A ceremony honoring Chau Van (spiritual singing) ritual and to award the Gold Prize to medium Ngo Thanh Can was held by the UNESCO Association for Conservation of Vietnamese Ethnic Culture on December 10.
Medium Ngo Thanh Can won the gold prize for research on Chau Van ritual, organized by the Vietnam Federation of UNESCO Associations at Tien Son Historical and Cultural Relic in Ha Tinh Province in May.
On the occasion, the UNESCO Association for Conservation of Vietnamese Ethnic Culture will do a research on seven mediums in Ha Tinh and Nghe An Provinces.
Chau Van, also known as Hat Van and Hat Bong, originates from the Red River Delta and the northern province of Nam Dinh. It is a religious form of art which combines singing and dancing that is often performed in the Hau Dong ritual of the religion ‘Four Palaces’ or the Mother Goddess and Saint Tran (Tran Hung Dao). Chau Van was created during the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400) and Nam Dinh Province is considered its birthplace. The highly rhythmic and trance-oriented form of singing often takes place during rituals to honour the Mother Goddess and connect with other gods. It is performed mostly at temples and pagodas. The music and poetry performed in the folk art are mingled with a variety of rhythms, pauses, tempos, stresses and pitches. The genre has also adopted folk songs from the highlands of the north, center and south. The latest recognition helps preserve and promote the historical and cultural values of the heritage and will help the province as it tries to persuade the Prime Minister to recognise Phu Day as a national special relic site and UNESCO to acknowledge the Chau Van ritual as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity.-Source: VNA |
