Unique folk literature treasure of the San Diu people

The San Diu ethnic group in Van Don has a unique treasure trove of folk literature, diverse in both content and genre, reflecting the folk knowledge system.

In Van Don, the San Diu ethnic group is one of the 14 ethnic groups in the district, with the second largest population after the Kinh, with nearly 5,000 people, living mainly in Binh Dan commune. They are the oldest and most populous ethnic minority here. “With that characteristic, the San Diu community here still preserves unique cultural features. In particular, folk literature is full of colors, most typical and also has regional characteristics, clearly showing the culture of the San Diu people” - Dr. Tran Quoc Hung, Center Research, preserve and promote Vietnamese San Diu culture.

According to the analysis of researchers, the high level of community, economic life, and the addition of maritime elements... of the San Diu community are stable. Thanks to that, cultural values, especially folk literature, are more favorable in developing, preserving a diverse and rich treasure of values.

First of all, it is the folk tales of the San Diu people in Van Don, expressing the philosophy of life, the world view, revolving around the explanation of natural phenomena, the origin of the nation, the conquest of nature. Among them, the most abundant are legends with works: The gourd, the story of 100 clans explaining the origin of the nation. Humorous stories include single and chained humorous stories (typically the story of Trang Hit...). In folk tales, in addition to fairy tales, myths and legends often have simple plots, few events, few details, showing a primitive and rustic way of explanation.

In the folk literature treasure, idioms, proverbs, folk songs, and dialects of the San Diu people are quite rich, colorful, and summarize valuable experiences in many fields. In particular, in this treasure, the focus is on passing on many sayings that teach children about agricultural cultivation, filial piety... which are expressed concisely, simply, and easily understood. For example, farming experiences, summarizing the weather intuitively, vividly, and specifically: "Tet in March (Thanh Minh) plowing the fields", "Tet in July plant garlic / Tieu September plant onions", "Tet in May (5th of the 5th lunar month) must finish sowing rice seedlings", or: "Bamboo shoots in September grow in the middle of a clump, it is cold / Growing outside, it is hot", "Toads in the pond, warm sun for three days / Toads on the shore, cold for seven days"... Besides, there is also a rich treasure of teachings about life experiences, filial piety of children...

Artisan Truong Thi Choong, Binh Dan commune, shares about the folklore values of the San Diu people.

One of the unique and well-preserved features of the San Diu people here is the treasure trove of folk poetry. This has been discovered and collected by many researchers through the memories and oral traditions of the elderly and folk artists, including: wedding songs, funeral songs, lullabies... In addition, there are lullabies, songs praising labor and production; songs for resting, songs by the roots of trees, wells...

The most special is the love duet singing (soong co), which is still quite rich because it is preserved in the San Diu people's own creative writing: Nom script - San Diu. This is a way of singing duet in the seven-word quatrain form... in a singing style, slightly high, with many vibrato notes. The singing content is very rich, mentioning love, homeland, praising ancestors, giving blessings...

This community singing style has a fairly free performance environment in terms of space and time. But the most typical is still organizing singing in the fall, indoors, gathering around a red fire, with a romantic, lyrical, warm nature by the fire, further emphasizing the friendly feelings... Usually, the singing includes steps such as: Singing to get acquainted, greeting, inviting to drink water and chew betel, confiding in the feelings of men and women, singing at the rooster's crow and singing to say goodbye...

With the soong co, singing becomes a spiritual food, a form of good community cultural activity, which has great significance in building life and good community relationships. In addition, the San Diu ethnic group in Van Don also preserves other forms of folk literature such as: riddles, parallel sentences, poems... However, it is necessary to pay more attention to preserving and promoting them because the folk literature treasure of the San Diu people here has been lost and faded because most of it is only passed down orally along with the process of development, urbanization, and the pace of modern life.

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