cannot exist in the communal house. The communal house atmosphere is very sacred and always warm with village love through the village festivals. All village-scale festivals take place in the communal house. In such festivals, people are completely integrated into the communal house atmosphere. The communal house stands majestically like a giant god guarding his people, immersing them in the magical flickering fire in the mythical land, in the sound of gongs echoing since the beginning of time, in the enchanting xoang circles that no longer distinguish between old and young, male and female, in the fragrant smell of grilled meat and the endless jars of rice wine that bring everyone into the world of "forgetting". Forgetting all worries and hunger, forgetting sadness, forgetting all barriers so that only the original happiness remains.
The communal house is a place where the cultural aspects of the Central Highlands converge. Sacred in building houses and preserving treasures, the communal house is a place to practice beliefs. Symbolizing the longevity of the community, the communal house is a place to preserve customary laws. Gathering the strength of the village, the communal house is a place to transmit heroic spirit to the village men to fight. Intermediate between the past and the present, the communal house is a place to spread traditional cultural values. A bridge between the present and the future, the communal house is a place to receive new cultural values... The village is the "world" of the Central Highlands people. That world is crystallized in the communal house.
1.5 Gongs, the sacred soul of the mountains and forests
If the communal house is the soul of the village, then gongs are the sacred soul of the Central Highlands mountains and forests. It is impossible to imagine what the Central Highlands people and culture would be like without gongs. Gongs are the words of the Kinh people, for the Central Highlands people, each ethnic group has a different way of calling them, the Jrai, Ede, H're people call them ching , the Bana people call them ching cheng , the Se dang people call them goong gong , the Mo nong people call them goong reng , the K'ho people call them goong kla , the Cham H'roi people call them kcheng , etc. Most ethnic groups in the Central Highlands have gongs with many types and quantities. However, they are not proud of
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make gongs and buy from Lao, Cambodian, Cham, Kinh people... However, when you first buy them, they are not real gongs, only when the artisan blows into them the sounds of the mountains, forests, and villages, will they come to life and have their own voice . The voice of gongs is the spiritual voice, the rhythm, the subconscious, the beliefs and even the fears of the people of the Central Highlands. Each ethnic group has its own spiritual space, so gongs have their own timbre. We seem to hear the sounds of the mountains and forests from H'Linh Nie's passage:
Listen in the wind to the Bana gong sound, deep and majestic like the Sesan river flowing strongly and vigorously. The arap Jrai gong is as free as a herd of wild horses galloping and bustling, making people's limbs want to sway and move. The Se dang boys with silver strings and betel boxes on their hips jingle to the rhythm of the gong, excitingly making people's souls soar to the magical variations of the folk song Chim Jil goes to bathe. And strong and rushing like the wind blowing through the highland grasslands is the sound of the Ede gong char. Bend down and listen to the whispering, popping, and sometimes the clear sound of bronze rings and knuckles tapping on the gong face of the K'ho, M'nong, Ma gongs... [24]
In each ethnic group, depending on the nature of the event, gongs have a separate message. In the communal house or the stilt house, when the gong sounds, the villagers will know what is happening there. Being attached throughout a person's life, gongs have become the mountain wind and clouds "wandering" throughout the mountains and forests of the Central Highlands. On the vast plateau, the wind is the immense sound of gongs, all night and all day, throughout both the rainy and sunny seasons, especially during the season of "eating and drinking for years and months". The sound of gongs is like the whisper of the mountains and forests, the urging of waterfalls, the urging of streams, the haunting lullaby of a mother, the sound of
The melodious sound of couples, the whispering sound of a soul just escaped… All of it seems to stir people’s hearts, stirring something both concrete and vague, both close and far away, reaching deep into their memories. Many people who come to the Central Highlands have felt this, especially those with sensitive souls. Perhaps that is why in prose works about the Central Highlands, the authors have expressed the gong culture with all its values, functions and levels. The sound of gongs is unique, but it is even more wonderful in literary works thanks to the writer’s linguistic talent, thanks to the ability to convey the atmosphere of the story.
