For the people of Xuan Truong, for a long time now, watching Xuan Pha singing and dancing has become a traditional activity, an indispensable spiritual food during important holidays, during the New Year and Spring.
Xuan Pha Dance, also known as “The Tribute of Five Neighboring Nations”, is a combination of five performances depicting the scene of five directions coming to pay their respects, presenting the most outstanding performances to congratulate the Emperor of ancient Vietnam. (Photo: Thanh Tung/VNA)
“Eating cake with ham is not as good as watching Xuan Pha dance” - that is the common saying of the people of Xuan Truong commune, Tho Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province, the homeland of Xuan Pha dance.
For the people of Xuan Truong, for a long time now, watching Xuan Pha singing and dancing has become a traditional cultural activity - an indispensable spiritual food for the people during important holidays, during the New Year and Spring.
Unique fusion performances
Xuan Pha stage, bustling drum sound, rhythmic cymbal sound, artisans of Xuan Pha Traditional Art Troupe with funny masks, colorful costumes, rhythmic, skillfully perform free, decisive, strong movements but no less graceful and delicate, bring to the audience attractive Xuan Pha dance performances, captivating the audience.
Meritorious Artisan Bui Van Hung, Head of the Xuan Pha Traditional Art Troupe, said that the Xuan Pha dance is also known as the "Five neighboring countries pay tribute" play, simulating neighboring countries paying tribute to the Dai Viet king.
The dance consists of 5 dances with names: Hoa Lang, Chiem Thanh, Ai Lao, Ngo Quoc and Tu Huan (Luc Hon Nhung), each dance carries different meanings. In which, Hoa Lang dance symbolizes the tribute of the Goryeo (Korean), with the characters of grandfather, grandson, grandmother and ten soldiers.
The artists in traditional long dresses, masks, high cowhide hats, fans in their left hands and oars in their right hands... dance rhythmically to songs expressing the friendship between neighboring countries.
Xuan Pha play is highly appreciated for its cultural and artistic value and is included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage. (Photo: Thanh Tung/VNA)
The Tu Huan (Luc Hon Nhung) troupe represents the Tho Hon Nhung (Mongolian) people who paid tribute. The artists wear bamboo hats and wooden masks depicting the grandmother, mother and ten children. The bamboo hats are woven like upside-down pot baskets with bamboo strips to make the hair silver, and are worn over a red square cloth scarf...
The Ai Lao troupe symbolizes the Thai-Lao tribute, including the Lao Lord, his servants, guards (ten soldiers), elephants and tigers dancing to the rhythm of bamboo cymbals, symbolizing hunting power but also softness and flexibility. The Lord wears a dragonfly-winged hat and a blue indigo shirt. The soldiers wear banyan-root hats, wrap them around their shoulders, wear leggings and hold bamboo cymbals.
The play "Wu Guo" symbolizes the Wu-Yue (Chinese) tribute, with two fairies, a lord and ten soldiers wearing military hats, blue shirts, and holding oars. At the beginning of the act, the characters of a medicine seller, a candy seller and a geomancer appear and perform an impromptu dance, then give way for the fairies, lord and soldiers to leave. The performance includes fan dance, scarf dance and oar dance.
The Champa game symbolizes the Champa people paying tribute. In the Champa game, in addition to the lord and the soldiers, there are also phoenix characters. The lord's shirt is made of beans, the soldiers' shirt is made of silk, both dyed pink and without embroidery. The lord and the soldiers both wear red square scarves with two vertical horns on their heads. The phoenix shirt is a sói collar, the siem collar is wrapped around the body.
The musical instruments used in Xuan Pha dances are quite simple, mainly drums, cymbals, wooden fish... creating cheerful sounds. The rhythm, the system of dances, the content of the plays and the lyrics have the sound of folk songs and songs of Thanh land.
Following the rhythm of the drum, sometimes urgent, sometimes leisurely, the performers continuously move, at times gracefully and rhythmically, but also strongly and freely...
According to Meritorious Artist Bui Van Hung, each dance in Xuan Pha plays reflects the community life of the regions and countries at that time, expressed in the colors of costumes, simulating business activities, living, trading, and customs.
In the 5 plays, the characters in 3 of them, Hoa Lang, Chiem Thanh and Tu Huan, must wear masks, made of cowhide or painted wood. The unique art of makeup brings a mysterious spiritual and religious color to the Xuan Pha play.
Many tourists, when watching Xuan Pha play, cannot help but admire the wisdom of our ancestors, because they have created performances that combine the arts of dance, singing, music and unique, attractive performing costumes, imbued with traditional cultural identity.
