Hat a Dao, the Sung Poetry of North Vietnam

Author(s): Stephen Addiss

Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 93, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1973), pp.
18-31
Published by: American Oriental Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/600514
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 HAT A DAO, THE SUNG POETRY OF NORTH VIETNAM
STEPHEN ADDISS

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

A complex art equally involving music and poetry is now in the process of dying out in
Vietnam. In its history of approximately 800 years, hat a dao has been successively a cere-
monial music, a form of pure entertainment, and finally a refined and subtle art somewhat
comparable to Western lieder. Much of the fine lyric poetry of Vietnam was written to be
sung in the hat a dao style; these poems are already being studied in Vietnamese schools
without reference to their music. The last fine singers and musicians of this art cannot
find personal success, and there are no pupils who wish to give ten or more years to study
of hat a dao in these difficult times. This paper will deal with the history, poetry, and
music of hat a dao.

Introduction wards on a down accent, and so the tonal marks

Vietnam has a rich musical culture. The have North,
a major influence on vocal music. Example
the Center and the South each have their own t2 shows how the structure of a melody follows
kinds of musical theater, chamber music, folk the tonal markings. Before coming to musical
music, ceremonial music and chanting. In ad- analysis, however, this paper will examine some-
dition, there are many ethnic minorities in Viet- thing of the history of hat a dao and discuss and
nam, including the remnants of the old kingdomtranslate some of the poems that are sung.
of Champa, and these minorities have music quite Bdc Phan by Nguyen Du:
unlike that of the Vietnamese.
Sen tan mau da chieng hoa,
The primary cultural influence upon Vietnam
SAu dai ngay vin dong da sang xuAn.
has been that of China. Musical instruments
Tim dAu cho thAy c6-nhan,
mostly derive from Chinese sources, the Chinese
LAy cAu vAn-menh xoay vAn nho' thu'o'ng.
five-note scale predominates in North and Central Tranh niem nho' canh tha-hu'o'ng,
Vietnam, and Chinese poetry is the clear source Nho' que chang lai tim du'o'ng thAm que?1
for most Vietnamese poems. Nonetheless the
Vietnamese have stubbornly kept their cultural The lotus flower fades away,
as well as political independence quite success- My sorrow is long, but days are fleeting
fully over the past thousand years, only to fall And now winter has yielded its place to spring.
victim to French colonialism at a time when the Where can I find again my longtime friend?
Vietnamese were divided against themselves. Accepting fate and the world, still I miss him very much.
The impact of the West has been strong and, His life has moved him from place to place like a
along with 30 years of warfare, has served to stranger;
weaken those aspects of Vietnamese culture that
were not widely popular. In the North, the regime 1 Only the signs for vowel quality are used in the
has encouraged traditionalism only when it ser- text. Diacritical signs, indicating the tones of spoken
ves as "people's art," which hat a dao has not doneVietnamese, have been added in the musical examples.
for several hundred years. Therefore the singersOwing to the nature of the subject, much reliance has
and musicians have gone South to sing for fellowbeen placed on actual performances and personal com-
refugees in Saigon. The Southerners do not care munication with dependable authorities. The poems as
for this kind of sung poetry and so the art is given in this article are taken from performances the
dying out, as are some of the complex ceremonialauthor heard in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967. The singers
musics of the Center of Vietnam. were elderly artists living in the Phu Nhuan section of
Vietnamese is a tonal language. There are Saigon. A thorough book of hat a dao poems, with some
six tones in the Northern dialect, four in the small changes from the versions given here, is D6 Bang
Center, and five in the South. A melody may Doan and D6 Trong Hue, Vietnam Ca Tru Bien Khao
not go downwards on a high-rising tone, nor up-(Saigon, 1962).

18

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 ADDISS: Sung Poetry of North Vietnam 19

Perhaps at last nostalgia will send him back to his The yeu co was a small oblong drum with two
old home ?2 leather faces. It was nicknamed tr6ng co'm (cook-
ed-rice drum) because small amounts of gelatinous
History
rice were stuck to the drum faces to control the
What is now called hat a dao has gone throughtone and the pitch. This is a common practice in
several transformations in its history. It started many parts of Asia.
as ceremonial music, became pure entertainment, The dien c6 was a single-face drum, later often
and is now a kind of vocal chamber music, a com- painted red and adorned with gilt figures.
plex art of sung poetry. The sao was a bamboo flute played transversely.
The origins of the art are obscure. There is It was also called truc-dich, and it resembled the
a mention in the reign of the Emporer Ly Thai-
Chinese flute. It was usually used for accom-
t6 (1010-1028) of the girl Dao-thi (meaning female
paniment.
of the Dao family) who received many awards The dich quan was a smaller flute, often used
from the Emperor for her singing.3 After that in solo passages unlike the sao.
the words dao or a dao came to mean girl singer. The tru'o'ng cung was a clapper made of two
In the annals of the Ho dynasty early in the split pieces of over-mature bamboo, each about
fifteenth century, there are many references to a yard long. It was struck together, usually by
this art form. It came to have many names, an old woman, to mark the basic rhythms. Some-
including hat cu'a dinh, singing at the door of thing very much like it is used today in Burmese
the meeting-hall, and hat cu'a quyen, singing in traditional orchestras (Hsiang Waing).
aristocratic homes.4
Still used today by the songstress are the phach,
Hat a dao served to honor patron-saints of a two wooden dowels which strike a small wooden
village, to welcome the arrival of officials and
slab. They make sharp clear sounds, frequently
the return of soldiers, and aided seasonal festivi-
being used in trills and rhythmic accentuations
ties at planting and harvest times. The groupbetween phrases of song.
of musicians would be under the leadership of a The only other instrument still used now is the
chum (chief) or quan giap5 (leader), the latter name lute dan day, an instrument unique to Vietnam.
going back to the reign of Ly Thai-to, who created Its long neck holds 11 or 12 large frets today,
this post to supervise girl singers. but originally held 16, leading down to a tra-
By the time hat a dao was a well-defined and
pazoidal body. It has three strings once tuned
regulated art it had been in existence for several
in fifths, now in fourths.7 The dan day seems to
centuries. No one knows the composition of have the first appeared in the fifteenth century, and
first singing troups, but by the fifteenth century the
perhaps had some relationship to the now lost
music required singers, dancers and instrumen- form of lute cdm nam.8 It is used today almost
talists of both sexes, although girl singers and solely to accompany hat a dao.
male musicians predominated. The early hat a By the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, music-
dao orchestra contained seven kinds of instru-
al troups were well organized. Vietnam at that
ments, of which two were forms of drums, two time
of consisted of what is now North Vietnam
flutes, two of castenets, and one was a form of plus two provinces of the center. Each province
lute.6
was divided into districts, with two or three hat
a dao troups in each district.9 Several districts
2 Translations into English are by the author with
would join together and choose one man to ad-
the help of the Vietnamese composer and musicologist
Pham Duy, and the special assistance of N. N. Bich.
7 The author had the chance to study the dan day
Other help was given by Jonathan Chaves and Kenneth
in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967, and found it a fascinating
Dewoskin.
if difficult instrument. The large frets are not placed
3 See Tran VAn Khe, La Musique Vietnamienne onTra-
the neck to exactly produce the Vietnamese five-
ditionelle (Paris, 1962), p. 45.
note scale, so the performer must bend the string to
4 Conversations with Pham Duy, who was at that
produce the note he wants. He then bends the string
time (1966) writing a book on Vietnamese music.further to make ornamental effects.
5 Conversations with Pham Duy. 8 See Tran Van Khe, op. cit.
6 Pham Dinh H6, quoted and romanized by Dong Chau 9 Conversations with elderly North Vietnamese mu-
in Nam Phong Review (October, 1927), p. 367. sicians in Phu Nhuan.

