“Don ca” to fight against ammunition

Elderly Lu Van Thuan, also called Ba Thuan, is among living witnesses of the movement of “Don ca tai tu” in the war against French colonists in Hau Giang.

The 90 years old man has attached his life to “Don ca tai tu” for more than 70 years now. Despites his poor health and weak voice now he still keeps singing and playing musical instruments. His destiny with “Don ca tai tu” remained lively.

Elderly Thuan is one of oldest living artisans of “Don ca tai tu”. The most unforgettable period in his life was in the war against foreign invaders. At that time, he used his singing as a weapon to encourage Vietnamese soldiers and to shake the enemies’ spirits.

Some pieces of music composed at that time became immortal, including “Against King Bao Dai”, “Love in Spring” and “Tam Vu Front”.

“I loved ‘don ca’ since I was very small. My parents invited a well-known teacher, named Bay Tau, in Lang Sen Village, Phung Hiep Commune, to teach me. The teacher said that it was not easy to study ‘don ca’ thus, he enrolled a few students and tested to see if they could learn or not. Besides lectures on ‘don ca’, he also taught us how to be good persons”, elderly Thuan recalled.

With a gifted voice, Ba Thuan became famous in the region. In response to the appeal from the resistance war, he joined an art troupe of the District to perform for soldiers in Long Dien and Phung Hiep.

Apart from singing, he also composed various songs that fostered Vietnamese people and soldiers’ struggle against enemies and criticised henchmen and invaders.

Ba Thuan’s activities caught the eyes of spies and he was arrested in an ambush in 1952, and was detained in Can Tho jail. The enemy tortured Thuan savagely trying to damage his voice so that he could no longer sing. He cheated them with his wheezing voice.

His trick had won and in late 1954, Ba Thuan was set free as the enemies believed that he had lost his voice and could never sing again.

Not long later, Ba Thuan re-grouped the art troupe and kept serving for the resistance war.

Many Ba Thuan’s colleagues have passed away and the remaining ones are very old and weak now.

Living treasures

Despites lots of difficulties, wounded Ba Thuan continued to devote his life to “Don ca”. He founded a “Don ca tai tu” troupe, including his relatives and other “Don ca” young lovers.

At recent “Don ca tai tu” festivals, elderly Thuan and his troupe have actively taken part in and won high prizes. Lately, he won the Elderly Award at “Don ca tai tu” Festival organised by Can Tho Television and Radio.

Another artisan of “Don ca tai tu” in Hau Giang is elderly Phan Thi Lanh Lien, alias Nam Lien. She is over 80 years old now but her voice is very sweet. She is the key elderly singer of “Don ca tai tu” Club of Phong Dien District.

In My Tu District, Soc Trang Province, four generations of a family are singing “Don ca tai tu”. The talent in playing musical instruments of artisan Nam Thuy and his siblings was handed down by their father. At present, elderly Nam Thuy can play “don tranh”, “don co”, “don kim”, “don sen”, guitar and violin very well.

Aged 73, Sau Binh An, artisan of “don kim” in Lai Vung District, Dong Thap Province and “don ca tai tu” troupe of Dong Thap Province have brought home a golden medal at the competition, “Cao Van Lau” held in Bac Lieu Province. As a hairdresser for dozens of years now, artisan Sau Binh An could not forget playing musical instrument in his free time.

Artisans namely Ba Thuan, Nam Lien, Nam Thuy and Sau Binh An are living treasures of “don ca tai tu”. They have devoted their life to this musical genre. However, such treasures are very old now.

(to be continued)