Villagers revive old drum art

Co Bo is an ancient art of playing drums, which developed to serve the kings of the Nguyen Dynasty. This special musical performance has been maintained by people in a northern village, about 750km from the old imperial city of Hue in central Vietnam.
Bump, bump, bump …the rhythmic sound echoes hollowly as a group of five men are passionately playing drums. The man in the middle position clapping a pair of cymbals together and the four others beating medium-sized drums hung about their waists. The drums, 40cm high and 25cm in diameter, are decorated with the images of dragons and clouds.

Local people in Thi Cau Ward in Bac Ninh town, about 70km from Hanoi, still love to practise the Co Bo art when they are free.

In Han script, Co means drum and Bo means Ministry. Co Bo means “drums of the Ministry of Rites” (one of six main ministries in the feudal system).

In Hue city, the Co Bo art seems to be consigned to oblivion, according to music researchers.
“In 1996, while studying Hue royal music, I searched for information on the Co Bo art but I found none,” says musicologist Bui Trong Hien.

Thi Cau Ward used to be the Thi Cau village, famous for the quan ho (love duet), in northern Bac Ninh province, 750km from Hue.

Old people in Thi Cau say that in the past, a local instrumentalist whose family name was Hoang had joined the army and served in a drum band for the Nguyen Royal Family in the Hue citadel.
After being demobilised, he returned home and taught his drum beating skills to other villagers. He taught them 12 compositions of drum performance, but only six have been maintained by local people.

“Rung mot” and “Rung hai” are two compositions played by drummers when village officials and elders are preparing to worship gods; “Hoa roi” (Falling flowers) is a drum roll played as a prelude to the worship ceremony; “Bo ba” is a piece of music played by drummers when people offer incense to the gods; “danh lan”, another piece played when people pray to the gods; and “Bo chin”, a series of drum beats to accompany village officials and elders when they are stepping away from the altar.

According to researcher Bui Trong Hien, these pieces of music were played on the drums to serve the kings and the royal family in Hue.

“The drums were beaten to welcome the kings, when they met messengers from other countries or when they prayed during the Nam Giao ceremony for Heaven Jade Emperor. The drums were also beaten when the cup-bearers brought the King tea and wine,” he says.
Nowadays in Thi Cau Ward, local artists perform them at ceremonies to worship the village gods.
Many people from other nearby villages have come here to learn the drum beating skills, but they cannot perform as well as local drummers.

Quan ho artisan Nguyen Van Cau, 76, explains: “Actually, we heard the pleasing sound of drum beating when we were little children. The practice of drum beating ever since has developed into a traditional art.”

A local cultural official, Tran Anh Tu, says “The drum beating skills are passed down from parent to child. Most local families have their own drum bands to perform at important ceremonies including funeral services.”

Artisan Nguyen Van Cau says the sound of drum beating is heard almost every day in the region and each drum composition is fairly short. “ All the six drum compositions can be performed in 30 minutes. Each is repeated again and again…. One man beats cymbals to control the rhythm of the band. He must know every stage of the worship ceremony in order to change to a new composition.”, he says.

Currently, Cau is the only person who has mastered all the drum compositions and beating skills, as well as every stage of the worship ceremony. He is always happy to teach other people, both old and young, to play the drums.

With his help, people in the nearby Thanh Phuong village of Vu Ninh commune have also established their own drum bands, which are comprised of both old and young players.

Local cultural official Tran Anh Tu says a good deal of effort has been made to preserve the art.
“The transfer of any skills by word of mouth, however, is not good enough. We need scientists and musicologists to research and document this Co Bo art for future generations.

“We hope the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will soon draw up a specific plan to help us maintain this special art,” he adds.