On November 25, 2005, a significant event deeply marked Vietnamese cultural history when UNESCO officially recognized the Space of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands of Vietnam as a Masterpiece of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This event was not only a great source of pride for the Vietnamese nation but also a strong affirmation of the unique and richly traditional cultural values of the majestic Central Highlands. Following Hue Royal Refined Music (Nhã nhạc Cung đình Huế), the gong culture of the Central Highlands was honored as the second intangible cultural heritage of Vietnam to be globally recognized, opening a new chapter in the journey of preserving and promoting precious traditional cultural values.
The Space of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands: Location and Keepers
The space of Gong culture in the Central Highlands is not limited to a specific location but spans across five provinces: Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, and Lâm Đồng. Here, the true keepers of this unique cultural form are the communities of indigenous ethnic groups of the Central Highlands, including: Bana, Xê Đăng, Mnông, Cơ Ho, Rơ Măm, Ê Đê, Gia Rai, and more. Each ethnic group carries its own distinct cultural nuances, yet all are harmoniously blended and intimately connected with gongs, considering them an indispensable part of their spiritual and material lives.
More than just musical instruments, gongs are the voice of the spirit, the sound of the mountains and forests, and the thread connecting people to the supernatural world. For the people of the Central Highlands, the sound of gongs resonates in every moment of life, from important ceremonies and traditional festivals to daily activities and agricultural production. The sound of gongs, sometimes majestic and urgent, sometimes melodious and profound, authentically and vividly expresses the range of emotions, joys, sorrows, aspirations, and dreams of the people here.
Origins and History of Gongs: From Lithophones to Spiritual Sound
The gong culture of the Central Highlands is not only a contemporary cultural symbol but also carries a long history of formation and development, originating from the most ancient cultural traditions of this land. Cultural researchers have proposed many theories about the origin of gongs, including an intriguing hypothesis suggesting that gongs may be “descendants” of lithophones, a primitive musical instrument made from natural stones.
Before the development of metal culture, ancient people knew how to use stone instruments such as stone gongs and stone chimes. By the Bronze Age, when metallurgy techniques developed, bronze gongs appeared, marking a significant step forward in the history of this musical instrument. From the earliest times, the sound of gongs has been associated with the spiritual and religious life of people. The sound of gongs is played in ceremonies celebrating new rice harvests and in field-opening festivals, as a means of communicating with the supernatural world, expressing gratitude to deities, and praying for bountiful harvests and prosperous lives.
The sound of gongs is not just music; it is also part of the nature of the Central Highlands. It blends with the murmur of streams, the rustling of wind through the trees, creating a unique symphony of the mountains and forests. This sound permeates the hearts of people, becoming an inseparable part of the spiritual and cultural life of the Central Highlands ethnic communities.
Gongs in the Spiritual Life and Festivals of the Central Highlands
In the spiritual and cultural life of the Central Highlands people, gongs hold an irreplaceable and vital position. Almost all festivals and ceremonies throughout the year, from small events like ear-blowing ceremonies for newborns, water trough worship ceremonies, new rice celebrations, and warehouse closing ceremonies, to large community-scale festivals such as the tomb abandonment ceremony and buffalo stabbing ceremony, are indispensable without the sound of gongs. Even in cultural activities like listening to khan (epic storytelling), the sound of gongs plays an important role in creating atmosphere and conveying emotions.
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The sound of gongs is not only the sound of the present but also the thread connecting the past, present, and future. It is the voice of ancestors, the message of previous generations, passed down to descendants, carrying forward beautiful traditional cultural values. The sound of gongs lasts longer than a lifetime, connecting and bonding generations, creating the continuity and sustainability of the gong culture of the Central Highlands.
Cultural and Artistic Values of Gongs: More Than Just Musical Instruments
According to the spiritual beliefs of the Central Highlands people, each gong and chime harbors a residing deity. The older the gong or chime, the higher the power of the deity. Therefore, gongs are not just musical instruments but also sacred objects, revered and carefully preserved. Gongs are also symbols of power, wealth, and social status. In the past, the value of a gong could be equivalent to two elephants or twenty buffaloes, showing its immense material and spiritual value in community life.
During major festivals, the image of people passionately dancing around a sacred fire, beside fragrant jars of rượu cần (straw wine), amidst the resounding sound of gongs echoing through the mountains and forests, has become a characteristic symbol of Central Highlands culture. This space is both romantically beautiful and mystical, and expresses the strength and wilderness of the mountains, forests, and people here. The sound of gongs has contributed to creating epics and poems deeply imbued with the Central Highlands spirit, both romantic and lyrical, yet also majestic and heroic.
