Trong quan singing\n(Liêm Thuận commune, Thanh Liêm district, Hà Nam province)\n\nLocated in the southern part of the Red River Delta, Ha Nam province bears cultural traces of the ancient Viet, where such typical cultural heritages as Trần Thương Temple Festival, Tịch Điền festival (the annual plowing festival), drum making craft of Đọi Tam village, weaving craft of Nha Xá village, martial arts of Liễu Đôi village, etc have been preserved. This land is also famous for a rich and valuable treasure of literature and folk performing arts such as Dậm - Quyển Sơn singing, Lải Lèn singing and especially Trong quan singing that hardly seen in any localities. \n

Since the beginning of 1950s, the Institute of Language and Literature at the Academy of Sciences in Mongolia has initiated sending the survey teams, 1-3 times a year, for researching and gathering data on oral literature and local dialectics. The initiation of above activities has set the groundwork for official establishment of a new archive with written documents and magnetic audio tapes, utilization for research purposes and the maintenance. Along with sending the survey teams, individuals/bearers were invited to the Institute from the local areas and their repertoire were recorded on magnetic tapes.\n\nAs a result, a rich repertoire of the epics, folk tales, folk songs, benedictions, odes, riddles, proverbs and other main elements of Mongolian oral heritage in their local dialectics and characteristics were succeeded to be recorded and collected at once as never before. The language and dialects that have already lost their distinctiveness or absorbed into the central one, now already the extinct forms of oral literary expressions and heritage are remained and preserved on magnetic tapes. This fact is raising the historic and academic values more for those original forms which were preserved on the magnetic tapes.\n\nDue to the fact that the most of the magnetic tapes being kept at the Institute are more than 60 years old, the storage period of some of the tapes has already been expired. Also, the un-proper storage conditions have caused some tapes to get dried, clung to one another or fractured. Due to above reasons, the inevitable need has risen for restoration and digitization of these magnetic tapes as well as improvement of the storage conditions and environment. Accordingly, since 2008, some efforts have been made towards restoration and digitization of these superannuated magnetic tapes within the internal capability and capacity of the Institute. Although, due to the lack of capable human resources, finance and proper tools and technical equipment, these efforts to restore and digitalize faced several obstacles and have shown un-successive results.\n\nIn 2009, the authorities of the Institute have introduced to the Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage their request to cooperate. Since, the organizations have started to collaborate on the possibilities to restore and digitalize the superannuated magnetic tapes. Accordingly, the Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage proposed to ICHCAP to continue the Joint Project and take measures for restoration, digitization of the superannuated magnetic tapes, and distribution and dissemination among general public.

