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Xoan singing of Phú Thọ province, Viet Nam marks_1
  • Manage No, Sortation, Country, Writer ,Date, Copyright
    Manage No EE00000011
    Country Vietnam
    ICH Domain Performing Arts
    Address
    The Xoan guilds are concentrated in Kim Đức and Phượng Lâu communes on the Lô river in Việt Trì city, Phú Thọ province, 80 km northeast of Việt Nam's capital city Hà Nội. There are 3 Xoan guilds in Kim Đức commune: Kim Đái, Phù Đức and Thét. There is An Thái Xoan guild in Phượng Lâu commune. Xoan singing is also very popular in the other 7 wards and communes of Việt Trì city, 23 villages and towns of 10 districts (Cẩm Khê, Đoan Hùng, Lâm Thao, Phù Ninh, Tam Nông, Tân Sơn, Thanh Ba, Thanh Sơn, Thanh Thủy, and Phú Thọ town in Phú Thọ province; Kim Xá and Đức Bác communes on the Lô river in Vĩnh Tường and Sông Lô districts of Vĩnh Phúc province.
    Year of Designation 2012
Description 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.
Social and cultural significance Xoan singing is closely associated with the worship of the Hung Kings, a belief rooted in ancestor worship practice of the Việt people. Every year, on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, villagers and the Xoan guilds organize Xoan performances. Through the lyrics and dances they express their gratitude to the Hùng Kings and pray to them for happiness, prosperities, good weather and bumper harvests, vitality to eveything, and thereby impart the young the nations's moral code of “when drinking water, remembering the source”. As a form of community's performing arts, Xoan singing meets the need of mutual culture exchange and community cohesion. When performing Xoan singing together, those who practice Xoan find pleasure in harmony and mutual respect. Their hardship and sorrows are thus relieved. Today, Xoan singing has also been promoted to contribute to the moral education needs, lifestyle, ways of response to environment and nature through some newly created variants with lyrics well-suited to the ages and interests of the young, basing on Xoan melodies.
Transmission method After the 2015 inventory results, the content of Xoan singing consists of 31 songs, composed by the community from the old time, each with a different form of both singing and dancing. The practitioners have to master the skills of singing, dancing, drumming, and beating of clappers to perform each song. The Leaders and senior Xoan artists transmitted Xoan singing orally, combining with the use of written songs, audio and visual recordings on the senior Xoan artists’ performances. All the knowledge of customs, regulations and the taboos are transmitted to the younger generations by the Leaders through practices and performances. Nowadays, the transmission of Xoan singing is carried out on the occasion of the Xoan guilds’ periodic practicing time (1 or 2 times a week), at ease or free from farming work, at culture - artistic events of the communities, especially on occasion of the early Lunar New Year, when they prepare to go singing for honouring the Hùng Kings. Some experienced artists were invited to teach Xoan singing for members of the Xoan clubs and for music teachers at a number of schools in Việt Trì city. The key members of the clubs and music teachers then taught the knowledge and techniques of Xoan singing they had learnt to other members of their clubs or their students.
Community The holders of the Xoan singing tradition are the 249 people of the 4 Xoan guilds of Việt Trì city, Phú Thọ province. They include: + An Thái Xoan guild from Phượng Lâu commune (105 people) + Kim Đái (or Kim Đới) Xoan guild from Kim Đức commune (35 people) + Phù Đức Xoan guild from Kim Đức commune (53 people) + Thét Xoan guild from Kim Đức commune (56 people) There are group of Xoan singing - loving people forming their Xoan singing clubs. There are 30 Xoan clubs formed by local enthusiasts, with 1,287 people in Phú Thọ and 3 others, with 89 people in Vĩnh Phúc province, making a total membership of 1,376.
Type of UNESCO List Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Incribed year in UNESCO List 2017
Keyword
Information source
Vietnam National Institute Culture and Arts Studies (VICAS)
http://vicas.org.vn

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