The "flame" of Dao folk songs will forever shine

We arrived at Bau Bang village, Trinh Tuong commune, and were attracted by the sound of Dao folk songs resonating in a small house. Along with that singing, there were also the clear voices of children practicing singing. These were familiar sounds resounding from a folk singing group initiated and taught by Dao folk artist Phan Thi Danh.

In the classroom, Ms. Phan Thi Danh, dressed in traditional costumes, enthusiastically taught folk songs to women and children in the village. According to Ms. Phan Thi Danh, the Dao Tuyen people have a rich folk song repertoire, including lullabies, love songs during Tet, and songs sung at weddings and funerals. The Dao Tuyen people do not pay much attention to musical instruments, so in the right circumstances, they can sing loudly, enriching their spiritual life.

As a daughter of the Dao Tuyen ethnic group, from a young age, Ms. Danh lived in a cultural space rich in ethnic identity. In particular, folk songs were like mother's milk that nourished her soul, so that she increasingly loved and was passionate about ethnic songs.

In ancient times, only Dao men were allowed to study Nom script, songs, and prayers recorded in ancient books. Women mainly learned and sang nursery rhymes, lullabies, and love songs orally passed down from generation to generation, from one person to another.

Mrs. Danh recalls: When I was a child, when I heard my grandmothers and sisters sing, I also hummed along and remembered the lyrics of a few nursery rhymes. When I was 7 years old, my mother started teaching me to sing short folk songs such as: the fairy tale Tam Cam, lullabies, songs about mothers going to the fields, songs about palm trees...

Passionate about learning to sing, by the age of 13, little Phan Thi Danh had memorized many folk songs and was taught by her mother more love songs to sing with her older brothers and sisters to other villages.

When asked about her years of passion for singing, Mrs. Danh's eyes lit up with joy, just like when she was happy at the "Village Festival" in the spring. Mrs. Danh said, in the years 1993 - 1994, I was encouraged and guided by Mrs. Lo Thi May, a talented folk singer in the village, to continue singing folk songs. She was my second teacher, she taught me lullabies, taught me how to sing lullabies with emotion, how to breathe, how to chant. Especially how to practice my voice to make it clear and high but not out of breath and how to perform on stage with the most confidence. At the end of 1994, I was invited to participate in a lullaby singing contest organized by Lao Cai province and won second prize.

After 3 years of studying folk songs with Mrs. Lo Thi May, the girl Phan Thi Danh has mastered more than 250 long and short folk songs of many different genres such as: wedding songs, funeral songs, spring songs, festivals, lullabies, love songs and has become the best folk singer in the village.

With a rich folk song repertoire, a smooth and sweet voice like the sound of a thousand streams, Phan Thi Danh became the "core" of the arts. Not only singing in the village, Phan Thi Danh also went to other villages to sing in response to other "folk songs". The singing voice of the Dao Tuyen girl in Bau Bang village spread further and further, known throughout the region. Every year, participating in the "Hat Qua Lang Festival" - a traditional festival of the Dao Tuyen people, singing in response between Bau Bang village and Na Nung village, Ms. Phan Thi Danh always won.

Meeting Mrs. Phan Thi Danh, we were quite surprised to learn that Mrs. Danh only finished grade 3 but her handwriting is very round and beautiful. Since 2001, she has spent a lot of time collecting and transcribing selected Dao folk songs into Mandarin. Three old notebooks with about 500 selected Dao folk songs meticulously recorded over the past 25 years have become a "treasure" that she carefully preserves to pass on to the next generation. Among them are many songs in different genres such as lullabies (5 songs); wedding songs (about 50 songs); love songs (more than 200 songs); antiphonal songs (about 100 songs); storytelling songs (50 songs); songs in ceremonies (about 50 songs). With her passion for singing and innate talent, based on the folk songs of the nation, Mrs. Danh also composed new songs with new themes, praising the beauty of her homeland, village love, and changes in the locality...

This year, at the age of 63, Ms. Phan Thi Danh has become one of the people who knows the most Dao folk songs in Trinh Tuong commune. Not keeping them to herself, every day, she actively propagates and mobilizes women in the village to practice singing folk songs to preserve the ethnic identity. Through Ms. Danh's enthusiastic teaching, Dao women in Trinh Tuong commune have learned many folk songs and can perform them on national holidays, festivals, and holidays, such as: Tan Thi Phuong, Ly Thi Nga, Ly Thi Lan, Ly Thi Sang (Na Lung village), Phan Thi Hong, Tan Thi Lien (Nam Chon village).

As a student of Mrs. Danh, who also loves folk songs and actively learns to sing folk songs from Mrs. Phan Thi Danh, Ms. Tan Thi Phuong and her husband Phan A Gan have become the "nucleus" of the village's art troupe.

Ms. Tan Thi Phuong said: Ms. Phan Thi Danh is not only a good singer, knows many folk songs, but also cares about teaching the next generation. She has passed on to us the love of folk songs and a better understanding of the beauty of the folk songs of the Dao ethnic group.

Despite her advanced age, Mrs. Phan Thi Danh’s love and passion for singing folk songs is like a flame that never goes out. Every day, she still enthusiastically teaches folk songs to the young people in the village without asking for any credit.

In recognition of Ms. Phan Thi Danh's contributions, as well as to encourage her to continue preserving the nation's cultural identity, the Provincial Folk Arts Association recently organized a workshop to prepare a dossier to propose the Vietnam Folk Arts Association to recognize Ms. Phan Thi Danh as a folk artist.

“What makes me happiest is to pass on my love of folk songs to the younger generation, so that the beauty of the Dao Tuyen cultural identity can be preserved and last forever,” Ms. Danh shared.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/sang-mai-ngon-lua-dan-ca-dao-post882148.html