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 20 Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.1 (1973)

minister the musicians and dancers and take care teams, and totalled up at the end of the compe-
of payments. The great day in each district and titions.
village was the feast of its patron-saint, and on Usually coinciding with the spring and fall
that day there would be many performances festivals, these competitions became the major
and finally a grand banquet, the former in the cultural event in the lives of Vietnamese from
temple and the latter in the equivalent of a town farmers to court officials. A popular and attractive
hall. singer might catch the eye of the Emperor, and
The chum or quan giap would arrange with the
musicians had some social mobility in the essen-
chief gatekeeper of the temple, fixing the number tially static fabric of Vietnamese life, but the main
of performers and the wages. Strict order was purpose of the music was that of entertainment
observed in the hat a dao troups, particularly to and village pride. The ceremonial aspect was
see that the girls did not have loose morals.'0 not entirely lost, however. A singer would eat
Mandarins would also hire the hat a dao troups no meat for several days before a performance
to perform in their houses, and singing was often except for that of toads or frogs, which was sup-
a feature of private as well as official banquets. posed to be beneficial.'4 She would also refrain
It is not surprising therefore that the music from sex in order to purify herself and keep her-
gradually shifted to entertainment from its cere- self clear of passions. A visitor to Vietnam in
monial beginnings. the seventeenth century, the priest De Marini
In the spring and fall there would be hat a dao Romain, noted that a songstress whose hair was
contests. One troup would dispatch notices to black as ebony and a yard in length was sure to
three other bands in nearby districts, and villagersbe liked.'5 After a performance at night, a listener
would choose judges without regard for social might turn and toss on his bed until dawn thinking
standing. about her.16
Some of the dances in these contests included The seventeenth century saw Vietnam split
the mua den (dance with two lanterns), danh into two parts, the North under the Trinh dy-
d6ng thiep (dance of the hypnotizer), mua trdnnasty, which favored hat a dao, and the South
hoa (dance of wooing the tipsy girl) and the diunder the Nguyen dynasty, which preferred the
ddy, a dance on a rope stretched between two classical theater music of hat boi.7 In the North
stakes."
another kind of musical theater was becoming
Male dancers could show their individual skill popular, the folk opera hat cheo. Its success cut
by balancing a heavy umbrella on their upper into the popularity of hat a dao in terms of pure
lip or lifting a plow with their teeth in the trai
entertainment. Besides including many kinds of
thi manh, or male contest of strength.l2 The girls
dance and acrobatics, the theater music had the
displayed their agility by dancing with oil lan-
advantage of telling a consistent story, and so
terns in the gai thi mem, female contests ofhat skill.l3
a dao gradually reduced its forces and became
The most important drum was given to aakind judgeof chamber music.
or censor, who ruled and commented on the In the nineteenth century a two-string violin
contests by the way he struck the instrument. nhi was added to hat a dao for a time, but then
This practice still exists today, as will be seen was dropped again.18 The forces were reduced
later. In addition to entire troups competing, to those of the present day: the girl singer, dan
a girl singer and a dan day player would also
enter the contests as a pair. If one or the other 14 Conversations with Pham Duy.
was inferior he or she would have to be replaced. 15 This may remind us of Heian period Japan, when
Points would then be awarded to the better noblemen fell hopelessly in love with ladies merely
from the sight of their long hair, according to the Genji
10 Same informants as in n. 9. Monogatari.
1 Radio broadcast by Pham Duy on Radio Saigon
16 P. G. F. de Marini, Histoire nouvelle et curielise
(May 2nd, 1962). des royaumes de Tunquiin et de Lao (Paris, 1666) as quoted
12 Ibid. by Tran Van Khe.
13 Conversations with Pham Duy. For added rhythm,
17 For more discussion of hat b6i and hat cheo, see
a coin rattle was introduced called senh tign. This
Stephen Addiss, "Theater Music of Vietnam," Southeast
consisted of a stick of wood or bamboo with open-centered
Asia Journal, Vol. I, nos. 1-2 (Winter-Spring, 1971).
coins fastened loosely to one end on hooked nails. 18 Conversations with Vietnamese musicians.

