In the treasure of the Central Highland folk musical instruments, each instrument is the symbol and treasure of each ethnic group, the soul of the village. With Brau people in Dak Me village, Bo Y commune, Ngoc Hoi district, Kon Tum province, gong Tha is a symbol of spirit, a guardian spirit, sponsoring the family to have a prosperous and peaceful life. .
Sacred objects of the Brau people
Brau is one of six ethnic minorities in Vietnam today. In Kon Tum, this ethnic group has more than 100 households living in Dak Me village, Bo Y commune, Ngoc Hoi district, Kon Tum province - the land where the three-necked chicken hears (Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia).
The Brau people consider the gong Tha to be the "host" connecting the world of the villagers with the gods above. Therefore, when there are important festivals such as buffalo-stabbing ceremony, rice-crop season, new rice celebration ... gong Tha is always the main object of the festival.
Chieng Tha has only two, including Chuar (wife) and Jelieng (husband); both don't have knobs (gongs), different sizes (Jieng is bigger and thicker than Chuar). When the ceremony calls for the return of Tha, God Tha will invite all the other gods to patronize and bless the villagers with good crops, plenty of rice, and favorable breeding.
Elder Thao Loi, when the festival started, people in the village just invited Tha to come. The Brau people did not speak against gongs like other ethnic groups in the Central Highlands, but called "Tha calling," which invited Tha to return. The inviting party is the elder or the person honored by the whole village, who takes the role of the ceremony owner.
The call for Tha to be big or small depends on the economic conditions of the village, but it must be at least a jug of wine and a chicken. Master of chicken cutting ceremony then rubbed the gongs in the circle several times, poured the first wine and invited the gong to drink and pray to the gods. After praying, two new artists came to invite Tha back.
When performing, two gongs are hung in the direction facing each other, about 15 to 20 cm from the ground. The way of performing the gong Tha is considered to be unique compared to other gongs in the Central Highlands. The Brau called the beat of the gong's husband (J sacred) as the drumstick; The beat of the gong's Wife (Chuar) is the drumstick. The one who plays the gong ends with the sound of the gong, and the one who plays the bum Duc throws the baton into the heart of the gong. They sat on the ground, their legs straightened, their feet pressed up against the gong to silence and create a sound for the gong. When performing, the gong always speaks first, when he can enter the rhythm and the gong will join. Chieng Tha appeared one or two songs before the other gongs were allowed to play.
In the spiritual world of the Brau, gong Tha is also a representation of good and evil; solidarity and division. Explaining this, old Thao Loi said that the Protestant gongs were not gongs or demanding food, only when the family invited Tha to return to Tha. The evil Chieng Tha is the gong that is very demanding to eat, when demanding to eat Tha will notify the head of the household through being sick ... Chieng Tha also shows solidarity and division, when the gong is broken or cracked , broken proved that brothers in that family are not united, demanding sharing of wealth left by his parents.
Because of the sacredness of the gong Tha, not all families are allowed to live in. Old Thao Loi said that families who were told by Tha to dream of meeting a set of nia (tools for throwing rice) and a turtle would be invited to come home. However, not everyone is invited, but it takes a couple of years to invite. In order to invite Tha to stay in the house, the family must have wealth equivalent to 20-25 buffaloes.
Difficulties in conservation work
According to statistics of the cultural branch of Bo Y commune, currently in the Brau community, there are about 8 sets of gong Tha. However, due to the invasion of modern culture, the scarcity of this gong along with the spiritual element, the conservation and preservation of gong Tha are facing many difficulties.
According to old Thao Loi, now this type of gong is very difficult to buy, besides the cost of 50-60 million VND / set, the spiritual element makes keeping difficult, both in number of gongs and number of players. .
Gia Thao said that the whole village now has less than 10 gongs. For several decades now, the number of gong Tha in the village has not increased; The village's Tha gongs are also 40-50 years old.
Along with the task of preserving the number of gongs facing many difficulties, artisans who know and use this instrument well now are very few.
Old Thao Loi said: “Now only the old can play, the young people in the village now do not like to learn this type of gong anymore. In addition, the houses with Tha gongs are stored very carefully, giving many fear of losing the Gods so they only pass on to the children and grandchildren in the house.
In terms of government, preserving the heritage of gong Tha also faces many difficulties when funding, policies and regimes for cultural workers are not available. Therefore, the conservation of the gong Tha only lies in propaganda.
Tong Van Dong, Vice Chairman of Bo Y Commune People's Committee, said that there is currently no policy or budget for the commune to preserve and preserve this gong. For many years, in order to preserve, preserve and preserve the cultural heritage of gong Tha in the commune, the commune has actively propagated and mobilized families who own gong Tha to know the cultural value of the gong Tha. This type of gong for storage.
Along with gongs of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, gong Tha and many other traditional instruments of the Brau people have been known through domestic and international cultural exchange activities. These instruments not only demonstrate a unique cultural identity, unmixed identity of the Brau people, but also contribute to enriching and diversifying Vietnamese national music.
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