Mak Yong Traditional Theatre is normally portrayed as a Malay dance drama that contains acting, dancing and singing. There is a consensus that Mak Yong originated from the ancestry of the Kelantan-Patani Government, and said to have established around 400 years ago at the Malay sultanate palace of Kelantan-Patani. Then it spred to the states of Terengganu and Kedah after which it settled at Serdang Muda, Sumatera and Riau Islands, Indonesia. A Mak Yong traditional performance does not use lots of props, set and background to portray a scene. Its performance structure is permanent and uniform although the storyline is different. A traditional performance in villages is held in an open theatre. The audiences sit on three sides while the fourth side is for musicians. Most characters are acted by women and the storylines are based on traditional folk stories. The Buka Panggung (literally translated as ‘Opening the Theatre’) ceremony starts a performance followed by the story plot and ends with the Tutup Panggung (or ‘Closing the Theatre’) ceremony. In the Buka Panggung ceremony the performance begins with the Mengadap Rebab segment, that is paying homage to the rebab (oud), the main musical instrument regarded as a chaste element in a performance. The actor who plays the Peran Tua character, that is the Elder Joker, pays homage to the oud and places it in the middle of the theatre while Jong Dongdang sings the song ‘San Gendang’. The actors who play the characters of Pak Yong, Mak Yong and Jong Dongdang stand in a circle while the maidens sing the song ‘Sedayung Mak Yong’ or the song ‘Sedara’. At the end of the song Pak Yong instructs the maidens to return to the palace, and this marks the end of the segment. The main characters are Pak Yong, Mak Yong, the King, Queen, Elder Joker and Junior Joker. There are also other characters like the Royal Soothsayer, Ship Captain, Guru, soldiers, genie, ghost and giant, depending on the storyline. The main musical instruments are a three-string oud, two drums and two gongs. There are also additional instruments to increase the degree of the melodious sound like cymbal, small bells and flute. In the year 2005 Mak Yong was recognised and proclaimed as “A Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by the United Nation Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). In the year 2008 Mak Yong was proclaimed as A Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Mak Yong Traditional Theatre is normally portrayed as a Malay dance drama that contains acting, dancing and singing. There is a consensus that Mak Yong originated from the ancestry of the Kelantan-Patani Government, and said to have established around 400 years ago at the Malay sultanate palace of Kelantan-Patani. Then it spred to the states of Terengganu and Kedah after which it settled at Serdang Muda, Sumatera and Riau Islands, Indonesia. A Mak Yong traditional performance does not use lots of props, set and background to portray a scene. Its performance structure is permanent and uniform although the storyline is different. A traditional performance in villages is held in an open theatre. The audiences sit on three sides while the fourth side is for musicians. Most characters are acted by women and the storylines are based on traditional folk stories. The Buka Panggung (literally translated as ‘Opening the Theatre’) ceremony starts a performance followed by the story plot and ends with the Tutup Panggung (or ‘Closing the Theatre’) ceremony. In the Buka Panggung ceremony the performance begins with the Mengadap Rebab segment, that is paying homage to the rebab (oud), the main musical instrument regarded as a chaste element in a performance. The actor who plays the Peran Tua character, that is the Elder Joker, pays homage to the oud and places it in the middle of the theatre while Jong Dongdang sings the song ‘San Gendang’. The actors who play the characters of Pak Yong, Mak Yong and Jong Dongdang stand in a circle while the maidens sing the song ‘Sedayung Mak Yong’ or the song ‘Sedara’. At the end of the song Pak Yong instructs the maidens to return to the palace, and this marks the end of the segment. The main characters are Pak Yong, Mak Yong, the King, Queen, Elder Joker and Junior Joker. There are also other characters like the Royal Soothsayer, Ship Captain, Guru, soldiers, genie, ghost and giant, depending on the storyline. The main musical instruments are a three-string oud, two drums and two gongs. There are also additional instruments to increase the degree of the melodious sound like cymbal, small bells and flute. In the year 2005 Mak Yong was recognised and proclaimed as “A Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” by the United Nation Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). In the year 2008 Mak Yong was proclaimed as A Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Rakhine Due long Harp is influential used to play for the royal ceremonyof the ancient Rakhine king. Later it has to be used influential to the countryside. By using Marlakon fiddle was found at the period of Visali of the king of Chandra. At the time of king Chandra, the lyrical ode of the crown-princess Saw Pyae Nyo was played with the various kinds of instruments. Long-drum and Than-Lwin-drum contained in this instruments. In the Myanmar era of 897 ( 1535 AD ) when was called Lay Myoe Age, King Min Bar built Yan Aung Zaya Shittaung stupa with a vaulted vase. Rakhine oil lamp dance, Shawl dance, Powewar dance, the sports of Mrauk.U period such as the posture of wrestling, boxing, the stick martial art and the figures in the posture of playing the Rakhine musical instruments such as the Rakhine Duelong harp, bamboo pipes wind instrument, melodious small drum, hand-cymbals, cymbals, horn, long drum, Marlakhon fiddle, the bugle, the cymbal and the flute, horn, longdrum were sculpted as the ancient supporting evidences of Rakhine Duelong harp on the western wall of the second tunnel of Shittaung pagoda.\nThe body of Myanmar harp has to be made hollow and covered with deer skin. Rakhine Duelong harp is not as same as Myanmar harp. It is a log harp because the body of log has to be carved out of hollow. The arm of it is made with wood which is put on silk-yarns to be played. The red loop of strings tethered to the neck of the harp is used to make tuning like as Myanmar harp. The shape leaf sprout is carved out the top of the arm of harp and it is the shape of obeisance to the arm. There is a hole beneath the body of harp. It is composed of the body of harp, the arm of harp, the end-piece on the arm of harp in the shape of a banyan leaf, the hole in the body of harp ( Nat Thami: bau ), tail-piece of harp and twelve strings of harp strings like as Myanmar harp. There are 12 strings and tune by tuning cord. It is played with fingers to produce melodies. It has to be played Thar gjin:, Ei: gjin:, El: gjin: that based on the Rakhine four scales of the song of sea wave, a thunderous song, the echo and the sound of water- drop.\n-2 feet 4 inches in the length of the body of harp\n-9 inches in the width of the body of harp\n-7 inches in the height of the body of harp\n-2 feet 5.5 inches in the height of the arm of harp\n-1 feet 6.5 inches in the length of the tail-piece of harp