How can we recreate the “atmosphere” of the Central Highlands without mentioning gongs? It is the outstanding cultural aspect of each ethnic group and of the Central Highlands as a whole. It is not only in the Central Highlands that gongs exist. But only in the Central Highlands do gongs have such an extremely important mission. From the actual cultural life and from the generalizations of writers, we see that the sound of gongs is not only for communicating with the gods, a means of communication to relatives and friends, but also a spiritual voice, a lyrical highland soul and a burning desire to love nature and life. The Central Highlands people consider gongs as sacred treasures of each house, each clan, each village. Treasures because of their multi-value and multi-function. Gongs are first of all a very precious asset. If in other ethnic groups, wealth is measured in gold and money, for the Central Highlands people it is gongs. Having many sets of gongs in the house, especially ancient gongs, means that the family is not only rich but also powerful. Because the Central Highlanders believe that each set of gongs has a Yang residing in it, the older the gong, the stronger the Yang. The stronger the Yang and gong, the more effective the voice of humans and gods is, because the greatest function of gongs is to communicate with the supernatural world. Of course, the value of gongs is not only in the material aspect but more importantly in the spiritual value, that is, in the function of being a bridge between humans and gods. In order to be able to
To communicate with the gods, people must first breathe life into the gong, that is, “string up” the gong, also known as adjusting the gong, comparing the gong. There are not many people who are capable of adjusting the gong, each village or even several villages has only a few people. Those people always believe that adjusting the gong is a task assigned by the gods, they must take care of the gong so that it does not lose its tone or go wrong because that would be against the gods’ will. Only when the gong adjustment is completed, will the gong truly have value. And from that moment on, every time the gong is played, people can hear things that cannot be expressed in language, the gods can understand people’s wishes; people can see the invisible, the gods can see the spiritual appearance of each person, they believe so. Space and time will stop when the gong sounds, all things will be “hypnotized”. Reading the epic Dam San, people will forever remember the sound of the gong: “Strike it! Let the gong sound penetrate the floor and the ground. Beat the gong sound through the roof and echo to the horizon. Beat the monkey so that it forgets to hug the tree branches tightly, so that the devils forget to harm people. Beat the mouse so that it forgets to dig a hole, so that the snake lies right on the bank. So that the rabbit is startled. So that the deer stop listening and forget to eat grass” ( Dam San ). The epic Dam San is not only beautiful with its heroic ideals, with its roof “as long as a gong”… but also with the sound of gongs that always elevates the stature of the powerful chief. The sound of gongs always resounds, from ancient literature to modern literature. In the short story Sad gong sound , author Nguyen Van Toan also turned the sound of gongs into a passionate heart: “The sound of gongs resounds again, echoing to the deep forest, making the deep forest quiet, echoing to the high sky, making the stars seem to fade away. So that there remains only the sound of gongs, sometimes as noisy as a waterfall, sometimes as rustling as the sound of rain, the sound of wind through the forest, swirling together, flowing endlessly without end" [39, p.400]. The techniques of repetition, hyperbole, and repetitive comparison have created a stream of gong sounds that flows in the reader's heart.
Nearly twenty years ago, I packed up from the plains to go to the Central Highlands to teach. At that time, the climate here was very cold. The cold air enveloped the dormitory room at night. But I could not sleep because of the sound of gongs echoing from somewhere, sometimes urgent, sometimes leisurely, sometimes passionate, sometimes whispering like a cry, like an invitation... One night, two nights, the third night I could not bear the urge, I got up to look for that sound. After more than five kilometers of muddy village roads, I found the place where that strange sound came from. In a stilt house, people were sending off the souls of the dead, dozens of people were sitting drinking rice wine but did not say a word to each other, only the sound of gongs whispering, passionate. And this is the sound of gongs sending off in Black Tomb Statue by Thu Loan: "The prayer just ended, the gong ensemble played the po thi melody. Gia Loi heard the mournful sounds from afar. Hearing the sound of gongs crying for the dead, the wind does not want to blow, the birds do not want to fly” [17, p.109]. Not only in funerals, when performing the Pothi ceremony, the sound of gongs bids farewell to people for the last time: “The sound of gongs swirls into the darkness, drifts endlessly through the old forest, dives to the bottom of the deep Srepok River. That bing boong sound is not a cry, it is still regret, still holding on, but it is elegant and solemn for an eternal farewell” [24]. Gongs speak for people’s hearts, the endless grief when their loved ones return to Mr. Dung and Mrs. Dai. Gongs also bring the prayers of the village elders in the ceremonies to the gods. Then the gongs burst into the sympathy of the villagers in the colorful xoang circles of the girls’ dresses, in the firm, full chests of the boys.
As the voice of tradition, the call of indomitable spirit, gongs urge the village men to rise up and kill the enemy: “It has begun. Light the fire! All the old, the young, the men, the women, each must find a spear, a halberd, a crop, a machete. Those who do not have any, make spikes, five hundred spikes! Light the fire! The sound of the gong rises…” [26, p.162].
The sound of gongs has replaced the sound of war trumpets that we often hear when reenacting ancient wars. With the courage of Dam San, they raised their voices to sing a song of triumph. The gongs resounded again in the victory celebration: “The old man holding the mallet returned to the termite mound with a majestic command… I grabbed the tail of Bin’s loincloth, jumped after him, jumped to the strange rhythm of the gongs. No one remembered what had happened anymore… Now there was only the sound of gongs and the joy of the community” [5, p.114]. The miraculous spreading power of gongs turned reality into surreality, dispelling all sadness, even the fierceness of war, leaving only the emotional bond and joy connecting souls, connecting hearts. The whole community was filled with endless joy. The day Nup returned, the village of S’tor was filled with the sound of gongs to welcome him: “Nup’s brother-in-law jumped up to the stilt house and carried down the gong set. The newcomers immediately took the gongs, used their elbows as mallets, and eagerly beat them on the bronze gongs. The first bing bong sounds were small and excited like poetry, and the following sounds were stronger, spreading out, humming and swaying to the rhythm of the dance” [38, p.510]. The joy of the people was raised by the gongs into a wave of happiness that roared into the darkness of the great forest, into the village love that was filled with humanity.