The vitality of gongs is also expressed through Central Highlands epics, affirming the longevity and power of this musical instrument: “Strike the most sonorous gongs, the deepest sounding chimes. Strike softly for the wind to carry down to earth. Strike so the gong sound travels far across the land. Strike so the gong sound slips through the floor spreading far. Strike so the gong sound climbs over the house rising to the sky. Strike so monkeys in the trees forget to cling tightly to branches and fall to the ground. Strike so demons are engrossed in listening, forgetting to harm people. Strike so mice and squirrels forget to dig burrows, so snakes lie still, so rabbits are startled, so deer and stags stand listening forgetting to graze, so all that remains is listening to the sound of Đăm Săn’s gongs…”.
Diversity and Uniqueness of Central Highlands Gongs
The art of Central Highlands gongs has existed and developed for thousands of years in this land, reaching a high level of artistry and sophistication. Central Highlands gongs are extremely diverse and rich in types, sizes, timbres, and performance techniques.
Currently, most villages in the Central Highlands have their own gong ensembles, serving the cultural activities of the community and festival occasions. During holidays, the familiar image of “beside the sacred fire, people passionately dancing and singing to the sound of gongs resounding in the mountains and forests” reappears throughout the villages, creating a cultural space rich in identity. Talented folk artists have skillfully combined different types of gongs, creating musical pieces with rich rhythms and harmonies, carrying distinct and emotional nuances.
Each ethnic group in the Central Highlands has its own characteristic gong music, depicting the beauty of nature, historical stories, and the aspirations of the people. The Gia Rai people have Juan and Trum vang gong pieces. The Bana people have Xa Trăng, Sakapo, Atâu, and Tơrơi gong pieces. The sound of gongs is also an intoxicating element, attracting both men and women to join in the graceful and enthusiastic dances of the community during village festivals. This is a unique and most prominent folk cultural activity among many ethnic groups in the Central Highlands.
The gong music of the Central Highlands demonstrates the skillful level of players in applying gong-playing skills and crafting techniques. From tuning gongs to create accurate sounds, to arranging into orchestras, playing methods, and performance styles, the people of the Central Highlands, despite not having formal training, still demonstrate excellent skills passed down from generation to generation.
Preservation and Promotion of Gong Culture in Modern Society
For the people of the Central Highlands, gongs and gong culture are not only material possessions but also invaluable cultural heritage, the crystallization of the soul of the mountains and rivers through generations. The gong music of the Central Highlands not only has long-established artistic value in social life but is also the “voice” of people and spirits according to the concept of “animism.” Each gong ensemble is the spiritual voice, the soul of the Central Highlands people, expressing the range of emotions in daily life, work, and activities.
Ethnic groups in the Central Highlands use gongs in their own ways to play music imbued with their national identity. Over the years, gongs have become a distinctive and captivating cultural feature of the Central Highlands. Gongs are life, the breath of the Central Highlands people. Listening to the sound of gongs, one can feel the hunting grounds, the terraced fields, the festival spaces of this land.
Each ethnic group and each region has its own characteristics regarding gongs. Gongs can be used individually or in ensembles, in sets of 2 to 12, or even up to 18 to 20 pieces like the gong sets of the Gia Rai people. The Central Highlands gong ensemble is organized like a real orchestra, capable of performing polyphonic pieces with various forms of harmony. What is special is that in this orchestra, each person only plays one gong or chime (gongs have a knob, chimes do not), creating a unique and sophisticated coordination.
At the ceremony announcing the Space of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands as a masterpiece of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura – UNESCO Director-General stated: “I have enjoyed the very unique gong music of Vietnam and also seen the very unique instruments in the gong orchestras of the ethnic groups in the Central Highlands. This is a very unique, wonderful, and distinctive traditional culture of Vietnam. The recognition of the title Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity for the Space of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands is very deserving.”
The gong culture of the Central Highlands is not only a precious cultural heritage of Vietnam but also a priceless cultural treasure of humanity. Preserving and promoting the values of gong culture is not only the responsibility of the people of the Central Highlands but also of the entire national and international community, so that the sound of gongs may forever resonate, spreading unique cultural values and profound humanistic spirit to future generations.