Jhakri or Dhami is a local name for the person who does the traditional ritual to cure the patient. During ancient times, in the absence of medical science, people used to treat the patient through traditional therapy by performing a ritual known as Chhimta, Jhakri. The history of becoming a Jhakri is related to the story of Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati. Goddess Sati took birth on earth as the daughter of King Himavat and Queen Mena. Narad Muni, (a storyteller who carries news and enlightening wisdom) came to look at the baby and declared she is destined to marry Shiva. While growing up, she would lose herself thinking about Lord Shiva. So when Parvati was of marriageable age, she went to the Himalayas to perform penance and appease Lord Shiva and marry him. Lord Shiva was impressed by her devotion and knew about her desire, and he married her. \n\nAfter living together for years, one day Lord Shiva was seriously ill and couldn't be cured for so long. Gradually Lord Shiva came to know that the main cause was because of Parvati. She is believed to be witchcraft (Sondray in Dzongkha and Bogshi in Lhotshamkha). Then Lord Shiva shared with his in-law. His in-law conveyed the idea that her soul/mind will become cleansed if the witchcraft gets out of her soul. The situation was unfathomable to solve, in the course of time Lord Shiva and his in-law tried with an idea to cease the witchcraft of Parvati. One day Parvati was stirring over something out of her attention. Suddenly, his in-law shouted in front of her and said PHAAT!!! Perceptibly, she was horrified by sound and her witchcraft dissipated. So it is said that the evolution of Jhakri started from that moment. So this story was shared by most of the interviewees. \n\nMoreover, it has another continuous story to be shared as per Mr. Singh Bir Pradhan, a senior citizen of Dzomling chiwog. Once there came a person called Jangali (another name for Jhakri) to meet Lord Shiva who was seriously ill for so long. So Jangali sat to the right of Lord Shiva and Parvati to the left. Jangali came with the Tiger grass (Botanical name: Thysanolaena latifolia) to treat Shiva by using the leaves. The treatment was akin to showing the magic. Jangali swallowed that leaf in his mouth and showed it from his bottom. Then Parvati was asked to swallow the tiger grass leaf. As she swallowed the leaf, it stuck halfway down her throat, and was finding it difficult to swallow completely. Then the Jangali asked her to cough out the leaf with full force. When Parvati coughed out with full force the leaf came out and along with it witched. As a result, the leaf left a mark on Parvati’s teeth. So this is a story regarding the evolution of Jhakri.\n\nTo become a Jhakri is not the core profession of a person who can endure or learn it. Rather it's the prophecy given by Lord Shiva who has the virtue to treat people whenever they are sick. When a person who is destined to be a Jhakri, is born with the wisdom of Jhakri, he usually suffers from various illnesses at a young age. The symptoms include frequent stomach ache, headache, dizziness, back pain, and shivering body which cannot be controlled. In a few cases, the person destined to be a Jhakri even has hallucinations. They will not know the causes yet the illness continues for three to four years. According to Mr. Manbir Khadal, 65-year-old Jhakri said that if a person is destined to be a Jhakri, he behaves very strangely even when in the mother’s womb. He also added that Manbir’s mother had experienced extensive fetal movement and unusual shivering from the premature baby. \nThe divination of a Jhakri will be only born to the person who stays clean, mentally pure, and physically healthy. It sometimes can be related to a person reincarnated as a great lama or Truelku in Buddhism since Jhakri will also be able to predict the past life of a person. Mr. Manbir Khadal also says that with time Jhakri is rarely born. “The current Jhakris’ are all born before 1990. Some of them already immigrated to other countries after the 1990s problem in southern Bhutan”. \n\nLocals shared the importance of having Dhami in their locality because if the patient is sick for a long duration, they get other ways of treating when hospital medicine does not cure them. So, the practice of the Jhakri ritual is still believed and endured by the people across the country as per Deo Maya, the wife of Dhami Manbir Khadal. She says that if a person is suffering from dizziness, and back pain when they are grieved by the local deities/divinity, and if the illness is caused by the evil spirits, they instantly come to visit her husband to do the ritual. \n\nMr. Manbir Khadal had been living in his current village, that is lower Dzomling, for his entire life and his parents too. After he was recognized as a Jhakri, he treated countless patients from different parts of our country. From this we can conclude that the people balance their beliefs in both medical science and spiritual therapy. He said, “A few weeks ago, a quadriplegia (paralyzed from the waist down) girl with her family came to do the Jhakri ritual at my house. When she was coming down towards my house, her guardian was carrying her on his back. After doing the Jhakri ritual, she was alright and able to walk without support.” which means we can say that people still believe in the traditional healing therapy practice in this modern world.

Dou:ba’ or double-headed drumin a sling is a kind of leather-covered drums. It has two drumheads, called male and female drumheads. The length is taller than other drums. The length of Dou:ba’ is different from each other according to the different regions. In central Myanmar, the length of Dou:ba’ is taller and only a single Dou:ba’ is played in the troupe, whereas the Do pat troupes in lower Myanmar (downriver region)include two Dou:ba’s,"Male and female Dou:ba’s" or "leadng drum" and "second drum". The length is shorter. As these two Dou:ba’s are about the same size, they are called "Do-Nyi-Naung" or "Twinbrothers of Dou:ba’s". The method of sticking tuning dough are same, but the playing methods are different.\nTypes of Douba\n(1) A-Nyar Dou:ba’ (a) Mandalay Doe (a) Pin-lal Doe\n(2) Lower Myanmar (downriver region) Dou:ba’ (a) Yangon Doe\n(3) Gandamar Doe (or) Leading Doe of Si-Daw-Gyi\nPadauk wood is mostly used to make Dou:ba’ because it is hard and there fore it can produce the pleasant sound. The leather of the male side is thicker than the female side's

Good quality of wood is chopped and smoothened. The top and body of the wood is curved. The top of wood has to be bored five holes that are called Nat ThaMee holes (hole in the body of harp). The holes of the body are plugged with wood flat, zinc flat and bamboo flat. It is better if it is covered with leather. Three strings are put on it. The plectrum is made of plastic or bamboo. According to the melody, three strings of the arm of the lute have to be pressed with the right hand and the left hand holds the plectrum and the plays the strings to produce the song. In the past, when young unmarried boys wanted to fall in love with a young unmarried girls but they didn’t dare to say anything to her, they expressed their feeling as song and rhetorical compositions or prosodies by playing Karean lute.Nowadays,it is played together with the other instruments. It has to be played at Karean traditional festivals, Karean plays and Union day ceremony.\n-35 inches in length\n-11 inches in the sound body\n-20 inches in the arm\n-5 inches in the plectrum

