The time passes by quickly while the number of people who can sing the “hơamon” (the epic of the Bana ethnic minority) is becoming rare. What must we do to make the “hơamon” alive? How can the young conserve the epic after the old pass away? Such questions had lingered on our minds during the travel to seek the “hơamon”.
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Mrs. Xuan sings the “hoamon” in the house on stilts. Photo V.T
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*Meeting with the person singing the “hơamon”
We came to the Vinh Son commune of Vinh Thanh district to meet Mrs. Xuan (her real name’s Dinh Thi H’Len) who always sing love songs of the “hoamon”. She is now nearly 70 but when singing an extract of a “hoamon”, her singing voice was still sweet. Listening to the song, we felt that it was the sounds of the forest and of the old days telling stories about the love with many obstacles, about daily life and villagers’ wishes.
When she was 12 years old, she learnt the “hoamon” from the old in the village and she spent her girlhood singing at house on stilts after house on stilts. Every night Xuan listened to the old singing and remembered. During her life she knew hundreds of song in which it took 2 to 3 nights to sing a song but could only sing tens of them. When being in her forties, she has become the famous singer of the “hoamon” in Vinh Son.
Nowadays, despite her old age and weak health, she still sings whenever being asked. And night by night people gather around a jar of ruou can (wine drunk out of a jar through pipes) to listen to her singing voice. “Sing just for fun,” said Xuan.
* Conserve the “hoamon”
We then went to the M9 village of Vinh Hoa commune to visit Bok Doan (his real name: Dinh Di). He was born in 1927 in the Konklang hamlet of Vinh Kim commune. When he was a child, he listened to the “hoamon” and began loving these heroic epics. His relatives, the brother-in-law and uncle, taught him first songs. “Learn to sing the hoamon was very time-consuming. Every night, I had to listen and tried to remember the lyrics. When not being familiar with it, I had to listen in 15 or 20 nights so that I could remember one. But once I knew how to sing, it took several times for me to remember,” said Bok Doan.
In 1960, on becoming a leader of the Bokbang commune, he was still asked to sing the “hoamon” after each meeting. “At that time, many people in the district could sing the “hoamon” but nobody could sing as beautifully as me. Many nights I sang from 7 pm to 2 or 3 am,” recalled Bok Doan.
After retiring in 1987, he returned to his old village and every night villagers gather at the communal house or house on stilts to listen to his singing voice which is now more beautiful and attractive.
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Bok Doan lies on the hammock and sing some extracts in the “hoamon”. Photo H.T
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* Awake with the “hoamon”
Time passes time, the hoamon sung by Xuan and Bok Doan has left an impression in the memory of many generations of the Bana Kriem ethnic minority. Bok Doan confided to me that he couldn’t remember the number of people he taught the “hoamon” in his life. The hoamon passes from generation to generation, nurturing the love for the homeland and wished for good.
According to Bok Doan, there are 30 to 40 people who can sing the “hoamon” in Vinh Thanh. The researcher Ha Giao said that most villagers in the Canh Lien commune (Van Canh district), in Vinh An (Tay Son) or in An Toan (An Lao) know how to sing the “hoamon”. Currently, the number of the “hoamon” collected in Binh Dinh is nearly 20. What’s more, there are now few of chances for showing the epic in the community; therefore, it’s more difficulty to teach the “hoamon” for the young generation.
I asked Bok Doan to sing the “hoamon” and he sang with a weak voice but I still realized the enthusiasm in each lyric of the “hoamon”. Bok Doan said that sometimes he wanted to record the “hoamon”, but could sing only some extracts. “I still remember about 40 songs, but I can’t sing any more. When I moved here, I have had no chance to sing; meanwhile, my six children don’t want to learn the ‘hoamon’. I wonder if any young people in the village know how to sing the ‘hoamon’ after we, the old generation, pass away,” added he.
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