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 ADDISS: Sung Poetry of North Vietnam 21

day lutenist, and censor or listener who played undulations in formal patterns. Later on, girls
the drum. The singer retained her phach to with trays of flowers would dance at a village
interpolate between phrases. temple on its feast day. At entertainments, flowers
Since hat a dao was a special kind of chamber were carried in paper lanterns on each shoulder.
music, patronized mostly by mandarin-intellec- In the early twentieth century the French ob-
tuals, special houses were set up for its perform- servor Knosp noted that the dances with flowers
ance. The dance was abandoned, and the art were slow, with twisting hands and arms.20 The
became a means of singing the poems of the dancers wore blue or black gowns, and adorned
literati. Indeed, a literary resurgence in the nine-themselves with makeup and rouge.
teenth century gave hat a dao a second golden Perhaps some folk dances in villages can give
age. A goodly number of fine lyric poems were us other hints of the dances of hat a dao, but
written to be sung, and adaptations of Chinese aside from that and the dances of the mediums,
classical poems were made, as well as modifi- the rest is lost.
cations of Vietnamese folksongs. Hat a dao es- Poems
pecially encouraged new poems. A literatus might
write a lyric in one of the established poetic Although the dance is mostly lost, we are
forms, and dedicate his effort to a friend. Instead fortunate that a great number of songs survive
of simply presenting his friend with the poem, thein hat a dao, as well as thousands of poems that
poet would visit him with a singer and instrumen- were written to be sung. The most popular of
talist. The friend would be given the small drum, the poem forms is the hat noi. This form as
and he could then comment on the poem and its developed by the Vietnamese has two parts. First
performance even as he enjoyed its dedication come one or two introductory quatrains called
to himself. mu'o'u, of alternating 6 and 8 syllable lines. Next
comes the hat noi proper, of 11 lines in a strict
In this century hat a dao has suffered a serious
decline. The regime in the North is only support- form. The 11 lines divide 4-4-3, and then further
ing "people's arts," and so the best performers divide 2-2, 2-2, 2-1.21
of hat a dao have come South. Refugees are the The first two lines, la ddu, are introductory,
only interested audiences, so the art is in grave and go to the subject. The third and fourth
danger of dying. Its complexities do not seem lines, xuyen thu'a, "go to the heart" of the listener.
attractive to young Vietnamese who are much Lines five and six, tho, are in the form of Chinese
more concerned with constant warfare and the poetry. The should have either 5-5 or 7-7 syl-
problems of westernization. Hat a dao is an lable pattern, and use Sino-Vietnamese words and
acquired taste, and requires long and intensive allusions. The next pair of lines, xuyen mau, "fold
training for its performers, so its future is cloudy over" or "double," meaning a kind of recapitu-
at best. lation, and they move quickly.
Dance
Lines nine and ten, cdu don and cdu xep, move
slowly and "distribute" or widen the meaning.
Since hat a dao retains only the recent partcdu
The last line, ofkeo, concludes, and should
its repertoire, the dance element has have
been almost
6 syllables.
wholly lost. There are singing and dancing The lines spiri-
in hat noi may have anywhere from
tualists, or mediums, in Vietnam that 2 to 13may give
syllables (or words, as Vietnamese is
hints of what the dance was once in hat a dao. mono-syllabic) each, with the exception of lines
There is, for example, a mua bai bong flower five, six and eleven, as noted. The dominant
dance retained in the divination movements of pattern, however, is of the standard Vietnamese
the hermaphrodite mediums as they approach theof 6, 7 or 8 syllables each. Chinese style
lines
state of enchantment (len).l9 The mediums couplets
also of 5-5 or 7-7 are rare when not called
for in lines five and six.
retain features of the old lantern ceremony, carry-
ing two small oil lamps in their hands and an
earthenware pot on their heads as they dance. 20 G. Knosp, "Histoire de la musique de 1'Indochine,"
The flower dance originally consisted of many Encyclopedie de la musique et dictionnaire du Conserva-
maidens carrying flowers and performing graceful toire (Paris, 1922).
21 Conversations with Pham Duy, and D6 Bang Doan
19 Conversations with Pham Duy. and Dd Trong Hue, op. cit.

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22 Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.1 (1973)

Let us examine three hat noi, the first two strict
and the third a variation of the form with Chinese-
style line structure and extra lines.
K6ip Dao H6ng Dao Tuyet Du'o'ng KhuC
(1836-1898)
Mu'o'u
Thoi th6i du'ng nghi chuyen dAu dAu, 7
Tui vu-tru mac dan sau ganh vac. 8
Duyen hdi ng6 la duyen tu6i tac, chen chu, chen
anh, chen toi, chen bac, 15
Cuoc tinh say, say tinh mdt vai cau. 8
Nen chang da cung gAt dAu. 6

Ngay xua Tuyet mu6n lay 6ng, 6 Questions to a Stone Statue by Nguyen Khuydn
Ong che Tuyet be, Tuyet khong biet gi. 8 Where did you come from and what's your name?
Bay gio' Tuyet da den thi, 6 To questions you just smile, smile...
Ong mu6n lay Tuyet, Tuyet che ong gia. 8 Your arms are folded and you glance at the sky,
Noi Perhaps you are brewing up something for the world ?
H6ng H6ng, Tuyet Tuyet, 4 I see a strange statue of an old man and would like
Moi ngay nao chu'a biet cai chi chi. 8 to ask:

