Chau Van singing festival preserves traditional ritual

April 20, 2014 | 09:50

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Hundreds of amateur artists participated in the second annual Chau Van Singing Festival, organised by the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association in the northern province of Bac Giang on April 19.

Visitors to the festival were impressed by the beautiful melody of the unique instruments and outstanding performances by Chau Van singers in honour of the gods.

Chau Van singing is a traditional folk art of northern Vietnam which combines trance singing and dancing. Its music and poetry are combined with a variety of instruments, rhythms, pauses, and tempos.

Originating in the late 19th century, the genre spread quickly and was performed by amateur art troupes in northern villages.

Northern Nam Dinh province is considered the birthplace of Chau Van, which has traditionally been performed at temples and pagodas as people believed it was a useful way to connect to the Mother Goddesses and other gods.

However, from 1954 Chau Van was banned as it was deformed and used for superstition-oriented rather than religious purposes. Since early 1990s, the art of folk singing has been revived.

As one of 33 Vietnam’s recognized intangible cultural heritage examples, Chau Van is expected to help people understand more about the Goddesses and increase public awareness of the protection and preservation of cultural and artistic value of national heritage.

Final preparations are underway to complete a dossier to be submitted to UNESCO to recognize Chau Van as Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Humanity next year.

VOV

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