Preserve and promote heritage values
Up to now, the origin of Xuan Pha play still has many different opinions among folklore researchers. However, according to the elders in the village, for generations, the people of Xuan Pha village have passed down the origin of this play from the Dinh Dynasty (968-980).
The Champa troupe represents the Champa people paying tribute, wearing a red-painted wooden mask with a low and short nose and two eyes made of peacock feathers. (Photo: Thanh Tung/VNA)
According to legend, on the way to lead the army to suppress the last of the 12 warlords, that was warlord Ngo Xuong Xi in Binh Kieu-Chau Ai (Thanh Hoa today), Dinh Bo Linh when he arrived at Quan Thanh land, set up camp and stationed his troops there. He sent an envoy to pray to Bach Linh, hoping for help from the underworld to help the army win the battle and unify the country.
The messenger was ordered to travel upstream on the Chu River by water, but encountered a storm and had to take shelter in Xuan Pha Temple - a place to worship Dai Hai Long Vuong, a very sacred god according to the beliefs of the Chau Ai people.
At night, the village god of Xuan Pha told the messenger in a dream about how to defeat the enemy. Seeing the good plan, Dinh Bo Linh followed it and defeated Ngo Xuong Xi's army, unifying the country under the name of Dai Co Viet.
In memory of the village god's dream, King Dinh later brought tributes to the Dai Hai Long Vuong temple, and also assigned Queen Nguyet Nuong to train a dance team to perform at village festivals. Later, these dances were passed down to the people of Xuan Pha village and have been passed down to this day.
According to researchers, the Xuan Pha game, in terms of origin, is a simulation of the five countries coming to pay tribute to the king of Dai Viet, bringing gifts and dances to celebrate.
However, over the course of several centuries, the play was brought to the folk stage and limited to village culture, so the elements of royal art gradually decreased, replaced by the rustic, simple features of folk art.
Therefore, when talking about the artistic and aesthetic value of Xuan Pha play, the book "Thanh Hoa Geography" emphasized: "Lang play, especially dance (Xuan Pha dance) is highly appreciated by art researchers, selected into the national dance curriculum of the Le Dynasty and considered "the echo of the dance of the vassals coming to the court" to praise Le Thai To, praise the victory of our people over the Ming invaders in the 15th century."
According to Head of Xuan Pha Traditional Art Troupe Bui Van Hung, with thousands of years of history, Xuan Pha play is highly appreciated for its cultural and artistic values.
In 1936, King Bao Dai invited Xuan Pha artists to perform at the Hue Capital Fair. In the 1960s and 1970s, the country was at war, the young men in the village all joined the army, so the organization of the Xuan Pha festival was not regular.
By the 1990s, the government and people of Xuan Pha were determined to restore the dances. In September 2016, Xuan Pha was included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Meritorious Artist Nguyen Xuan Luong, Xuan Pha Traditional Art Troupe, since he was a child, he often watched the elders in the village dance Xuan Pha and loved it. Later, when the locality revived Xuan Pha, he immediately signed up to participate.
Mr. Luong said that in addition to regularly practicing and performing to promote and develop the value of heritage, the artists in the troupe always spend time and effort teaching the younger generation.
Teaching is organized regularly and consistently in schools, from primary to secondary schools, and even locally. "Every time I see children enthusiastically learning dance, I feel very happy, because that shows that Xuan Pha will live forever in life and in the hearts of those who love traditional art," said artist Nguyen Xuan Luong.
A representative of Xuan Truong commune said that in the past, Xuan Pha play was often performed during the Xuan Pha Village Festival, on the 9th and 10th of the second lunar month every year.
Recently, the festival has spread throughout Tho Xuan area, attracting thousands of locals and visitors.
Xuan Truong Commune and Tho Xuan District also implemented programs and plans to preserve and sustainably promote the value of cultural heritage, associated with tourism development, gradually promoting socialization, attracting resources to restore, embellish and prevent degradation of relics; supporting funding to maintain games and performances, including Xuan Pha; investing in building tourism products, connecting points, tours, and tourist routes associated with relics and cultural heritages...
In recent years, in major festivals in Thanh Hoa, or the New Year's Spring Festival, Xuan Pha dance is often performed, with the meaning of opening up a prosperous period, a happy and prosperous life for the people, affirming the eternal vitality of Xuan Pha dance in the cultural and spiritual life of Thanh people.
Currently, the Xuan Pha performance has gone beyond the boundaries of a cultural region, being introduced, promoted, and widely performed in many localities, spreading the unique culture of Thanh to all parts of the country./.
According to VNA
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/ngay-xuan-xem-tro-xuan-pha-cua-nguoi-dan-xu-thanh-238324.htm
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