Mu'o'i lam nim tham thoat co xa gi, 8
Ngoanh mat lai da toi ky to-lieu. 8
Nga lang du thi quAn thu'o'ng thieu, 7
Quan kim hu'a gia nga thanh 6ng. 7
Cu'o'i cu'o'i noi noi then thung, 6
Ma bach-phat vo'i hdng-nhan chu'ng ai ngai. 9
Rieng mot thu Thanh-so'n di lai, 7
Kheo ngAy ngay dai dai vo'i tinh. 7
Dan ai mot tieng Du'o'ng tranh. 6
On Meeting the Singers Hong and Tuyet by Du'o'ng
Khuc
Once Tuyet wished to marry me,
I thought her too young, she didn't know anything.
Now Tuyet has come of age
And I would marry-but she finds me too old.
Why did you come here on this crooked path ?
Are you happy with the grass, streams and hills?
Probably you wanted to join the literary society!
The green hills laugh at my old head,
The blue seas don't know I am serene as a gull.22
Stop thinking of far-off matters,
Let posterity settle the problems of he universe I
This meeting is good fortune for us, let's bring out
the winecups.
Here's to you, to you, to me, then to you again...
But to both good and bad ideas the statue keeps
nodding.
Ganh Gao Du'a Chong Nguyen Cong Tru' (1778-1859)
Mu'o'u
Cai co lan 16i bo' s6ng, 6

Ganh gao du'a ch6ng tieng khoc ni non. 8

H6ng H6ng, Tuyet Tuyet,
It seems just recently that you knew nothing.
Fifteen years does not seem long at all,
Now you are ready to marry and I am an old man.
We smile and speak, but we are not at ease,
Between white hair and rosy cheeks, our talk is halting.
My only joy now is to go to the hat a dao house;
I am become foolish, foolish with love.
Who is it playing now on the lute?
Hoi Ph6ng-da Nguyen-Khuyen (1835-1910)
Mu'o'u
Ngu'o'i dau ten ho la gi,
Hoi ra trich trich tri tri nu'c cu'o'i.
VAt tay ngoanh mAt trong tro'i,
Cung toan lo tinh su' do'i chi dAy.
Noi
L,6 diec vu trung trung chi nhat 7
Thu'o'ng cai co lan 16i bo' s6ng. 7
Tieng ni non, ganh gao du'a chong, 7
Ngoai nghin dam m6t tro'i m6t nu'o'c. 7
Tr6ng bong nhan bang-khuAng tu'ng bu'o'c, 7
Nghe tieng quyen khic khoai nAm canh. 7
Nghia tep tom ai no' du't tinh, 7
O'n thuy th6 phai den cho tron. 7
Tru'o'ng ten dan xin chang bao trong. 7
Thiep lui ve nu6i cai cung con. 7
6 Cao-bAng each tro' nu'o'c non, 6
8 Long trong trAng, quy thAn a ho. 7
6 Su'c bay nhay xin chang hay co, 7
8 Da Yen-nhien con do chu'a mon. 7

Noi D6ng-hu'u rang chep the son, 6

Thay lao-da la lung muOn hoi 7 Chang nen danh gia thiep con tre trung. 8
Co' sao ma len loi den chi dAy. 8 Yeu nhau khAn khit giai dong. 6
Hay mang vui hoa co nu'o'c non nay, 8

Chu'ng cung muon dang tay vao hdi Lac, 8 22 A reference to Tu Fu. Chinese allusions
Thanh so'n tu' tieu dAu tu'o'ng hac, 7 thought of by Vietnamese intellectuals as long as the
Thu'o'ng hai thuy tri nga diec Au. 7 poet added something of his own.

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 ADDISS: Sung Poetry of North Vietnam 23

Carrying Rice by Nguyen C6ng Tru' but no doubt On-Nhu' was affected by them.
A stork walking painfully by the riverbank; The search for personal freedom was even re-
A wife carrying rice as she sees her husband leave. flected in a hat noi written about King Edward
VIII renouncing his crown for the sake of love.24
She is just one among many such birds,
Twentieth century poems in hat noi form tend
But pity her walking so painfully along the river.
to be the most pessimistic and escapist, reflecting
Slowly the wife carries rice as her husband leaves,
He must walk a thousand miles towards the horizon.
the intellectual's withdrawal from a society under
the domination of the French. The art declined,
Looking at the shadow of the wild goose, she worries
and in the past 30 years hat noi writing has al-
with each step.
most come to a halt. Many of the poems are
Hearing the cry of the moor-hen, she lies all night
awake.
studied in Vietnamese schools, but all too often
the students do not learn that the hat noi were
The bonds of love can not be broken easily,
originally written to be sung.
But duties to the motherland must be paid in full.
Although hat noi is the most popular form in
Under the arrows and bullets, I beg you to take care;
hat a dao, there are many other kinds of poems
Here at home I will feed and bring up our children.
sung and styles followed.
The Cao-bang province is far from here,
1. Opening the concert, the singer usually im-
Let the demons and gods witness my true heart and
provises a prelude with her phach and the dan day
protect you.
player without singing.
Find all the adventures that you can,
2. Bdc phan, often the first song of the per-
The tablet with your name will remain here in the
formance, is in slow tempo, lines of 6-8 syllables
temple.
alternating. A bdc phan opens this article.
Rejoice at war's end, everyone together,
3. Doc tho' is a declamation in free rhythm
Your names will be carved on the red-lacquered tablets.
of poems in Chinese-derived 7-syllable lines, with
You will earn great fame while I am still young,
We will love each other in ever-closer union.
improvisations between the sung poems.
4. Doc phu is similar to doc tho' but consists
In the 1920s, the scholar On-Nhu' Nguyen of short prose works rather than poems.
Van Ngoc collected more than two thousand hat 5. Chu' khi is a long poem in six sections, each
noi poems,23 and divided them into the following starting with the words chu' khi meaning "Now
thematic catagories: that...."

