Meritorious Artisan Dam Quang Loc (left) introduces Cao Lan folk sing book.

Despite facing health problems, the old artisan can talk endlessly and passionately about ancient songs. He said “Since I was a child, I was nurtured by Cao Lan group’s songs. At the age of 10, I followed other young people in the village to go here and there where I could listen to the songs and then learned them by heart. My parents and siblings taught me to sing the songs, mostly those praising the country, the beauty of hamlets and parents’ love to children. At the age of 16, I learned to sing with partners, called ‘sinh ca’. It is not easy to sing Cao Lan’s folk songs as artisans are required to know how to add more suitable words to a song’s lyrics as well as cut inappropriate ones to make the song fit various situations, which will make the performance more attractive. I remember many songs and can engage in flexible repartee. I always take notes songs of our ethnic group,” Loc said.

Insignia of Meritorious Artist Dam Quang Loc.

After returning from the military service in the war against French forces, Loc worked as a cultural official in Nghia Phuong commune, Luc Nam district, for many years. Thanks to this position, he has understood more about traditional cultural values and has motivation to collect and preserve the ancient songs.

Possessing a rich pool of folk songs and warm, soulful voice, he has been selected to compete at the provincial folk singing contest for years by Luc Ngan district’s Culture-Information Desk and won high prizes. The old artisan always worries about how to preserve and promote the value of his ethnic group’s heritage. Therefore, he worked together with other elder people in his hamlet to set up a Cao Lan folk singing troupe of Cong Luoc hamlet with the aim of passing the singing onto younger generations. Thanks to the support of the culture sector, a Cao Lan folk singing class was opened in Deo Gia in 2015 with over 20 local residents. At present, Loc and responsible individuals in the locality are working to debut a Cao Lan folk singing club in Deo Gia commune.

Because he can read and write Han script, he has translated a lot of ancient songs into Cao Lan language, making it easy for other members of the troupe to sing. He also composed new lyrics based on the existing melodies. Thanks to the teaching of this enthusiastic artisan, many young people have won high prizes at district and provincial folk singing contests. Ninh Thi Tinh, for example, won the second prize at Luc Ngan district’s first ethnic minority folk singing contest and the third prize at Bac Giang’s ethnic minority folk singing contest in 2000.

Notably, Loc is good at composing songs very quickly based on the melody of Cao Lan folk songs, such as songs praising the country, Party and late President Ho Chi Minh.

He also knows many other genres, including Sinh ca Thsan len (New Year singing), sinh ca Thsao bao (duet singing), sinh ca Y (love singing), sinh ca To tan, and songs honouring Emperor Shen Nung and the Kitchen God.

In 2015, Dam Quang Loc was honoured with the Meritorious Artist title in folk performing arts.

Dong Ngoc Duong