In the early years after the province was divided, there was a person who left a strong impression on the generation of young people who first came to Tam Ky to work like us. He was Ho Thanh Hai, a person who always had a passionate love for the Bai Choi of Quang Nam…
In addition to being the leader of the Party Committee of the Provincial Agencies at that time, Mr. Ho Thanh Hai was also passionate about the arts, especially folk music and drama. It seemed that the precious traditional music of Quang Nam had permeated his blood, so wherever he went and whomever he talked to, he would talk about folk music and drama.
What surprised us more was that despite his old age, his voice was still sweet. Songs about a time of war and bombs, the losses and sacrifices in the sandy countryside along Quang Nam land kept appearing, allowing listeners to imagine the painful past of the land and people of Quang Nam.
The old story is still there
Mr. Ho Thanh Hai is currently the Chairman of the Quang Nam - Da Nang Bai Choi Lovers Club. In his story with us about his childhood, Mr. Hai could not hide his emotions when recalling memories of the sandy countryside of Dong Tri (Binh Hai, Thang Binh).
During those years, his father left to join the revolution, his mother remarried, and Ho Thanh Hai lived in the countryside with his aunts. He said that at that time, for some reason, a thought kept urging him to overcome difficulties to learn to read and write.
Only after becoming literate could he follow his father’s path in the revolution. At that time, his family occasionally had soldiers from the North come to stay. At noon, they would hang hammocks around the garden and open their diaries to read letters and recite poems…
With his curious nature and finding it so interesting, he asked his uncles to let him copy the poems and show him how to recite them. And then, without knowing when, the poems about the revolution, about the relationship between the army and the people, and the country still divided, had penetrated Ho Thanh Hai's heart without him knowing.
In September 1967, while still a teenager, Ho Thanh Hai left his family to join the revolution. He was accepted as an actor in the Thang Binh District Liberation Art Troupe.
Thanks to his good voice and knowing a few songs, Thanh Hai was immediately assigned his first role in the famous folk opera of that time, “The Cheo Deo Chim Drama Team”. From then on, he followed his brothers and sisters in the troupe, most of whom were between the ages of 14 and 16, to perform all over Thang Binh, leaving a strong impression on the audience.
Now, after almost passing his entire life, the old lyrics still haunt him: “ How can I forget the hours of skipping school/ We kids were playing around/ Splitting into two factions to fight and win/ Then throwing each other handfuls of dirt, melon rinds, and mangoes/ Like the south wind blowing kites flying/ Lying shirtless on the sand with hearts full of dreams ”…
In 1968, Mr. Ho Thanh Hai was assigned to work at the Enemy Propaganda Department of Thang Binh district, working as a lithographer, printing leaflets and using loudspeakers to call on soldiers on the other side to put down their guns and return to their compatriots.
“During the day, we distributed leaflets, at night we used loudspeakers in different areas, choosing houses with tall jackfruit trees and secret bunkers underneath… setting up loudspeakers to carry out the task. As soon as the loudspeakers started, the police station opened fire in an attempt to drown out the calls and threaten the callers…” - Mr. Ho Thanh Hai recalled.
Waiting for the gunfire to stop, he raised his voice and sang: “Who am I shooting at, who am I shooting at when I am holding an American gun in my hand, looking at my homeland, blood seeping through my heart. The American gun in my hand, the bullets still lie still, these rice fields and bamboo banks are so familiar. The silhouette of someone who has gone far away is not a stranger. The shoulder pole in my hand, the hair hanging down to my shoulders…”
The folk song had just resounded, the sound of gunfire in the fort was completely silent, seemingly touching the hearts of the gunmen on the other side. Just like that, the battle was full of hardships and challenges, with "the passionate, burning folk song that accompanied the long years of my life back then..." - said Mr. Ho Thanh Hai.
Love for traditional art
Leaving his position, Mr. Ho Thanh Hai returned to ordinary life, spent time rummaging through his memory drawer for old folk songs, searched for the lyrics of each melody and started writing folk songs.
With the help of his old comrades, Quang Nam - Da Nang folk opera artists such as Do Linh, Ngoc Thuy, Minh Hiep, Thanh Binh, Huyen Tan..., Mr. Ho Thanh Hai has gradually created dozens of folk songs, praising the changes of his homeland Quang Nam, recalling a painful but heroic past.
The folk songs he wrote such as: “Hiep Duc, the land of love”, “The brave in the people’s heart”, “The red color of mother’s heart”, “My hometown Binh Hai” or “Binh Sa, the land of heavy affection” and “Binh Duong, the land of heroes”… helped him open his heart to the places he passed through, worked and owed.
“ I return to visit my hometown Hiep Duc/ The Tranh River still meanders and flows slowly/ Hon Kem Da Dung echoes in my mother's cradle rocking/ So many memories suddenly flood back in my mind/ The midday ferry is no longer a barrier/ The bridge now brightens Tan Binh land/ Proud of my hometown Hiep Duc/ A time of fighting and sacrificing to protect this land… ” (Hiep Duc, the beloved land).
Mr. Ho Thanh Hai confided: “Wherever I go now, listening to folk songs of Bai Choi makes me feel young again. When I retired from government work, I came back to think and started writing. To compose Bai Choi, I have to understand the melodies. Memories of my time in the art troupe have given me a lot of experience in this field…”.
Passionate about folk songs and Bài Chòi, Mr. Ho Thanh Hai and a number of folk artists from Quang Nam - Da Nang founded the Bài Chòi Lovers Club of Quang Nam - Da Nang in 2012.
After more than 10 years of establishment and operation, although everything is based on the spirit of volunteerism, the members of the Club always determine to live their lives for the art of Bài Chòi of their homeland.
The club has gathered many voices, collected and recorded into CDs folk songs and Bài Chòi songs during the resistance war, organized trips to some localities to serve the needs of Bài Chòi lovers such as Dai Loc, Dien Ban or Hoa Vang (Da Nang City)...
Not having enough resources to fully perform the operas that once touched the hearts of the people of Quang Nam such as “Love story by the Thu river”, “Love song of life”, “A human life” or “Homeland in turmoil”…, the club re-enacted some excerpts from these plays, bringing strong emotions to the audience.
Musician Minh Duc - Member of the Vietnam Musicians Association, shared: “Mr. Ho Thanh Hai, when he retired, as well as when he was young, was always passionate about Bai Choi. After retiring, he devoted himself to writing about his homeland and people deeply and affectionately.
In addition to his love for Bai Choi, Ho Thanh Hai seems to have a mission to guide and train the next generation to love Bai Choi from Quang Nam in the Club of People Who Love Bai Choi from Quang Nam - Da Nang. From there, create trust and rhythm for the next generation to continue their love for Bai Choi folk songs, this is truly precious...".
Although time can erase many things, although age can make many things forgotten, the love for folk songs always burns in the heart of the soldier on the ideological front - Ho Thanh Hai.
He said that he had fallen in love with the folk songs of his motherland, so he became passionate about them to create some encouragement and motivation for today's youth to continue to preserve the warm flame of traditional music in a contemporary life with many hustle and bustle...
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