Ldp cong: expectation, ambition

Do'i thoi: patience, biding one's time
Chan do'i: pessimism, despair
An cho'i: hedonism, enjoyment of sensual pleas-
ures
Ta canh: descriptions of nature
Tu' tinh: love songs
Day do'i: teaching of society, Confucian senti- interesting how this event was written about in different
ments
Dua vui: irony and humor
6. Hat ru is a song inspired by a fo
7. Dip ba cung bac, also known as nhip ba
cung bac, has the 6-8 syllable alternating lines,
and is supposed to run through three different
musical modes, nam, bdc, and pha.25 An example
of the form:
24 D6 BAng and Do Trong Hue, op. cit., p. 510. It is
cultures. There is a calypso song "Twas love, love, love
alone/ Caused Kind Edward to leave his throne."

After collecting the two thousand poems, On- 25 Nam is the sad scale of the South, do mi fa sol la
Nhu' decided that the most common bond running with the mi a trifle flat, the fa a trifle sharp and the
through them was the thirst for freedom from la a trifle flat. This scale is supposed to reflect the
the bonds of society, officialdom, moral codes,Cham influence upon Vietnamese music, and may show
and patterns of behavior. The basic thread was a Cambodian influence as well. The bdc scale is the
anhemitonic
a kind of Taoist expression of individuality in a pentatonic scale of the North and Center
basically Confucian society. How much this re-as given later in this article. Pha used slurred words
flected the more hidden wishes for freedom from and modified pronunciation, but we are not sure of its
the French in the 1920's is open to conjecture,exact structure in the past. Two other modes are nao,
which actually slips between the modes, and Huynh,
23 On-Nhfi Nguyen VAn Ngoc, Dao Nu'o'ng Ca (Ha-which used a quick and hurried pronunciation. The musical
noi, 1932). differences between pha and Huynh are no longer clear.

