The village is deserted with the sound of gongs.
Slowly adjusting the large gong, village elder Alit recalled: In the past, the village was famous for its good gongs and beautiful xoang. The village's gong team was honored to perform at the 2009 International Gong Festival in Gia Lai.
That day, together with the gong troupe of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands such as: Ede, Ma, Co Ho, Chu Ru, Xe Dang, Brau... and the gong troupe of other ethnic minorities in Vietnam such as: Muong, Thai, Cham, Khmer, Hre, Ca Tu, Ta Oi... the gong troupe of Dung Ro village performed gong pieces that fascinated domestic and foreign guests.
The village had a good gong artist, Mr. Hnil. Unfortunately, in 2014, Mr. Hnil passed away, we lost a great "leader". In the following years, Dung Ro village gradually lost its gongs .
Without a leader, the Dung Ro gong team has almost stopped working. The gong sets in the village have also gradually disappeared over time. Mr. Alit calculated: Apart from the village's large gong set, Dung Ro only has 5 households preserving gongs. Those who know how to play gongs in the village are gradually getting old or have passed away. The deep, solemn sounds of the familiar gong songs of the past have also gradually "fall asleep" behind the mountains and fields.
“Currently, the village only has about 3-5 old people who know how to play gongs. As for the younger generation, because they have not been taught, they know very little, many of them do not even know how to hold the gongs. Even if we old people miss them, we can only keep them in our minds,” old Alit confided.
Also regretting the decline of gongs, Mr. Char, the village chief, said: Although he tried to mobilize the villagers, he still could not revive the village gong team. According to the old saying, boys must know how to play gongs and girls must know xoang to be able to participate in entertainment and drinking during the village festivals.
Therefore, from the age of 10-15, boys and girls in the village began to seek out those who knew how to play gongs and xoang well in the village to learn. However, with the pace of modern life, the villagers gradually forgot how to preserve this precious sound. Teaching gongs became more difficult than ever when the elderly who knew how to play gongs gradually disappeared.
“It is very difficult to encourage people to stick with gongs because they are still worried about farming. I myself am not a good gong player and have not learned proper gong lessons, so when I promote it, people are not very satisfied. Sometimes I am discouraged. However, I still have a burning desire to preserve the gong sounds of the village.
Therefore, in village meetings, I still diligently encourage the elderly to teach the young. Even in meetings with local authorities, I also expressed my desire to teach gong to the people" - Mr. Char shared.
Based on the wishes of the people, along with the long-term orientation of Dak Doa district on developing tourism associated with gong heritage, in August 2024, the district's Vocational Education - Continuing Education Center coordinated with the local government to open a free gong training class for Dung Ro villagers.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang, a Cultural and Social Officer of Kon Gang Commune, supported the village in finding members for the class and actively encouraged people to take advantage of the afternoons after work to go to the communal house yard to participate in gong lessons. “The mobilization work also encountered many difficulties.
However, we were able to convince 40 villagers to join the class. In nearly 2 months, the villagers became more interested and attached to gongs and xoang melodies,” said Ms. Giang.
Multiplying love with gongs
When the gongs rang out in the communal house, deep and passionate, old Alit's chest suddenly felt as excited as when he was young. It had been a long time since he had seen his village have such joyful and united afternoons.
“In the past, the Bahnar people of Dung Ro village did not learn to play gongs by opening classes, but only learned through passing on the knowledge, such as grandfathers teaching grandchildren, fathers teaching sons, the elderly holding hands and instructing the young… Therefore, when we participated in the class, we found it very new and exciting. Elderly people like me were also invited to the class to coordinate with the instructor to teach basic operations to those who did not know how to play.
I myself will learn some more skills and more systematic gong songs so that I can participate in preserving and developing the gong movement of the village in the future," said old Alit excitedly.
Although he had never been exposed to gongs, when the village chief encouraged him to join the class, Mr. Plùnh was very excited and learned quickly. He said: “I was really remiss in being indifferent to the gongs of my people during my youth. Now that I can learn gongs with the villagers, I am very happy.
After the class, I will work with the young people in the village to develop my gong playing skills and actively participate in local festivals and competitions to spread the gong sounds of Dung Ro village far and wide."
Perhaps, besides old Alit, Mr. Char was the happiest person because all his wishes had come true. He thought it would be difficult to bring people to class, but surprisingly, everyone was very excited.
Not only the 40 members who registered, but the villagers also actively participated in the class. Everyone looked forward to the end of the day to join the gong songs with the villagers. Dung Ro village was once again immersed in the sounds of gongs and traditional xoang dances.
“The teachers of the gong class are artisans with a lot of experience in teaching gongs. After being taught systematically, I have a deep understanding of the gong sounds, how to tune the gongs, and the rhythm of each song.
After attending the class, Dung Ro villagers understood and loved the cultural value of gongs more. We hope that after this class, we will have more opportunities to perform in many places, thereby contributing to preserving and spreading the national cultural identity," Mr. Char expressed.
Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh - Vice Chairman of Kon Gang Commune People's Committee - said: Every year, the commune coordinates with the District Vocational Education and Continuing Education Center to survey the vocational training needs of the people to open classes suitable to the practical situation in the locality. In particular, Dung Ro villagers are eager to open a gong class.
Realizing that this was a practical need, we created conditions to open a class in the village and received the support of the villagers, so the course was very successful. Initially, the class had only 15 qualified members. However, later, villagers volunteered to join the class, so the class grew to 40 people. The youngest student was only in grade 10, and the oldest was nearly 60 years old. We are very happy that the villagers have consciously learned to play gongs to preserve and develop the cultural heritage of the nation.
Ms. Nguyen Dinh Thi My Lai - Director of the Center for Vocational Education and Continuing Education of Dak Doa district - informed: In recent times, the district has increased the implementation of vocational training programs for rural workers. From there, people have the opportunity to find jobs and have a stable income. In 2024, the Center opened 14 vocational training classes for rural workers with 474 workers attending.
“Among the 14 vocational training classes, there is a gong class for the people of Dung Ro village. Based on the wishes of the people, along with the district's long-term orientation on developing tourism associated with gong heritage, the Center decided to open a free class for the people. The class had a positive effect when it was enthusiastically received by the people,” Ms. Lai added.
Source: https://gialai.gov.vn/tin-tuc/lang-dung-ro-vang-tieng-cong-chieng.81347.aspx
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