Thousand years of military drum melody

“Whoever comes to my hometown of Liem Thuan/River, Coconut, Reed, Chay, Vai, Nga, Thi, Cham/Please stop by/Listen to the sweet song of the drum.”

That is the greeting song performed by Meritorious Artist Pham Thi Hue on stage, opening the performance of the Drum Army Singing Club of Liem Thuan commune. Meanwhile, the people of Liem Thuan still proudly "show off" to the guests that the Drum Army Singing has been around for more than a thousand years. According to artist Nguyen Dinh Lau, Liem Thuan is located in the Lieu Doi cultural area of ​​Thanh Liem district, Ha Nam province. The commune is located in the middle of low-lying fields, in the past, water flooded all around to the bamboo roots, people had to travel by boat. Because of those living conditions, the custom of singing Drum Army on boats was born in ancient villages, with the nom names: Lau, Chay, Gua, Cham, Thi...

“There are currently two hypotheses about the origin of the Trong Quan singing in Liem Thuan. The first is that the Trong Quan singing custom was brought back by Mr. Truong Nguyen - a general of Dinh Bo Linh, also the tutelary god of Gua village - to teach the people about the custom of praying,” said Mr. Lau.

Another opinion is that the Liem Thuan military drums date back to the Tran Dynasty. At that time, this land was flooded all year round, with the La Giang River forming a convenient waterway connecting the food warehouse in Tran Thuong village with the Tran Dynasty headquarters in Nam Dinh and the Tam Coc - Ninh Binh region. Therefore, the ancient villages in Liem Thuan were arranged by the Tran King as places to store food. When the Tran Dynasty navy sailed to guard the food, they beat the drums and sang songs to dispel the loneliness in the quiet night. One person sang, the other heard and sang along, spontaneously responding. Just like that, the military drum song was formed and gradually became familiar, deeply ingrained in the people's way of life.

“Liem Thuan people still sing the drum song when rowing boats to catch nets and nets at night, while working or during festivals. Even though there is no one to organize it, the drum song still exists and has been passed down for a thousand years, proving its strong vitality,” said artisan Nguyen Dinh Lau.

The performance space is the boat, the water, the moon.

The Liem Thuan people can sing the drum song anytime, anywhere. They can sing it in a traditional way during village festivals, sing for fun while rowing boats on moonlit nights, sing while doing farm work, sing to tease boys and girls... The drum song was born in the village, from people who are connoisseurs of drums and clear-sounding songs; people who are good at speaking, singing both existing songs and improvising.

In particular, the custom of singing Trong Quan on boats is a very unique cultural activity of the lowland plains. As a rule, when a singing boat wants to interact with another singing boat, it will row closer and sing a greeting song, sometimes a teasing sentence. When the boat is close to the side, they start beating the drum "thi, thinh" to start the singing. The singing sessions with drums and clappers filled with fields, with boats, with water, with the moonlight are bustling and exciting...

According to researchers, military drums can be found in many places, but the performance space is completely organized on the water surface only in Liem Thuan. Even now, when the village fields are no longer flooded, the proper military drum singing festival is still organized on the lake next to Chay village communal house.

Also because it is performed entirely on a boat, the Liem Thuan drum has another unique feature. That is, instead of the drum being formed by digging a hole in the ground like in other places, the Liem Thuan people use a ceramic jar as a drum. On the surface of the "drum", place a wooden board that tightly covers the jar's mouth, then thread a bamboo rope across the middle. Next, a bamboo stick is erected as a support for the rope, pulling the rope tight on one side and loose on the other, so that when struck, it makes unique "thi, thinh" sounds. The sound is emitted from the rope and transmitted into the ceramic jar, then transmitted to the boat, thanks to the water surface, spreading for a kilometer. Artisan Nguyen Dinh Lau said that a "standard" Liem Thuan drum must always have a ceramic jar and the bamboo rope must never be replaced with another material.

For the singing festival, according to ancient customs, before the full moon of August, villages begin to prepare boats, drums, and select singing teams to represent their villages. On the singing festival day, villages hold ceremonies at the communal house and then row boats to the fields to organize the singing festival. The singing competition day is especially bustling, when hundreds of boats of the singing teams and boats of the people "jostle shoulder to shoulder" and row their oars, filling the entire field. The men's team has a leader, while the women's team has a leader, whose job is to control and judge the prizes. Two rows of men's and women's boats are docked opposite each other, behind are the reserve boats; the audience parks their boats at a distance just enough for the competing teams to have space, and still hear the singing and responding clearly.

During the singing session, the other side sings and the other side responds, with some people breaking the story, adding lyrics or giving suggestions and tips when their team is in a difficult situation. Sometimes, the audience prompts the song when a team cannot respond. The losing side is immediately “captured” by the other side’s boat, and only when they can respond will they be returned. Each time like that, the atmosphere of the singing festival becomes more and more exciting. The singing session continues all night long, the boats swaying to the “thi thinh” drumbeats in the middle of a vast expanse of moonlit water. Until the moon sets and the night ends, the singing farewells to their friends, the organizers award prizes to the winning teams, and then everyone returns to the village temple for the ceremony.

“Another difference of the Liem Thuan drum is that in addition to only using the six-eight verse form for performance, the fourth tone of the 6th and 8th lines must always be a falling tone. In terms of musical rules, two tones must be equal to one beat,” said artisan Nguyen Dinh Lau.

Preserving subterranean cultural heritage

With its unique values, at the end of 2023, the folk performing art of singing drums in Liem Thuan was included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. According to Mr. Ngo Thanh Tuan - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ha Nam province, this is the basis and legal basis for all levels and sectors in the province to come up with plans to protect the heritage.

“We have proposed 10 contents to preserve and promote heritage values. In particular, it is necessary to focus on preserving low-lying cultural spaces, especially the La Giang River and local historical cultural spaces so that the Liem Thuan drum singing has a space to practice,” said Mr. Tuan.

Sharing more, Meritorious Artist Pham Thi Hue - Head of the Liem Thuan Drum Singing Club said that at the end of November, the locality will organize a ceremony to receive the decision to recognize the national intangible cultural heritage. However, more than 20 years ago, the people of Liem Thuan joined hands to restore the drum singing in Liem Thuan. After a period of spontaneous operation, seeing the effectiveness, the government and the cultural sector allowed the establishment of a commune-level club.

To date, the club has more than 30 members, including two artists, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Lau and Pham Thi Hue. Along with a fixed schedule of 2 sessions per month, the club has received many invitations to perform and exchange in many places inside and outside the province. The Liem Thuan drum is not "conservative" with a rigid old style but has been staged, and can be performed in many different spaces... The drum singing has also been included in music lessons or extracurricular activities by local schools. Thanks to that, even preschool children have been able to practice the drum singing.

"The children of the homeland always have passion and enthusiasm for singing the drums. I believe that the smooth, soulful singing of the drums and the unique "thi thinh" drum sounds will forever resonate during village festivals, or every time Tet comes, Spring comes" , artist Pham Thi Hue expressed.

The Vu