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24 Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.1 (1973)
Nhip Ba Cung BMc (anonymous)
Dap-diu gio lot manh hoa,
Co'n bu6n se tranh ngam nga giai sau.
-loang-canh reo-rat du'o'i lau,
Bo'i dau don ru'o'c v6i hAu tin canh.
Thieu quang tiet du'o'm ve thanh,
Menh-mang ro'n nhu'ng d6 tranh ve r6ng.
Ngam-ngui nho' canh hAng tr6ng,
Lenh-denh bong nguyet tranh long buon thay.
Nu'o'c trong trang sang ve may,
Ngu6n co'n ke het chua cay noi nha.
Bay lau ta lai gap ta,
Khac nao nhu' a Hang-nga tu'o'ng-phung.
Gio' nghien dap but ngai-ngung,
Tu'o'ng chung ben ay ban cung vo'i ai.
Sau kia tham no khdn nai,
Nho' ai nen vo, sau ai nen gay.
Song huynh lanh-leo ho'i may,
Ve keu tieng true dem chAy diem canh.
Chieu thu Bach-De ben thanh,
Chu'ng thuo' ranh ranh cau bac Ngan-Giang.
Bo' s6ng do'i khach Ngu'u-lang,
Doi co'n xui-xut du'o'm chan m6i sau.
Ngan thay cho vo ch6ng Ngau,
Cach mot dip cAu da no kem tu'o'i,
Dem khuya mu'o'n ru'o'u lam vui,
Say ma chang biet rAng say bao gio'.
La thay day o hu'ng-ho',
Long con khang-khit do'i cho' chu'a qu0n.
Bong trAng thanh dai to ke hien,
H-e manh do'i khach cung tien lot vao.
ThAy nhau ta hoi han chao,
Chin e long khach dong Dao khu'ng chang.
Gusts of Wind (anonyinous)
Many a gust of wind has come through the blinds,
In these times of sorrow I sing to divert myself.
The yellow thrush twitters below my floor,
It is welcoming some good news.
The time flies, it is the season of green grasses,
In great numbers pictures of dragons are happily dis- desire and hope, with a freely sung prelude and a
played.
I anxiously miss the old sights,
The moon floats at random, my heart grows painful.
Over the limpid water the moonbeams are bright
in my eyes,
And I would tell you of my sadness.
After so long, the idea of our meeting
Seems like a reunion at the palace of the moon.
I hesitate to bring out my ink and writing-brush,
Perhaps far away you have found another love.
Why should I be bothered with sorrow and grief?
Who is that I am missing to the point of weakening
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myself ?
Whom do I lament, grown pale and thin?
Chilly clouds float by my window, crickets chirp,
bamboo rustles, and the night marks its watches.
In the autumn evening, the pagoda nestles near the
fort,
To witness the spanning of the bridge on the Milky
Way.26
On either side are the stars of the Cowherd and Weaving
Maid,
Doomed forever to suffer a legendary sorrow.
How sad, the lovers who cannot meet;
Only one arch of the bridge separates them, but their
hearts shrink.
As the night grows late, I borrow wine to divert
myself,
I seem drunk, but I don't know how it began.
How strange it is, when you are forgetting me,
I am still close to you, remembering, waiting.
The bright moonlight spreads on the verandah,
I open the blinds to welcome the entry of the moon-
spirits.
When we meet we will exchange greetings,
But I am not sure if you will accept my proposal.
8. Ke truyen, also called hat truyen, is a de-
clamation in verses of 6-8 syllables or quatrains
of 7-7-6-8. The poems recount historical tales
either in sa mac style, with free lines and melan-
choly mood, or in bong mac style of many trans-
positions.
9. Hat ham and ngdm ham, drinking songs sung
mostly at banquets, have lines either of 4 or
alternating 6-8 syllables, and are often composed
by poets present at the banquet or by the singers
themselves, inviting guests to drink rice-wine.
Frequently two junior singers would hold two
small cups in their hands and invite honored
guests to come up to drink.
10. Ngdm vong is a declamation in verse of
more rhythmic main section.
11. Xdn c6 ddu and Hue tinh are later additions
to the repertoire, and are love songs. Similar
songs are found in the popular theater of the
North (Cheo) and in the songs of the blind min-
strels (Xam).
26 Vietnamese poetry is full of references to the Chinese
legend of the Herdboy and Weaving Maid, two lovers
who, as stars, can meet but once a year when in the
fall a bridge spans the Milky Way.
 ADDISS: Sung Poetry of North Vietnam
12. Gu'i thu' means sending letters. The verses
are usually in lines of 7-7, 6-8, or 7-7-6-8, and
musically use three of the five modes. These poems
are often sung in pairs.
But Hoa Thao (anonymous)
I.But loa thao tinh thu' m6t bu'c,
Tam-su' nay vang-vac bong trang soi.
Chu' nhan duyen du'a lai bo'i tro'i,
Duyen h6i-ng6 the b6i non vo'i nu'o'c.
Ta da rap dinh-ninh tu' tru'o'c,
N6i niem nay bao quan bu'o'c quan-san.
Mot chau-kiem, mot ngan-hoan,
Ay dau de phu'o'ng-loan lam ban.
Khach tri-am v6n ngu'o'i vien-hoan,
Chu' chung-tinh ai dam quen ai.
Gu'i h6ng nhan ca cho' do'n sai,
Long may nu'o'c ha nhu' ai chenh nang.
Nay to'i tiet trang thu ve sang,
Bac cau o giu'a khoang song Ngan,
Cho bo cong then khoa phong xuan,
Ru man tru'o'ng may lan cho' do'i.
II. But hoa thao van-tien mot bu'c,
Gu'i du'a ngu'o'i tri-thu'c du'o'c hay.
Ngain tu' khi gap khach cung may,
U'o'c mong cung-que xe day xich-thang.
Khuc Giang-lang vu'o'ng long canh-canh,
Rap tim mai Du'u-linh lan-la,
Nguyet nam canh dieu khach HAng-nga,
Thu' m6t bu'c nho' ngu'o'i hoai-vien.
Vu'o'n Lang-uyen nhi dao phong kin.
Thu' gui chim con ne long h6ng,
Doanh Ngan-giang su' diep cach song,
Thu' nhan ca con e da ca.
Tho' rang:
Chech bong gu'o'ng loan lu'o'c bieng cai,
N6i long co'n co' bo'i vi ai,
DAng dAng m6t nam mu'o'i hai thang,
Thau tinh chAng ho'i khach Chu'o'ng-dai.
My Writing Brush (anonymous)
I. MIy writing-brush drafts a love-letter.
The moonlight brightens my soul,
Our fates are decided by the heavens.
We have sworn to mountain and river that we
will meet,
We have planned and hoped for a long time,
So I can accept the length of the road.
A jeweled sword and a silver ring are the signs poem of Vietnam. Excerpts from it are frequently sung
Of the phoenix, meaning marriage;
The gentleman travels far away,
Neither of us can forget the other.
I say to the bird and fish messengers, please don't by Le Xuan Thuy (Saigon, 1963).
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25
fail,
My heart cannot be remiss, distant as clouds to the
sea.
Now comes the mid-Autumn moonlight,
The bridal bridge will span the Milky Way.
Soon I will receive the rewards for my long
For hanging the curtains and waiting for my b
II. My writing-brush drafts a love-letter.
I send it to a wise man and tell him:
Since meeting this valiant gentleman
I have been longing for us to be bound togethe
with silk thread.
A melody involves itself with my heart;
I go to a far-off hill to search for cherry-blossoms.
The moon, all night long, stirs the spirits of those
who live there,
And I send this letter to my love far away.
But there in the garden the flowers are not yet
blooming.
I send this letter by a songbird, but I fear the falcon.
My love and I are on opposite sides of the Milky Way;
I send this letter by a fish, but I mistrust its heart.
My letter simply says:
We are apart for so long, I have no wish to comb
my hair.
My heart bleeds, who causes my pains ?
All year long, the twelve months alone,
Can you understand this sadness, my dearest?
13. Hat sa mac is literally "the song of the
desert," and is of unknown origin. This song-style
has become very popular in the past two cen-
turies, and many kinds of words are sung in sa
mac manner. Great epic poems such as the Kim
Vdn Kieu27 could be excerpted in this style.
14. Hat xdm are songs taken from the blind
travelling minstrels and adapted into hat a dao.
15. Hat cheo are songs taken from the popular
folk-opera of the North and put into hat a dao.
16. Hat ly are taken from the folksongs of the
Center, particularly songs from the region of Hue.
17. Ty ba hanh are adapatations of two T'ang
dynasty Chinese poems that became so popular
that they formed a category by themselves. The
first was adapted into Vietnamese by Ngo The
Vinh from the initial poem of a set of eight by
27 Kim Vdn Kieu is the most famous epic-romantic
in various hat a dao styles, and are also chanted and sung
in other manners. A bi-lingual version of the work has
been published; Nguyen Du, Kim Vdn Kieu, romanized
 26 Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.1 (1973)

Tu Fu.28 The Vietnamese version differs from the Autumn Impressions (Vietnamese version)
Chinese original mainly in that the fort and gate Gently upon the forest the dew drops down,
replace the domestic imagery of Tu Fu. The The hills are becoming dark with the autumn's fog.
Vietnamese poem retains from the Chinese eight On the horizon the waves roll in the deep river,
lines of 7 syllables each. The first two lines are The clouds flock above the distant gate at the pass.
chanted very freely, the next five sung in stricterChrysanthemum-beds shed two old trickles of tears.
rhythm, and the final line is freely chanted again.A lonely boat is tied up, like thoughts of home.
The singer is expected to move among the five The chill spurs on a man carrying his fishing pole,
musical modes. By the forsaken fort a man stands alone at dusk.
The second poem, always sung together with
the first, is from the "Lute Song" of Po Chu-i. Lute Song (Vietnamese version)
The Vietnamese version by Phan Huy Vinh uses By the river in the night I wish a friend farewell,
only the first 16 lines of the 78-line original poem, The dreary autumn weather gathers over the reed
and puts these 16 lines into quatrains of 7-7-6-8 forest.

