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Vietnam is a country rich in handicraft products,
thanks to the hardworking, dexterous, and creative qualities
of the Vietnamese people. For a very long time, handicraft
products have been a source of culturalpride and a source
of income for the people. As the varieties of handicraft
products are too numerous to be fully introduced, only
a few typical items and their sources are mentioned
here.
 Woven
tapestries and tho cam handbags are unique works from
the skilled hands of the ethnic women living in the
Northwest regions, such as Cao Bang. Embroidered articles
and silk products are famous from the regions of Ha
Dong, Nam Ha, Thai Binh and Hue. Wool tapestries from
Hanoi and Haiphong, and jute tapestries from Hung Yen,
Haiphong, Hanoi and Thai Binh, are much sought after.
Ceramic and porcelain items have been produced in Vietnam
for a long time. Ceramic and porcelain products glazed
by traditional methods into beautiful art are well known
in Bat Trang (Hanoi), Quang Ninh, and Haiphong. Copperware
is fabricated by the skillful hands of coppersmiths
in Nam Ha, Ngu Xa (Hanoi), Dong Son(Thanh Hoa), and
Long Tho. Jewelry products and metalwork are concentrated
in Hanoi, Thai Binh and Hai Hung, while stonework are
mainly produced in Danang (Five Element Mountain Region).
Wood products and wood carvings can usually be found
in Phu Xuyen (Ha Tay), Haiphong, and Hue.There are thousands
of types of handicraft products. Some of these handicrafts
have been internationally recognized and popularized,
such as lacquerware. While lacquer artists produce a
limited number of paintings and sculptures, lacquer
crafts have been part of Vietnamese life in many forms:
vases, boxes, interior decorating items, jewelry, and
office products. With about 2,000 years of history,
Vietnamese lacquerware and other products made by a
community of handicraft artists, have established a
firm and growing position in the domestic and international
markets.
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Festivals have long been considered the traditional
cultural activity of the Vietnamese people. They are
attractive to all social classes and have become a necessary
part of people's lives for many centuries.
Festivals are the crystallization of cultural, spiritual,
and physical activities that have been chosen, maintained,
and improved over many generations. Festivals are the
living cultural museums of the way people live.
Festivals are a place to enjoy and learn
about the people's crafts. For example, the Master Pagoda
Festival (HaTay) has puppet shows and the Hung Temple
Festival (Vinh Phu) has the "Xoan" folk songs.
The Phu Giay Festival has "Chau Van" folk
songs. The Lim Festival has "Quan Ho" folk
songs. The drum beats that are mixed with traditional
musical songs and dances create an never ending energy
during the festivals.
Festivals are also a place to enjoy interesting games.
There are many festival contests such as wrestling,
rowing, rice cooking, rope pulling, rope climbing, and
chess playing. There are also competitions between trained
animals such as cock fights, buffalo fights, and pigeon
races.
Festivals are an occasion to remember national heroes,
the manifestation of religious freedom, and religious
ceremonies.
Festivals are also a place where different people can
show their own customs and habits. Festival days are
usually days where one can find social encounters, relationships,
and love. Many loving relationships have originated
from tournaments, competitions, or during a few lines
of singing.
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Gongs
are musical instruments made of alloy bronze, sometimes
with gold, silver, or black bronzeadded to their composition.
In the Kinh language, the word cong identifies convex
gongs and the word chieng refers to the flat ones. Gongs
vary in size from 20 to 120 cm in diameter.
Gongs
may be played one at a time or in groups of 2 to 20
units. The Muong, as well as other ethnic groups in
the Truong Son-Tay Nguyen regions, use gongs not only
to beat the rhythm but also to play polyphonic music.
Ensembles of gongs usually include several sets that
vary in number and function during the performance.
 Gongs
can be struck with wooden sticks, mallets, or even bare
hands. There are techniques that can be used to shut
off sounds and to produce melodies. In some ethnic groups,
gongs are only intended for men to play. However, the
sac bua gongs of the Muong are played by women. In other
ethnic groups, both men and women may play. In general,
taboos regarding cong-chieng customs differ from ethnicity
to ethnicity.
Gongs
hold great significance and value for many ethnic groups
in Tay Nguyen. The gongs play an important role in the
lives of the inhabitants of Tay Nguyen; from birth until
death, the gongs are present at all the important events,
joyful as well as unfortunate, in their lives. Almost
every family has at least one set of gongs.
