The Xo Dang man and the mission of preserving the sounds of the great forest

Although he has graduated from university, Mr. A Huyen, a member of the Xo Dang ethnic group, in village 3, Dak To commune, Quang Ngai, has chosen his own path, returning to his hometown to live with his passion for making traditional musical instruments. Because for him, the sound of musical instruments is the sound of the great forest.

Mr. A Huyen uses a small space to display the musical instruments he makes.

Growing up with the sound of the great forest

Born and raised in Tu Mo Rong commune, where there are waterfalls, mountains, majestic forests and traditional villages of the Xo Dang people, from a young age, Mr. A Huyen heard the sounds of gongs, Tơ rưng, Ting ning, and Klông put every time the village had a festival.

Mr. A Huyen shared: When I was young, whenever the village had a festival, or when the uncles and brothers in the village practiced gongs and played traditional musical instruments, I would go to watch. I felt very interested in the sounds, which had a strange attraction. After that, I studied and gradually learned how to perform. When I was 15 years old, my family moved to live in Dak To commune. Although it was no longer close to the village, I was still passionate and always cherished the idea of making those musical instruments.

The primitive bamboo and rattan materials, through the skillful hands of Mr. A Huyen, have become traditional musical instruments carrying the sounds of the great forest.

With the care of his family, Mr. A Huyen was able to study at the Military University of Culture and Arts in Hanoi . In 2014, after graduating, he decided to return to his hometown, pursuing his passion for creating and preserving the sounds of traditional musical instruments of the Xo Dang people, which were at risk of disappearing.

At first, making musical instruments was difficult, and the instruments did not produce the right sound. However, with the knowledge he learned at school and the diligence he gained from learning from older artisans, Mr. A Huyen gradually gained more experience in making traditional musical instruments.

“Since the first To Rung was crafted more than 10 years ago, I can now craft many different musical instruments, such as: Bamboo, Klong put, To Rung, Ting ning, lithophone and gong tuning,” Mr. A Huyen confided.

Mr. A Huyen always teaches and passes on his passion for traditional musical instruments to the younger generation.

Currently, he is one of the few people in Dak To commune who can skillfully make and use traditional musical instruments of the Xo Dang people, perform gongs and tune gongs. Not keeping it to himself, he is passing on that passion to the youth in the village.

Live with passion

To be able to make ends meet and pursue his passion for crafting traditional musical instruments, Mr. A Huyen constantly promotes his products on social media platforms and is facilitated by local authorities to regularly participate in musical instrument performances at festivals in and outside the province. Thanks to that, the musical instruments he crafts have become known and ordered by many people, helping him earn more income.

Mr. A Huyen shared that when making this Tơ Rưng instrument, the most important thing is to know how to trim the bars properly and have a good sense of sound to create a complete instrument.

Mr. A Huyen shared: In the past, there were many raw materials for making musical instruments. You just had to go to the fields to find bamboo, rattan, and rattan to make all kinds of instruments. But now, raw materials are becoming scarce. To find them, you have to go very far, deep into the forest, so the cost is also high. Thanks to customers who order all kinds of instruments, the price ranges from 3 to 15 million VND, which helps me have an income to cover production costs and save money.

Not only making musical instruments, he also actively participates in classes teaching gongs and traditional musical instruments to ethnic minority villages and schools in Quang Ngai province. For him, being able to teach and spread the traditional cultural values of the nation to the younger generation is the happiest thing.

Mr. A Huyen participates in teaching traditional musical instrument performance to ethnic minority villages in Quang Ngai province.

“Through the times I taught gongs and traditional musical instruments to young people, I saw that they were very passionate about traditional culture. Therefore, I plan to establish a group of young people with the same passion, who know how to make and use traditional musical instruments to spread good traditional cultural values to the younger generation,” said Mr. A Huyen.

At the age of 40, Mr. A Huyen has considered the making of traditional musical instruments as a mission to preserve and promote traditional cultural values and inspire people. With his contributions, we believe that the work of preserving the traditional cultural identity of the local people will achieve positive results.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nguoi-dan-ong-xo-dang-va-su-menh-gin-giu-thanh-am-cua-dai-ngan-2420650.html