''Xoan'' singing or ''hát xoan'' (,
Chữ Nôm
Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters (''Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represented ...
: 咭春) is a genre of
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
performed in
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
during the first two months of the
lunar new year
Lunar New Year is the beginning of a calendar year whose months are moon cycles, based on the lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar.
The Lunar New Year as a celebration is observed by numerous cultures. It is also named " Chinese New Year" becau ...
(''
Tết
Tết (), short for Tết Nguyên Đán (Chữ Hán: 節元旦), Spring Festival, Lunar New Year, or Vietnamese Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations in Vietnamese culture. The colloquial term "Tết" is a shortened form of , ...
'') in
Phú Thọ Province
In chemistry, pH (), historically denoting "potential of hydrogen" (or "power of hydrogen"), is a scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Acidic solutions (solutions with higher concentrations of ions) are ...
.
[Ellen Koskoff, ed. (2008). ''The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: The Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Volume 2'', p.1307. . and Terry E. Miller, Sean Williams, eds. (2008). ''The Garland Handbook of Southeast Asian Music'', p.265. .] The genre includes acting, ceremony, chant, dancing, drumming, and singing; with themes involve romance, riddles, and work.
Traditionally occurring in
temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
s,
shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...
s, and communal homes, the songs are performed by a
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
, led by a ''trùm'', consisting of male instrumentalists, or ''kép'', and female singers, or ''đào''.
[Intangible Cultural Heritage:]
Xoan singing of Phú Thọ Province, Viet Nam
, ''UNESCO.org''. A guild consists of ten to fifteen performers,
but there are few remaining, increasingly aging, guilds and teachers of this primarily
oral tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...
.
There are three types of xoan singing: honoring
Hùng king
Hùng king (c. 2524 BC – ?; Chữ Hán: 雄王; vi, Hùng Vương (雄王) or ''vua Hùng'' (𤤰雄); ''Vương'' means "king" and ''vua'' means "monarch; could mean emperor or king") is the title given to the ancient Vietnamese rulers of the ...
s and village
guardian spirits; wishing for good crops, health, and luck; and festive courtship songs alternating male and female voices.
The
texture
Texture may refer to:
Science and technology
* Surface texture, the texture means smoothness, roughness, or bumpiness of the surface of an object
* Texture (roads), road surface characteristics with waves shorter than road roughness
* Texture (c ...
is "spare";
perfect fourth
A fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth () is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending interval from C to ...
s are prominent; and instruments include
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
s and
clappers.
''Hát'' is singing or acting and "''xoan''" derives from "''xuân''" ("spring").
''Hát xoan'' has been inscribed on the
since 2011.
References
External links
*Media services:
Viet Nam: Xoan singing of Phú Thọ Province, ''UNESCO.org''.
Xoan Singing, ''Vietnam-Culture.com''.
Xoan singing in Phu Tho Province, ''VietnamTourism.com''.
, ''ThanhNienNews.com''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xoan singing
Vietnamese music
Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity