars or two crossed-bars held by hand, while standing on an elevated horizontal platform and leaned onto a horizontal bar that is fixed across the stage about the shoulder-height of the puppeteers. A small band of musicians provides accompaniment using a harmonium, a violin, and a drum. Performances are held as community events at public spaces suitable for community gathering, mostly during festive times in the months of May and June, while special shows are held at schools and higher educational institutes. Makeshift stages, made of wooden frames and covered with black curtains on all sides to camouflage the strings to create an in illusion of reality. Performances are held in evenings in a well-covered space under dim light to enhance the illusion.