VietNamNet Bridge - The best chau van items of len dong rituals were performed at Hanoi’s Cong Nhan Theatre on October 4-5.

Chau van singing – A unique feature of Vietnamese culture

This program was part of the first chau van ritual festival in Vietnam, which took place from 25/9 to 5/10 for the purpose of building the files on chau van rituals to seek for the title of world intangible cultural heritage.

Chau van ceremonial is the music rite that is associated with hau dong (receiving incarnations of the deities) of Dao Mau (a Vietnamese mother goddess religion, in which followers become mediums for various deities) and the beliefs of worshiping Saint Tran.

The len dong practitioner in a ceremony has to change the outfits several times with the help of assistants to receive incarnations of many deities.

Chau van singing is one of the two main components of the ceremony. This genre of music uses traditional instruments of Vietnam such as dan nguyet (moon lute), bamboo flute, phach (small wooden sticks beaten on a small bamboo platform to serve as percussion), dan bau (monochord) ... The major tunes include: Bi, Mieu, Thong, Phu Binh, Phu Chenh, Phu Noi, Dua Tho, Van, Doc, etc.

The len dong practitioner wears a red silk scarf to lend his/her body to deities to communicate with hearing people.

Through the movements and facial expressions, len dong practitioners have to the appearance of the deities is his/her reincarnation.

The performance with fire by len dong practitioner Nguyen Thanh Son, one of the youngest len dong practitioners at the festival.

The saints in Vietnam folk beliefs are the figures who deserved well of the nation.

During the ceremony, len dong practitioners usually deliver small money to attendants as lucky-money.

Many people were interested in the len dong performances of the festival.

VNE