syllables. In the original poem, the singer goes We alight from our horses, the boatman halts his oars,
on to tell of her former glory in the Capital and Thinking of evenings when we emptied wine-cups and
now her loneliness in the south, and the poet feels played music.
the sorrow of his own banishment.29 We drank till late, sensing the parting of the ways,
Thu Hu'ng The limpid surface of the water reflecting the moon.
Lac dac ru'ng phong hat moc sa, Suddenly the sound of a lute nlurmurs upstream.
Vu-so'n Vu-giap khi thu mo'. I am reluctant to go home, my guest to leave;
Lu'ng tro'i song r6n dong s6ng thiim. Making our way towards the music, we ask "who is
Milt dat mAy du'n cu'a ai xa, playing ? "
Khom cue tu6n hai hang 1e cu, But the lute player reduces sound to silence.
Con thuyen bu6c m6t moi tinh nha. We move our boat nearer to get acquainted,
Lanh lung giuc ke tay dao thu'o'c, The lamp-wick is lengthened, the wine flows again.
Thanh quanh don chan buoi ac ta. To our repeated invitations the player hestitates,
Ty Ba Hanh She holds her lute to hide half her face,
Ben Taim-du'o'ng canh khuya du'a khach, Then she tunes the strings and starts to play.
Quanh ho'i thu lau lach diu hiu. Though the song is just begun, already love fills us.
Ngu'o'i xu6ng ngu'a khach du'ng cheo,
Chen quynh mong can, nho' chieu true ti. 18. A-phien is called "opium" as the first two
Say nhu'ng luong ngai khi hiu re, lines concern that drug. It is actually a pot-
Nu'o'c minh mong dam ve gu'o'ng trong. pourri with many changes of style. One of the
Tieng ty cho't vAng ben song, most popular combinations is this one of sixteen
parts:
Chu khuay khoa lai, khach dung dAng xuoi.
Lan tieng se hoi ai dan ta, a. Sa mac, declamation in verse, 2 lines.
Lu'ng tieng dan nan na lam thinh. b. Bong mac, declamation in verse, 3 lines, with
Ro'i thuyen neo hoi thAm tink, musical transposition.
Dong den them ru'o'u con danh tiec vui. c. Xu'o'ng te, declaration in the manner of ce-
Mo'i moc mai thay ngu'o'i bo' ngo',
remonial rites, 5 lines.
Tay 6m dan che nu'a mat hoa. d. Do du'a, song of the boatmen, 3 lines.
VAn dan mAy tieng dao qua, f. Trong qudn, from the alternating songs of
Tuy chu'a nen khuc tinh da thoang hay. girls and youn men, 6 lines.
g. Noi su', declamation from the theater in the
28 A translation of the Chinese poem of Tu Fu can
serious story-telling manner, 6 lines.
be found in A. C. Graham, Poems of the late T'ang (Lon-
h. Hat bai sai len dong, song of enchantment
don 1965). There is also a serious study of this poemby a medium, 3 lines.
and the others in its poemcycle by Tsu-lin Mei and i. Ke truyen, historical song in sa mac style,
Yu-kung Kao in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 4 lines.
Vol. XXVIII (1968).
j. Thong thien thai, transition in thien thai style,
29 The Chinese poem of Po Chii-i is translated by 4 lines.
Witter Bynner in The Jade Mountain (New York, 1929).
k. Hat cach, song from the theater, 3 lines.

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 ADDIss: Sung Poetry of North Vietnam 27