In
general, gongs are considered to be sacred instruments.
They are mainly used in offerings, rituals, funerals,
wedding ceremonies, New Year festivities, agricultural
rites, victory celebrations, etc. In the Truong Son-Tay
Nguyen region, playing the gongs electrifies the people
participating in dances and other forms of entertainment.
Gongs have been an integral part of the spiritual life
of many ethnic groups in Vietnam.
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The
music of the dan bau (one-stringed zither) should be
solely for the pleasure of its player. Don't listen
to it if you are a young woman. This warning, probably
coming from vigilant parents wishing to protect their
daughters from the emotional appeal of love songs played
on this instrument; this gives an idea of the power
and charm of its music.
 According
to the "Dai Nam thuc luc tien bien" the first
dan bau was made in 1770. At its first appearance it
was a very simple instrument comprised of a bamboo section,
a flexible rod, a calabash or half a coconut. After
a process of evolution and improvement, the present
form of the dan bau is a bit more sophisticated, yet
still quite simple. It consists of an oblong box-shaped
sound board, slightly narrower toward one end, with
a slightly warped top made of unvarnished soft light
wood, sides made of hard wood, and a bottom of light
wood pierced with holes for better sound. At one end
of the sound board is a flexible bamboo rod that goes
through a dried calabash whose bottom end has been cut
out before being fixed on the sounding board. At the
other end of the sounding board is a peg made of wood
or metal used for tuning . The metal string, is attached
to the rod and to the peg. The pluck is a pointed stick
of bamboo or rattan.
The
dan bau is usually tuned to the note C. It uses harmonies
(or overtones). When playing the musician plucks the
string while touching it lightly with the side of his
hand at a point producing a harmony. But because the
flexible rod causes the tension of the string to vary,
the pitch may be made to rise or fall, the note may
be lengthened or shortened, and trills may be played.
The technique involving the fingers of the left hand
includes vibrating, pressing, alternate pressing and
releasing. The dan bau may be played on a scale consisting
of third-tones or even quarter-tones.
The
notes played by the dan bau are smooth, sweet, and captivating.
In recent years success has been achieved in amplifying
the sound, causing an increase in volume and distance
the that the sound carries, while still preserving the
quality of the sound. The instrument is played solo
or to accompany a poetry recital. During recent years,
it has taken a role in orchestral accompaniment to cheo
and cai luong opera. The dan bau has been performed
on major stages in foreign countries.
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This
three-stringed lute is used by several ethnic groups
in Vietnam. The Viet call it dan tam, whereas the Ha
Nhi call it ta in. This instrument exists in three sizes:
large, medium, and small. The small is the most popular.
 The
sound box is oval-shaped, and the soundboard is pierced
with sound holes. A bridge is fixed on the soundboard.
The neck made of hard wood is fairly long and bears
no frets, only three wooden pegs for tuning. The three
strings are traditionally made of twisted silk, but
are now more commonly made of plastic. They are tuned
to the notes G, D1, and G1.
The
range is fairly wide, nearly three octaves, fromG to
F3. The player uses a plastic plectrum, which he uses
for plucking downward or upward in quick intervals.
The tones of the dan tam are bright and cheerful and
they carry far. The techniques for the left hand include
tremolos, trills, picking, stopping and especially sliding,
which are played in combination with the quick plucking
of the right hand. Full tones, three-quarter tones and
quarter-tones can be played.
The
dan tam is often part of an eight instrument band or
an orchestra accompanying cheo drama. At present, a
fourth string may be added. The strings are then tuned
to the notes C, G, D1, and Al. The Japanese samisen,
the Chinese sangen, the Chinese sanxian, the Mongolian
dandze, and the Persian setar fall into the same category
as the dan tam.
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The
tranh zither is also called the thap luc cam or sixteen-stringed
zither. The tranh zither appeared in Vietnam in the
time of the Tran dynasty (12th-13th centuries). It has
a rectangular sounding box, about 110 centimetres long
that tapers about 13 cm toward an end , with a warped
sound board made of unvarnished light wood. The sides
are made of hard wood decorated with various designs,
either lacquered or inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The
bottom is made of light wood with sound holes. The broader
end of the sound box is pierced with 16 holes and reinforced
with a metal band.
