The values of Then singing will attract tourists

Associate Professor, Dr. Vuong Toan, former Deputy Director of the Institute of Social Science Information, currently Head of the Vietnam Thai Studies Program, is a person who has devoted much effort to researching the cultural heritage of the Tay - Thai - Nung. On the occasion of the Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Sciences coordinating with the People's Committee of Binh Lieu district to organize a workshop on Then singing and Tinh lute recently, reporters from the Provincial Media Center interviewed him about the Then singing heritage of the Tay people in Quang Ninh.

-Sir, what are the most notable characteristics of the Tay people of Quang Ninh and their Then singing heritage?

+ Binh Lieu is the district with the highest proportion of ethnic minorities in Quang Ninh province and is also one of the districts with the highest proportion of ethnic minorities in the country, in which the Tay people are very numerous. Then is distributed according to the residential area of the Tay people along the Vietnam-China border.

Originally a unique form of spiritual singing and dancing performance of the Tay ethnic group, Then has developed into a popular form of folk art in the cultural and entertainment life of the community, not only the Tay people. Then is a unique form of performance of the Tay ethnic group in Binh Lieu in particular and in Quang Ninh in general.

When performing the Then ceremony, in addition to the beauty of the lyrics and melodies, there is also the beauty of the choreography, of traditional handicrafts in costumes and props in the ceremonies... showing the quintessence and ingenuity in making or practicing. Regarding musical instruments, the Then ceremony uses the Tinh lute, a two or three-stringed instrument, to accompany and guide the melody, the performer can also bring a bunch of cymbals. The Then ceremony of the Tay people in Quang Ninh was soon recognized as a social practice and belief and ranked as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2012. The noble title has also been awarded to a number of folk artists in this province.

Promoting the musical value of Then melodies that easily reach people's hearts, some Then excerpts have been brought to the stage to meet the cultural and spiritual life of the general public in competitions, performances, and festivals. Thus, exploiting the practice of Then to serve tourism is one of the orientations contributing to the preservation and dissemination of the spiritual and cultural values of this social practice and belief, meeting the need to understand the ethnic culture of tourists in modern life.

Then singing under the roof of Luc Na communal house, Luc Hon commune, Binh Lieu district.

- Then being staged means then is new with cultural and entertainment values, right sir?

+ Then moi, also known as Then van nghe, was born in the early 20th century along with the movement of creating new lyrics based on ancient Then content. From a form of worship, Then has developed into a form of folk art. However, in terms of content, the songs in these two fields are completely different. The content of Then moi encourages listeners to actively participate in the resistance war to save the country, promotes economic development, builds a new cultural lifestyle, praises love between couples, husband and wife, love for the homeland, and fights against social evils. Then moi is a form of recreational and entertaining art activity thanks to its melodious and attractive melody, which matches the sound of the Tinh Tau and the sound of the Xoc music. The sound of Then on stage is one of the most popular art performances for the Tay people, even when they live far away from their homeland.

- That means, then singing has many conditions to develop tourism?

+ Currently, tourism is considered a "smokeless industry" with the goal of making an important contribution to economic growth, hunger eradication, poverty reduction, ensuring social security, preserving and promoting cultural values, protecting the environment and maintaining security and national defense... To achieve that goal, the tourism industry needs to develop products, orient the market, focus on building a system of unique and high-quality tourism products on the basis of promoting the value of unique tourism resources, with outstanding strengths... developing cultural tourism as a foundation.... The potential values of then will contribute to meeting the needs of spiritual and cultural tourists when coming to Binh Lieu in particular, Quang Ninh in general.

- So, then not only promote tourism for Quang Ninh but also for tourism of the whole country?

+ In fact, this unique traditional art heritage is not only widely preserved in Quang Ninh, but recently we have seen Then singing clubs spread to several provinces in the Central Highlands. Not dissolving into the gong cultural space of the Central Highlands, migrants have brought here some of their unique cultural activities, typically Then performances with the Tinh lute. Just like that, Then melodies and folk songs from their homeland now resound on the festival stage in the Central Highlands. This reality allows for a very objective assessment that migrants who come to this land to settle down and live still preserve the traditional culture that has existed since ancient times through festivals. Not only that, they also continue, inherit, and spread good values to social life.

Therefore, it can be said that it has developed into a cultural space of Then singing - Tinh lute that is extremely large in volume, rich in genres, and diverse in performance forms. Then has been present in major cities and has even reached out to the world. In 2017, a group of Then singing artists was invited by the Paris Institute of World Culture to participate in the program "World Music Festival" held in the capital of France. Thus, exploiting the artistic value of Then performances for tourism will certainly be one of the directions contributing to the preservation and dissemination of typical local cultural and artistic values, meeting the needs of understanding and cultural exchange of ethnic groups of tourists.

Then singing and Tinh lute of the Tay people in Binh Lieu are promoted on television. — Then singing and Tinh lute of the Tay people in Binh Lieu were promoted on the TV series "Rising Dawn".

- In Quang Ninh, in your opinion, what do we need to do to exploit the cultural values of Then Tay in Binh Lieu for tourism?

+ Cultural tourists often want to see with their own eyes and, if possible, experience unknown things, especially what the media says (or writes) about cultural heritages such as Then Tay when coming to Quang Ninh. Spiritual tourists can observe the practice of rituals, such as Then hotpot and Cap Sac...

The entertainment value of Then performance will show visitors the appeal and spread of Then in the cultural life of the community. Thus, first of all, it is necessary to attract visitors with its unique features. It is necessary to exploit and promote the unique features, considered the identity of Then Tay Binh Lieu (such as the two-stringed pipe, the deep melody...) so that visitors do not get bored. Developing tourism associated with the cultural identity of the ethnic groups in the region creates a unique appeal, both in form and content of the performance.

Next, in terms of content, it is necessary to attract tourists with interesting stories (possibly newly composed), associated with famous landmarks, related to special local products. It is necessary to exploit the ability to create new lyrics, even with adaptations, as long as they are suitable for the communication situation, creating conditions for attachment or closeness with tourists. Promoting both the spiritual and entertainment values of Then in tourism activities, visitors to Binh Lieu do not stop at following different worship rituals but also watch performances of compositions praising the beautiful landscapes associated with landmarks or special products of a land.

Folk artists in Binh Lieu teach Then singing to young people. — Meritorious Artist Hoang Thi Vien in Binh Lieu teaches Then singing to young people.

In terms of expression, it is also necessary to attract tourists with an easily accessible language. Thus, it is necessary to exploit the ability to express in multiple languages: ethnic languages and Vietnamese (national language) along with popular foreign languages, especially the languages spoken by the majority of each tourist group. To do so, it is also necessary to encourage composers to compose in two or more languages or to translate languages more fluently to attract listeners. When there are no conditions for translation, it is necessary to immediately have short but attractive introductions in foreign languages to attract tourists to this unique tourism product.

Finally, it is necessary to attract tourists by diversifying tourism products, such as combining spiritual tourism with cultural and ecological tourism, especially combining the exploitation of cultural values of other heritages, which are also folk performing arts, combining with the long tong festival which has long been no longer only attracting the Tay people, even combining the cap sac ceremony, the Tet Nhay ritual of the Dao people, the tac xinh dance and the soong co singing of the San Chay people. All combinations can contribute to helping tourists realize the richness and diversity of cultural heritages.

However, sustainable tourism development means not pursuing purely economic benefits: Satisfying economic and social needs, but exploiting the values of then must always pay attention to preserving regional cultural identities, forming cultural diversity of ethnic communities working together to build and develop the country, for the needs of life, including human tourism needs.

- Thank you very much for the interview!

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