Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam will submit dossiers asking UNESCO to recognisethe Tay and Nung ethnic people’s Then Singing Practice as aworld intangible cultural heritage before March 31, according to the governmentoffice’s official document.

 

The UNESCO committee requires that the participants be local people. However,as no northern mountainous art forms have been recognised by UNESCO, the filingprocess has faced many challenges, according to Rector of the National Academyof Music Nguyen Binh Dinh.

One of the advantages of the filing process is that several local thaythen (then master), religious rituals relatedto then singing are still practiced; artifacts and documents in Tay-Hanlanguage are still preserved in families with then singing tradition,said Dinh.

Besides, translating then songs from Tay ethnic language to Viet languagealso poses a difficulty, because even those who can speak Tay language canhardly translate these songs. Many lyrics use old Tay language whiletranslation also requires certain level of understanding and knowledge ofreligion, ritual and ethnicity, said Dinh.

Then singing is a form of art combining literature, music and dancingthat has long been a religious and cultural practice of Tay, Nung, Thaiethnic groups in the northern mountainous area of Vietnam.

The form of singing is practiced in five northern provinces of Cao Bang,Bac Kan, Lang Son, Tuyen Quang and Ha Giang. The Tay, Nung and Thai ethnicgroups sing then in special occasions, such as village festival days.

It is said to have first appeared in the late 15th century Mac Dynasty. Legend has it that, in Mac Dynasty, there were two kings named De Phung and De Dangwho had special love for music and singing. The two kings inventeda handmade gourd lute called dan tinh or tinh tau andestablished two singing troupes to serve royal court. Ordinary people found itinteresting and started learning it. Ever since, this form of singing has beenpreserved till today.-VNA