On November 25, 2005, the Culture of Central Highland gongs of Vietnam was officially recognized by UNESCO as the masterpiece of intangible and oral culture of mankind. After Hue royal court music, Tay Nguyen gongs are the second intangible cultural heritage of Vietnam honored as the heritage of the world.
Tay Nguyen people dance singing "Rong"
This affirms that Vietnam is a country with a long tradition of culture, many traditional arts need to be preserved, preserved and promoted.
The Central Highlands gong culture space extends throughout five provinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Lam Dong and the owners of this special cultural type are Central Highlanders: Bana, Monghua, Coho, Erode, Ede, Giarai ... The gong is closely connected with the life of the Central Highlands, the voice of the spirit, the soul of man, to express joy and sadness in life. , In their daily work and activities.
The Central Highlands gong is derived from a long tradition of culture and history. Back to the roots, there are researchers believe that gongs are "descendants" of the stone. Before the culture of copper, ancient people have come to the stone tools: stone gongs, stone gongs ... bamboo, then the Bronze Age, new gongs ... From early childhood, gongs were hit Up to celebrate the new rice, down the field; The manifestation of belief - the means of communicating with the supernatural ... the sound of deep depression, the urgency of the soul, the harmony of the sound of the stream, the wind and the human heart, living together with the earth Heaven and people of the Central Highlands. All the festivals in the year, from infant blowing ceremony to the ceremony, mourning ceremony, new rice ceremony, closing ceremony of the store, buffalo stabbing ceremony. Or in a listening session ... there must be gong. The gong is longer than human life, the gong is connected, the generation is linked.
Photo : Gongs
According to the opinion of the Central Highlands, behind each gong, gong contains a god. The older the gong, the higher the power of the deity. Gongs are also a valuable asset, symbolizing power and wealth. There was once a gong worth two elephants or 20 buffaloes. On the festivals, the images of people dancing around the sacred fire, beside the wine jars in the sound of gongs echoing mountains and forests, giving the Central Highlands a romantic and fanciful space. The gongs thus contribute to the creation of epic poems and cultural Highland culture is both romantic, majestic.
Gongs go into the Central Highlands as to confirm the permanence of this musical instrument: "Please hit the most gong sound, the gong is the deepest. Smiling slightly for the wind to the ground. Beat gong for the whole country. Beat the gong through the lanes away. Beat the gong over the house hop into the sky. Beat the tree monkey also forget to stick to the branch to fall to the ground. Beat the evil devil listening to forget to hurt people. Beat the burrowing mice for burrowing cows, give the snake a clatter, give the rabbit a start, let the deer stand and listen to the grass, all of them just listen to the chieng of Dan San ... ".
People dance gong singing along the fire
Exist in the land of the Central Highlands for thousands of years, the art of gongs here has developed to a high level. The Central Highlands gong is very diverse.
At present, in most Tay Nguyen villages, there are gongs groups serving the people in community activities during the festival. On the festival day, the familiar image of "the fire", the ring of drunk people singing in the sound of gongs echoing mountains and forests "'" re-appeared throughout the village. Folk artists perform gongs in harmony, create music with rhythm, harmony very rich, nuanced with many different levels. Each ethnic group has their own gong music to express the beauty of nature, the aspirations of the people ... The Giarai have the gong Juan, Trum wine ... Bana people have gongs: Xa Trang, Sakapo, Atau, Tuo ... The sound of gongs is the enamel that draws the girl into the dances of the community in the village festival. This is the most prominent folk cultural activity in many ethnic groups in the Central Highlands.
The music of the Central Highland gong demonstrates the skill level of the player in applying gong skills and manipulation skills. From tuning the gong to the orchestra to the orchestra, the way of playing, the performance, the people, even if not through the training class, still show great play. For the Central Highlands, gongs and gong culture are invaluable assets. Highland gong music is not only an artistic value that has long been affirmed in social life, but also the crystallization of the soul of the mountain river through generations. The Central Highlands gong is not only material and artistic but it is also the "voice" of man and the spirit according to the concept of "spiritual things".
Each gong set is a spiritual voice, the heart of the Central Highlands, to express joys and sorrows in their daily lives and labor. Ethnic groups in the Central Highlands use gongs in their own way to play their own songs. Over the years, gongs have become a characteristic feature of culture. Gong is the life of the Central Highlands. Listening to gongs, there is space for hunting, space for doing field work, festive space ... Highlands.
Each ethnic group, each region has its own characteristics of gongs. Gongs can be used singly, or in trunks, in sets of 2 to 12 units, as well as sets of 18 to 20 pieces like the gong of the Giarai. The Central Highland gong band is organized as an orchestra that can perform polyphonic music with different harmonies. The special thing in this orchestra is that each person plays only one gong, or gong (gong with knob, gong without knob).
Koichiro Matsuura, Director - General of UNESCO, said: "I have been enjoying Vietnamese traditional gong music of the same kind. Nam and also see very unique instruments in the gong orchestra of the Central Highlands. This is a very traditional culture of Vietnam, very wonderful and special. Workers of the title The masterpiece of intangible cultural heritage and oral tradition of mankind to the Culture of Central Highlands gong is well worth it.
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