Toward
the middle of the sound board there are 16 bridges made
of wood or bone tipped with copper that can be moved
to vary the tension of the strings, thus creating various
notes. At the narrower end of the box are sixteen pegs
for tuning. The strings are metal and tuned to the pentatonic
scale.
The range of the tranh zither is about three octaves,
from the notes C to C3. The player uses a plectrum and
can play chords, trills, tremolos... His left hand,
which manipulates the strings, can use such techniques
such as pressing, vibrato, glissando, etc.
The
music of the tranh zither is usually light and full
of cheerfulness. The instrument bears some likeness
to the Japanese koto, the Korean Ka Yagum, the Mongolian
Jatac, the Chinese Zeng, and the Indonesian Kachap,
which have 13, 12, 12, 13-16, 7-24 strings, respectively.
It is nonetheless an original Vietnamese instrument
with specific musical characteristics. It is used to
accompany poetry recitals and is quite often part of
an orchestra or a band playing chamber music, religious
music, or accompanying cheo or cai luong drama.
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T'rung
is one of the popular musical instruments closely associated
with the spiritual life of the Bahnar, TSedan, Giarai,
Ede and other ethnic minority people in the Central
Highlands of Vietnam. It is made of very short bamboo
tubes differing in size, with a notch at one end and
a beveled edge at the other. The long big tubes give
off low-pitched tones while the short small ones produce
high-pitched tones. The tubes are arranged lengthwise
horizontally and attached together by two strings.
 There
are three types of T'rung: high, medium and low tones.
The simplest type is composed of five tubes corresponding
to La, Do 1, Re 1, Fa 1, Sol 1 and producing deep and
resounding tones. In the majestic Central Highlands,
T'rung is often played after back-breaking farm work
and during evening get get-togethers in the communal
house around a bonfire with young boys and girls singing
and dancing merrily. The sounds of the gong and T'rung
also mingle together at wedding parties and village
festivals.
The
T'rung instrument has been largely improved. More tubes
have been added ,and at times as many as 48 tubes are
arranged in three arrays capable of performing intricate
piece of modern music while preserving the traditional
sound scale Some players have even invented a stick
notched at both ends for a single hand to produce two
sounds at the same time, heightening the artistry of
the instrument.
Vietnam's
national music bands have never neglected the role of
T'rung, an instrument which is original and made of
simple materials, but highly appreciated at performances
in the famous musical halls of many foreign countries.
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This
term, popular among the Bahnar and the E De, is used
to name the single-stringed fiddle played by some ethnic
groups in the Truong Son-Tay Nguyen region (Bahnar,
Gia Rai, E De, Xe Dang, Pako, and Hre, etc.). The main
part of the instrument consists of a 50 to 70 cm long
bamboo tube or round wooden section. Frets are fixed
on the main part and the string is hung along its length.
The bow is made of a small thin bamboo bar; the player
rubs the outside of the bow on the string to produce
sounds.
 Though
its structure is quite simple, the distinctiveness of
this instrument resides in the way it is played. The
player holds a thread that is linked to the string in
his mouth to amplify and transform the sounds. While
bowing the string and touching the frets to produce
pitches, the player changes the aperture of his mouth
according to the tune. Thus, the sounds are altered,
almost evoking human pronunciation. Those who are familiar
with the sounds of the k'ni and who understand the vernacular
may catch the message of the tune; this is why people
say that the k'ni sings. The E De have added cho nac
narration (type of song) to k'ni to replace human voice.
Due
to this characteristic, the K'ni has become an instrument
used mainly by young men to express their feelings to
their girlfriends. Sometimes, the k'ni is also played
to accompany lament songs at funerals.
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 The
trong com (rice drum) gets its name from the practice
of placing a pinch of hot steamed rice in the middle
of the drum skin to "tune" the instrument.
The
body of the drum is made of wood in a tubular shape
with the ends slightly tapered. A string is passed through
the holes pierced on the edge of each of its faces and
strung across it in a zigzag fashion to regulate its
tension.
The
sound obtained from one face is five tones higher than
the other. The sound of the trong com is a little dull,
somewhat similar to the large-sized dan ho, and it is
used to express sadness.
The
trong com is one of the percussion instruments used
to accompany tuong or cheo drama. Its use has also spread
to cai luong (reformed opera) and other orchestras.
The player, when standing, has the trong com slung over
his stomach. When sitting he rests his instrument on
his lap. He strikes the faces of the drum with his fingers
with varied style
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