The diameters of the face is 7 inches , the diameters of bottom face is 4.5 inches and height is 32 inches . About 9 inches from the oneside of the face which is struck is smooth but the body is a dome shape and it is smoothly line to the bottom. In some regions, Boun daun are the straight part from top to bottom and there is no dome shape. Boun daun is strange shape among the other leather instruments. The head of Boun daun is small but the length is long. It can be struck one side of the face. It must hang and stand not only at the mast but also at the rope string to be played.\nThe Boun daung is played together with big gong, brass gong(Keyi Waing), big oboe(Hne), small oboe , small cymbals (Lingwin) and long drum(Byaw). Today , the band of Boun daun is also called band of Naji: in the region of central Myanmar. It can be struck with two sticks. Normally, it is struck to produce the sound of palou’ tou’ tou’. It can be played continuously to be melodious and joyful. It is a kind of drum which can stand and there is no tuning dough on the drum-headed that must be beaten with the two sticks.

May-Pa-We (a) Htan-Hae bamboo is cut into 14 piece of sticks in different length. And then, these bamboo sticks are tied together in ascending order. All joints of instrument are made hollow, except the lowest joint. 14 bamboo sticks are perforated and fixed on the instrument with the distance of 7 inches from its base. And the reeds made of bronze or silver are inserted inside these holes. The additional holes are perforated with the distance of 4 fingers from reed-inserted holes. One end of wooden pipe which is used as a mouthpiece is tapered off and another end is indented. The top bamboo pipes with inserted-reeds are fixed into the holes perforated on other side of wooden pipe by plastering with beeswax. These bamboo pipes are tied with the ropes twisted with the fiber of Lun tree in top, middle and low. The Pi-bar pan flute makes a sound like accordion does. This instrument was played for traditional songs in congregational singing, national celebrations, wedding ceremonies, New Year festival and harvesting festivals.

The ancestors blew this flute when they sentimentalized recalling their young memories. It was created in the double form to refer that the life sharing with other is better than the solitude. It's usually blown by the elders and the married persons. First and foremost the Mai Kha bamboo is cut into two pieces of flute in desired measure. The bigger one is referred as Julumar (female) and the smaller one is as Julumarchaw (male). The five holes are drilled on the bigger piece of flute or Julumar (female) with a heated sharp iron. One hole is also made at one end of Julumarchaw (male) flute with a knife. The blowing holes are made at the end of each flute. After completion of all making process, those two flutes are tied with the strings. Keeping the double flute in the mouth, it is blown making sound by maneuvering the strength of the tongue and tuning with the fingers at the holes. Each flute can be blown separately. Julumar flute has to be blown by opening and closing the holes with the rest fingers after pressing the thumbhole with the thumb. But the traditional melodies can be blown with these flutes.\n-1 inches of length\n-2.5 inches of circumference for Julumar flute\n-1 inch circumference for Julumarchaw flute\n-4.5 inches from the mouth-hole to the first finger hole\n-4.5 inches from the mouth-hole to the thumbhole\n-1 inch apart among each finger holes (1,2,3,4)\n-3 inches apart between finger hole (4 and 5)

There are over 120 different types of knucklebone games are played in Mongolia, and the “knucklebone shooting” is the most common spread one among the general public. The Knucklebone shooting is a traditional game that contains the traditional custom and culture in complex way. Shooting tablets are flicked towards 30 pieces of ''Khasaa'', a target laid on a zurkhai (wooden surface) in a given order depending on the current game, at a distance of 9 elbows (4.72meters). It is a team game that each team competes by shooting to knock down more of the khasaa than the other. During tournaments, shooters communicate not in words, but by singing ''Knucklebone Shooting'' melodies and tunes such as ''Hail you, friend',' ''Hit the target,'' ''Hail the board'' that sound more or less like ''Long Songs''.