| Description |
The Khen is a musical instrument and also a dance prop, playing an important role in the daily life of the Mong people. The Khen Art of the Hmong is expressed in the art of making and performing Khen.
The Khen is painstakingly crafted and taught by Mong men themselves. To make a good Khen, the basic materials needed are: Po Mu wood, goat bamboo, wild peach tree bark, copper leaves, silver, tobacco or tobacco leaves, tangled hair, cicada shell, lard, bamboo tubes, and reed sticks. The Khen is made with crafting tools, including: knives, awls, anvils, hammers, stoves; razor blades, razor blades with two ends; grinding stones; bronze casting tools... going through many stages: selecting materials, chiseling, chiseling, drilling, grinding... with their own secret.
The components of a Khen (Khềnh) include: The body of the Khen; the gourd; the tail of the Khen; The Khen tube; the Khen lam; the Khen hole; the Khen belt and the Khen blowing hole. The Khen is divided into 3 parts: the Khen body, the Khen tube, the Khen belt. The Khen tube: consists of 6 tubes, made from goat bamboo that is boiled to prevent cracking, then dried in the sun or hung in the kitchen to dry. Casting bronze to make the Khen lam is the most important and difficult step.
The Khen sound has become a message for the Mong people to convey, to express their thoughts and aspirations. The Khen dancers with a hunched body and various postures such as turning, jumping, playing with the Khen, rolling sideways, rolling on their backs, squatting, walking forward, walking backward to the melody but the Khen sound is still continuous... The Khen dance is not only performed by one person but by four or more people, dancing together with very even and strong kicks to suit the Khen rhythm. The language of improvisational dance is imbued with the cultural identity of the Mong people, and is used in local cultural and artistic activities. The Khen dance of the Hmong is also a manifestation of Shamanism - a popular belief among the Mong people.
The Khen Art shows the ingenuity and talent of the Mong men, and is imbued with the identity of the Mong people in Moc Chau - Son La. The Khen Art of the Hmong is a unique cultural heritage, of great importance and significance in community life, and deserves to be recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. |
