(DS 21/6) - I have many Quang friends, some are originally from Quang, some have settled there for a long time and have a strong Quang character. I know them from different backgrounds, but I have warm and lasting feelings for each of them.
Quang people "don't argue"
My college class was very large. It was the years just after the war, so there were many people who had been discharged from the army and were returning to college. My entire class was “green in military uniform”, with only a few young faces of high school graduates.
My friend from Quang - Ho Xuan Tinh is one of those few, like me. He is a quiet boy, with a calm face and glasses, nothing outstanding. It was only when we studied archaeology together that I got to know more about him.
I still remember the internship trip to My Son temple complex around 1979. The whole class took the bus from Saigon to Da Nang, then all stayed at a friend’s house for a night. It was a small townhouse with a tiny mezzanine, but the family welcomed us warmly. The first time I ate Quang noodles was here, “so strange, what kind of noodles are these with only a little bit of water, and eaten with rice paper?”
“It seems that every Quang Nam person has all three personalities: the determination of a journalist, the diligence of a researcher, and the romanticism of a poet.”
Early the next morning, the whole class went to My Son, some parts were taken by a bus running on charcoal with black dust, some parts were walked carrying backpacks, hoes and shovels… On the trail leading to My Son (at that time there were no big roads like now), in the hot noon sun, sometimes you carried things for us - two girls in an all-male class - so that we could keep up with everyone else. The days of internship there were extremely hard, but in your free time you hugged your guitar and played music… At that time you looked so romantic…
After graduating from university, you returned to Quang Nam and worked in museum and archaeology. The special marks of Quang Nam archaeology all have your contribution. From the excavation of Sa Huynh cultural relics to the study of Champa ancient towers, from the excavation of Cu Lao Cham shipwrecks to the preservation of Hoi An ancient town...
We occasionally met at industry conferences and seminars. Although you are also an “official”, you still have the same gentle smile as the student you were in the past… Once I jokingly asked: “Hey, why are you so “gentle” even though you are from Quang Nam? I don’t see you talk too loudly or “argue a lot”?” You smiled again, your eyes sparkling happily behind your glasses.
Quang people of Hue origin
At a conference about 20 years ago, a tall, thin, dark-skinned, messy-haired person came up to me and said: “Are you the archaeologist, Mrs. Hau? I just read your article “Binh Duong ancient houses”, it’s great! I’m also working on ancient houses”.
I was a bit confused but then immediately recognized him, painter Nguyen Thuong Hy - who had been "based" in My Son for decades, although he was originally from Hue, his personality was very Quang. I had known many of his works but had only met him then.
Every time I talked to him after that, I was always confused for a while because I didn't understand what he was saying, and he joked with me: "Do you have a B degree in Duy Xuyen language to work in My Son?"
A person who loves to travel and travels tirelessly for many years during his time as a "state official", not only travels with the flexible legs of a heritage conservation worker, but he also "travels" from the knowledge learned from folklore, from the theories of Japanese teachers to specific achievements: Self-reconstructing a thatched roof house with bamboo frame and earthen walls near My Son relic - a model of ecological and environmental architectural conservation, with unique indigenous cultural significance.
He cannot remember how many times he has traveled to provinces and cities across the country, especially the Central region, to measure, draw, take pictures, and describe the ancient houses he found, or wherever he heard someone tell him there were ancient houses, he would immediately go there. He has enthusiastically passed on all his experience and knowledge about traditional houses to the younger generation and his students.
Once he texted me, “Come to Quang Nam and live there. I will build you a house just like this, so you can sit there daydreaming and writing.” But before I could follow his invitation, I found out that he had just retired early. Even though I had retired, it was even harder to meet him, because many places invited him to research ancient houses, then restore them for preservation or tourism…
His love for ancient houses is not only a painter's recognition and admiration of the perfection of folk works, but more deeply from the love of cultural heritage. Every detail of the ancient house also contains a lot of information and knowledge that our ancestors passed on to the next generation - he always told us that.
Quang people "decode Quang accent"!
Once I asked a friend from Quang Nam: "Hey, why do Quang Nam people often answer a question with another question and rarely answer directly? For example: Do we have to go that way? - If not that way, then which way?", he immediately replied: "If you don't say that, then what?"
Your answer makes me think this is a very interesting cultural phenomenon.
I read “There are 500 years like that” by Mr. Ho Trung Tu (from Dai Loc), a work that brings a new perspective, explaining a linguistic phenomenon from the historical perspective - the special circumstances of Quang Nam since the 15th century. In short, the formation or origin of Quang Nam language is due to the Cham people speaking Vietnamese in a special circumstance.
Among cultural elements, finding the origin of language and cuisine is the most interesting, because the exchange, reception or rejection sometimes does not follow "scientific, academic rules" but bears the mark of life.
Language, like many cultural phenomena, does not develop in a linear and simple way, especially in the historical context of Quang Nam, which is the place where the cultures of the two ethnic groups, Viet (Thanh/Nghe are the main ones) and Cham, are received/interfered/disputed/confronted/integrated/differentiated, in which language - the means of daily communication - stands out. Therefore, language needs to be placed in practical life in different situations.
My question “why do Quang Nam people often answer a question with a question” is perhaps a linguistic phenomenon reflecting the cultural exchange - opposition - harmony - distinction of the two Cham - Vietnamese ethnic groups in a certain period, and then over time, it was “inherited” as a cultural personality of Quang Nam.
Therefore, Mr. Ho Trung Tu's work deserves attention when researching "Quang Nam language" in particular and Quang region in general.
Ho Trung Tu and I have never met, although we have known each other for a long time, since the time of the social network Yahoo! 360. However, in both him and his two friends Ho Xuan Tinh and Nguyen Thuong Hy, I always feel that they have seemingly "opposite" personalities: the determination of a journalist, the diligence of a researcher, and yet something romantic like a poet! It seems that every Quang Nam person already has all three of these personalities.
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