Not only attached to community life, consolidating community spirit, gongs also penetrate deep into the soul of each individual. Right from birth, the gentle gongs and the mother's song lull the child to sleep: "Mother beats ching ania (ching cái) baby, listen and don't cry. Mother shakes teng greng baby to sleep. Mother carries baby and sucks baby's ching. The sound of krach knach echoes forever. The sound of ching tim (ching con) resonates in baby's sleep" [ 24]. When growing up, gongs arouse the aspirations of couples: "Ching arap hums and flies over the Ayun River, winding through every tree trunk in the old forest, hovering over every roof of the stilt house. Hearing that ching sound makes me itchy, wanting to hold hands and walk into the xoang circle. Along both banks of the Ayun River, patches of bright yellow pnga k'ang flowers
running long, dancing to the rhythm of ching in the golden sunlight and wind of the thousand years” [20, p.16]. When the heart is throbbing, the gongs lift the wings of love: “The sound of ching resounds on the lake surface, running with the rippling waves, calling the sixteenth moon as big as a rice drying tray… Turning back, H'Zen has been standing beside him for a while. The sound of ching rises to welcome, warmly enveloping the two people…” [24]. When love sublimates, the gongs resound on the wedding day: “The old people smile brightly and urge to beat gongs and drums to celebrate the groom, to celebrate their village having another healthy man” [7, p. 238]. So, if rice grains and sweet potatoes nourish people materially, then gongs are an abundant source of spiritual milk that nourishes the souls of the Central Highlands people. Gongs have become a nostalgic feeling that evokes the affection of the village.
The Central Highlands people lack gongs like fish lack water, trees lack forests, like joy lacks wine jars... Gongs are no longer the sounds of humans but the echoes of the old forest: "The sound of gongs resounds, the traditional sound of many generations sweetly blends with the melody of Pot love songs, blends with the sound of mountain wind blowing from the source, where there is Bup waterfall" [39, p.77]. It was born with the old forest: "Somewhere far away, the sound of flowing streams, the sound of gongs seems not to be the sounds of humans but it was born with the old forest. Oh, the old forest!" [6, p. 102]. When did the old forest come into existence? When did gongs come into existence? These questions cannot be explained. Just know that, for thousands of years, through the ups and downs of history, the sound of gongs has never stopped resounding, still blending with the sound of flowing streams, waterfalls, the sound of wild animals, the singing of young men and women, the sound of mothers lulling their children to sleep, the sound of prayers to the gods, and then pouring into people's souls the voice of tradition, of the beauty of national culture.
Even though I'm not a native, on quiet nights I hear the sound of gongs coming from afar, sometimes bustling and intense, sometimes leisurely and deep,
Our souls naturally feel nostalgic and nostalgic for something. “The most strange thing about Ninh Nong month in the Central Highlands is the sound of gongs... All day and all night, the sound of gongs resounds from this mountainside, echoes to the other mountainside, and then echoes back to this mountainside, echoing like the humming of the soul of the land, the soul of the forest, the soul of the mountains and rivers.... [26, p.181]. The sound of gongs carries within it the soul of the land, the soul of the forest, the soul of the mountains, the soul of the rivers. That sound does not only resound from bare pieces of copper, it also resonates from the mystery of spirituality, from the entire spiritual and material life of the community. Further, it has an invisible thread connecting the past and the present, connecting the culture of a people with the culture of the nation.
For the Central Highlands people in the past, material value was not as important as spiritual value. The material value of gongs cannot be denied, because to have them, people had to spend a large amount of assets. But what does that asset mean if it does not promote its rich and noble spiritual value? Also because it has not been too strongly constrained by material things, the souls of the Central Highlands people are very romantic and soaring. Giving wings to that soul are the melodies of gongs. The Central Highlands has a rich festival system. Would those festivals still be sacred without gongs? In a year, the Central Highlands people spend a long time, up to three or four months, to play . Would those games still be fun without music, without gongs? The Central Highlands people have the need to live between two worlds, real (daytime) and virtual (nighttime). Can the Central Highlands people reach the mythical world when the artisans tell the story without the accompaniment of gongs? etc...Gongs are the sacred soul of the mountains and forests, they carry individual consciousness in the collective consciousness, they are the resonance of emotions, the resonance of fate; they are both real and unreal, near and far. They are the fields full of seeds, the fragrant scent of flowers in the mountains and forests, endless.