Hung Yen: Ca Tru singing art is promoted in the community

Ca Tru singing or A Dao singing is a unique intangible cultural heritage of the nation, widely developed throughout the Northern region. Hung Yen is one of the cradles of Ca Tru art, therefore, in recent years, Hung Yen province has directed the implementation of many activities to preserve and promote the value of Ca Tru heritage.

In 2009, Ca Tru singing was listed by the United Nations Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent protection due to the risk of being lost or forgotten.

Immediately after the Ca Tru heritage was recognized, Hung Yen province issued a Plan to implement the program "Protecting Ca Tru singing heritage in the period of 2014-2020" to continue to restore, preserve and develop the unique values ​​of good customs and practices, cultural lifestyle; at the same time, raise awareness and pride in preserving and promoting the value of Ca Tru singing cultural heritage in the province. At that time, Hung Yen had 3 Ca Tru clubs (Ca Tru Giao Phong Club, Ca Tru Binh Minh Club, Ca Tru Dao Dang Club) with 56 people who knew how to play and sing Ca Tru. Up to now, the whole province has 8 groups and clubs with over 200 people who know how to play and sing Ca Tru. The singers and actors are in almost all communes in the province. The majority of members of the Ca Tru teams and clubs are proficient in one style or more. The members of the Ca Tru Clubs: Giao Phong, Dao Dang, Binh Minh, after several years of advanced training, have all mastered 4 or more styles. Currently, the whole province has 11 people capable of teaching Ca Tru, including 01 People's Artist and 01 Meritorious Artist.

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In recent years, Hung Yen province has directed the implementation of activities to preserve and promote the value of Ca Tru heritage, typically: Opening classes to teach the art of Ca Tru singing; building a number of programs to participate in national Ca Tru festivals; performing acts to serve the people and tourists during festivals, performing at historical sites and tourist attractions. The province has also invested in purchasing a number of necessary musical instruments such as Dan Day, Chau drum, and clappers to serve teaching work... This is a source of encouragement and motivation for female singers and actors to participate in activities to preserve the Ca Tru art form.

From 2022 to present, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has opened 4 Ca Tru classes, attracting nearly 200 students to participate. Students are taught how to play the Dan Day, clap, and Ca Tru singing techniques by artists and lecturers from the Vietnam National Academy of Music, folk artists, and excellent artists of the province. The performance results reported after each course, the singers, musicians, and drum players partly recreated the unique features of Ca Tru art through special performances such as "Sending a letter", "Xam Hue Tinh", "Dao Hong Dao Tuyet", "Singing and dancing Bo Bo", "Chuc Ho", "Do Dua", "Thet Nhac"...

Every year, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism regularly creates the most favorable conditions for Ca Tru Clubs to perform at activities and events such as the Culture, Sports and Tourism Week, the commemoration of cultural heritage day, and the Spring Calligraphy Exhibition. In competitions, festivals, and mass art performances of Hung Yen, Ca Tru singing is encouraged.

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To suit the performance space in contemporary life, in the past, popular performances in the community in Hung Yen province were mostly Hat noi, Hat Mo, Muu, Chuc ho, Tu quy, Dai thach, Nhip ba cung bac, and Xam singing. The performances mainly used only ancient poetry. Currently, in addition to the popular styles, songs in classic styles such as Ty ba hanh, Gui thu, Thet nhac, Ngam tho, Hat dam... have been promoted in the community.

In addition to the ancient lyrics, some genres such as Hat noi, Chuc ho, Tu quy, Dai thach, Ngam tho, Xam, Hat Ham have been composed with new lyrics by local poets reflecting contemporary life, writing about the topic of praising the homeland, country, famous people, reflecting the new rural construction movement in the area... have been practiced by clubs, and have built repertoire and programs to participate in festivals, competitions, festivals and serve when needed.

Heritage practices in Hung Yen province have more diverse activities. In addition to singing forms serving local festivals such as village festivals, spring festivals, longevity celebrations, singing serving conferences of the government, of social organizations, singing in regular club activities as before, currently clubs also participate in singing serving in new rural experience tourism tours, serving tourists when visiting scenic spots in localities in the province.

To preserve and promote the value of Ca Tru heritage in the coming period, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hung Yen province proposes: Continue to open classes to teach the art of Ca Tru singing, pay attention to the young generation of future owners of the heritage; invest in equipment for Ca Tru Clubs and groups... to contribute to promoting the process of heritage preservation; organize festivals on a province-wide scale with the participation of Ca Tru Clubs and groups in the whole province; Continue to maintain and improve the operational efficiency of established Ca Tru clubs, while promoting the establishment of new Ca Tru clubs in localities in the province; Implement mechanisms and policies for artists. Honor and have policies for artists practicing the Ca Tru singing heritage; honor individuals, groups, and clubs with achievements and experience in practicing the Ca Tru singing heritage art...

Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/hung-yen-nghe-thuat-hat-ca-tru-duoc-phat-huy-trong-cong-dong-20251006152120673.htm