Cấp Sắc Ceremony of Then Tày at Bắc Cạn province
In a project between the Vietnamese Institute for Musicology and the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia – Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (hereinafter ICHCAP), in the early weeks of last January 2013, the Vietnamese Institute for Musicology started to make the film “Cấp Sắc Ceremony of Then Tày” at Na Rì district, Bắc Cạn province. This is the second film after the first “Rối nước làng Ra” (Water puppetry at Ra village), which was sponsored by ICHCAP for the Music Institute to record, preserve and broadcast the traditional music heritage.
During the making of this film, the film-maker group had interviewed many Then and Tào masters to collect data and information related to the history, society, culture and musical features of Then singing (a kind of religious music of Tày, Nùng people), in order to make a clear and complete introduction on this kind of religious intangible cultural heritage for the film. The film will show the whole process of a religious ritual Then cấp sắc carried out by master Then in Na Ri district, Bắc Cạn province. That is a ritual to accept some people to become Then master and practise their skills after a long time of being apprentices of their Mr./Mrs. Then. Cấp sắc ceremony of Then Tày is always thoroughly and solemnly organized. It takes place consecutively in two days and one night, including different dance moves, songs and praying songs.
“Rối nước làng Ra” and “Cấp sắc ceremony of Then Tày” films will be introduced on the information system of UNESCO in Asia – Pacific Region and all over the world. These products would prove the capacity of the Vietnamese Institute for Musicology of making scientific documentation films, meeting the requirement of recording work with high quality to preserve the intangible cultural heritages of our people; affirming our ability on international integration and creating new prospects for the Vietnamese Institute for Musicology on its road of growing.
NGUYỄN BÌNH ĐỊNH