Cham culture has absorbed influences from many major cultures, with the most profound being Indian culture. Besides folk songs, proverbs, and rhymes, the Cham also created the lục bát (six-eight) verse form and the art of Ariya singing. However, due to various reasons, the Ariya singing tradition has gradually fallen into oblivion.
As part of the project "Preserving and promoting the fine traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities associated with tourism development" under the National Target Program for socio-economic development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the period 2021-2030, the Binh Thuan Provincial Museum recently opened two classes to teach Ariya chanting of the Cham people to Phan Hiep and Phan Hoa communes, Bac Binh district.
Art genres of the Cham people
Ariya is a type of Cham literature composed in poetic form using the Akhar Thrah script, used for chanting and passed down through generations through memory and handwritten in the Cham script. Ariya also provides valuable resources for research on the history, language, literature, art, beliefs, religion, society, love, and education of the Cham people in Binh Thuan province.
According to Lam Tan Binh, a distinguished artisan and a member of the Cham ethnic group in Bac Binh province: Since 1975, field trips by Cham cultural researchers in the province have shown that the Ariya genre of the Cham people is rich in content and diverse in singing styles, possessing high folk literary and artistic value. Typical examples of Ariya genres include family precepts, teaching Cham women characteristic traits according to the matriarchal system, or admonishing sons to diligently study to become good people; the Cham calendar system for religious and folk beliefs based on the concept of yin and yang; and the undying fidelity of Cham lovers hindered by the harsh barrier of religious differences according to the feudal beliefs of that time…
This contributes to the education of human character, awareness of one's origins, and the expression of filial piety and kindness in interpersonal relationships. It reflects the level and circumstances of society at each historical stage, creating a strong emotional bond of solidarity in the relationship between the two religions, and fostering pride and responsibility among generations of Cham people in preserving the traditional cultural values of their ancestors.
Each Ariya melody has its own unique way of inflecting and lowering the pitch. Therefore, even if you don't know the Cham language, once you sit and listen to an artist sing, you can't help but be captivated. Some melodies are drawn out with a lingering, passionate, and gentle tone, transporting listeners to a world of dreamy, ethereal beauty. Others rise and fall to express regret or lament. Still others are like the whispered confessions of a young couple in love...
Teaching Cham Ariya singing
In the past, Ariya was widely practiced within the Cham community. They could chant it anytime, anywhere – during festivals, funerals, while working, after agricultural work, or every evening. However, with the development of modern life and the influence of many objective and subjective factors, Cham texts preserving Ariya and the artists who know how to chant Ariya are in danger of disappearing.
To preserve and conserve the Ariya chanting melodies, in October and November of this year, the Provincial Museum opened two classes to teach Ariya chanting of the Cham people in Phan Hiep and Phan Hoa communes (Bac Binh district). Mr. Doan Van Thuan, Director of the Provincial Museum, said: Cham Ariya is very rich, diverse, and has many different themes. Therefore, the organizers of the class selected a few typical, popular, and concise Ariya songs for each type to teach the students easily and effectively. Most of the songs selected were those that had been translated and published in books. 55 students, children of the Cham people from the two localities, participated in the class. The class was taught by artisans and experts in Cham Ariya chanting art from Bac Binh, Tuy Phong, and Ham Thuan Bac districts. In addition to direct instruction, the students also went on field trips to Cham villages in Tan Thuan commune (Ham Thuan Nam district) and Lac Thanh town (Tanh Linh district).
Mr. Lam Tan Binh shared: "As an outstanding artisan and a researcher involved in preserving Cham folk culture, I am very happy and ready to join the students in teaching, under the Party and State's policy of caring for ethnic groups."
This is a difficult genre, but thankfully, in our class we found many young students, just over 30 years old. Nguyen Huu Lan Chi (Binh Minh village, Phan Hoa commune), like many other students, believes that the art of Ariya chanting is increasingly fading in society. Therefore, these training classes are an effective way for the Cham people to learn from artisans, aiming to restore, preserve, and promote the beautiful traditional cultural values of the ethnic group, preventing their disappearance, serving the life and activities of the community, and contributing to tourism development.
Preserving and promoting Cham folk literature, particularly the Ariya poetry genre, will enrich the province's literary and artistic landscape and continue to implement Resolution No. 33-NQ/TW of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam on building and developing Vietnamese culture and people to meet the requirements of sustainable national development.
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