1. Chdu van, incantation of shamans, 4 lines. 1. Vdn, the preliminary songs consisting of
m. Hat ham, drinking song, 6 lines. phrases of gu'i thu' for the singers and selected
n. Sa mac ty ba, Lute Song in sa mac style, 2 lines. passages for the instrumentalists.
o. Cung bac, song with three changes of musical 2. Chdu thi, twenty-eight selected songs to test
mode, 2 lines. the skill of those performers who had succeeded
p. Du'ng ty ba cung Huynh, Lute Song in cung in the first section.
Huynh mode, 2 lines. 3. Chdu cdm, seventeen songs of which three
20. Thet nhac is a corruption of the old thiet or four would be extremely difficult. Only a small
nhac, which goes back to the early days of hat a number of performers passed on after this stage.
dao. The words are not in strict form in this song, 4. Thi lai, the most difficult songs to distin-
but the singer must pass through all five of the guish the winners of the competition.
musical modes bac, nam. nao, pha, and Huynh.30 At the end of these tests, there would be a huge
20. Hat th6ng is a form of chanting a poem in banquet and performers who finished in the first
a set rhythm following a predetermined melody ten places would entertain. There would be prizes
as closely as possible. for these winners, including special tea and per-
21. Hat vat and Hat ngang are unusual styles haps a Chinese fan for the first place singer. The
in the hat a dao. greatest honor and good omens came from being
22. Tu'o'ng tien tu'u, Tien Xich-bich, and Hdu judged among the first ten, so the competitions
Xich-bich are adaptations of Chinese poems. were intense.
These forms constitute the main repertoire of The tests ran all the way from the village level
hat a dao as it now exists, although there are to the Emperor's court. They seem to have been
some variants of these forms. In the earlier days, well-organized and democratic festivals, and it is
however, the repertoire was rather different to unfortunate that we cannot see their like today.
fit the different purposes of the music. Music
Tran Van Khe lists the order of music for cere-
The music that remains in hat a dao is that
monial hat a dao, honoring the patron-saint day
of the later stage of the art, the intimate lied of
of a village with music and dance.31 First came
the songstress with dan day player and guest
the giao trong, the presentation of drums, for
drummer. Earlier music is now lost; indeed, li-
lute and drums. Next the singer chanted the
terati were complaining in the eighteenth century
giao hu'o'ng, the presentation of incense, in four
that if you asked one of the younger singers to
phrases, after which she lighted the incense with
sing an old poem she could only stick out her
the music ddng hu'o'ng. With the ceremony begun,
tongue in frustration.33
the ensemble offered thiet nhac, passing through
In this century the name of the art changed
the five modes, and then hat giai, songs in hat noi
to hat co dau, songs of the singing girls, and the
style, gu'i thu and ty ba, and dances. Next came
girls sometimes became more important than the
the dai thach of 14 to 26 lines, the first six chanted
songs. Nonetheless, music of great complexity
slowly, the latter lines sung rapidly. Finally came
more dances. Mua bo bo was mimed action, such
is still being sung, based on the pentatonic scale
that came to Vietnam from China. We may call
as mounting a horse, courting a girl, beating the
this scale do re fa so la, but in fact any of the
drum, the flight of birds, and the movements of
five notes can be the tonic or resting note, so a
a drunken and sober girl. The mua bai bong was
the flower dance mentioned earlier. The mua
frequent scale is re fa sol la do, which to Western
ears sounds more like our minor scale than does
tu'linh was the dance of the four fabulous animals.
do re fa sol la. In contrast with Chinese music,
The performers would wear the masks of the uni-
any note may be the do, depending on the con-
corn, tortoise, phoenix and dragon or crane.
venience of the performers.
The musical competitions for girl singer and
Within the five-note scale, much of the music
dan day player had a different repertoire.32 The
in hat a dao is actually tritonic, based on the
tests would last as long as ten and twelve days,
and consisted of four parts:
first, fourth and fifth degrees of our scale, or
do fa sol. Example f1 will show the anhemitonic
30 See n. 25. pentatonic and the tritonic scales, using the note
31 TrAn Van Khe, op. cit., pp. 83-4. C as a convenient beginning pitch.
32 Conversations with Pham Duy and other musicians. 33 Conversations with Pham Duy.

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28 Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.1 (1973)

Example 1

0 Pt(4toni. Sck\e "-toVlic Sc^\e

I 6; 0 A VA
Ao rvt - so I \'t co -0 So\
Example 1 to be alive is of constantly changing weight,
depth, width and direction.
The great art in hat a dao is the embellishment
of a simple structure. Example g2 is the structure The repressed tone use by the singer is also
of the first poem of Ty ba hanh, which fits into reminiscent of the "literary style" of Chinese and
three notes plus the octave of the lower note.34Japanese painting, in which the artist deliberately
eschews brushstrokes that may be too readily
Example 2 admired in themselves. The sound of the hat a

Every singer will follow this structure in sing-dao singer is, in fact, one that takes some time
ing Ty ba hanh, but each songstress will embellishto appreciate. At first it seems withdrawn and
the structure with melismas, trills, vibratos of thin, but by de-emphasizing tonal richness the
songstress is able to draw the attention of the
varying widths, grace notes, passing tones, appo-
giaturas and humming notes, until an extremely listeners to the gradations of vibrato, trill, and
personal version of the poem is accomplished.35 other ornaments that she uses as expressive devices.
Example #3 will show the first line of the poem The melody must follow the tones of the words,
as actually sung in 1966: and therefore a single melody cannot fit more
than one poem, even if other poems follow the
Example 3
same format. Upper and lower notes are de-
The semi-tone divisions as shown above, as termined by high rising and low falling tones in
from G to F# and from C to B, are actually part the words; this is clear in Example #2 of the
of the singer's vibrato action, which works at structure of Ty ba hanh. Middle tones, however,
different speeds and widths. The actual note allow more freedom to the singer, the note G being
differentiation may be closer to a quarter-tone used for three different word-tones in this example.
than a halftone at times. The vibrato may turn One further device extends the musical range
into a gradually widening trill, as after the word of hat a dao; this is the transpositions of mode
moc. The changing speed of the notes is more called "metabole."36 Any note of the scale may
gradual than can be shown; there is no way to become the new do and start the pentatonic scale
do justice in written music to the small fluctua- at this point. Example #4 gives an example
tions of the voice in hat a dao, and it is exactly of metabole, in which the original fa becomes
these small fluctuations that are the hallmark the new do. In effect this adds a new note to
of a fine singer. This art can only be compared
the scale, sib. A complex piece in hat a dao may
to Oriental literati brushwork, in which the line go through several metaboles, usually ending with
the original pentatonic scale.
34 All the musical examples given here are transcribed
by the author, following study and recording sessions Example 4
in Saigon during the years 1964-1967. This particular In hat a dao there have traditionally been eight
example was derived by studying several sung versions rules for the singer:37
of the piece and extracting a common structure.
35 The only available recording of hat a dao includes 36 Since the Vietnamese musician changes his scale
three different versions of this first line of ty ba hanh. rather than changing key, TrAn Van Khe has led the way
One half of this LP record is given to hat a dao, including in using the word metabole rather than transposition.
the bdc phan and hoi phdng da translated in this paper. Vietnamese music of a traditional cast has resting notes,
The record is Music of North and South Vietnam, Asch with important intervals of the fifth and the octave, but
Mankind Series AHM 4219, and was recorded by the has no sense of key as we know it in the Western world.
author.
37 Conversations with Pham Duy.

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 ADDISS: Sung Poetry of North Vietnam 29

Example 2

m SBaQ s ( ?Cs M poe<m ($ctvlvc

&OC

D H, 0f v" t '- -j .\ .. .

elI o o _oo0 I

-4. ~~~~~~~~~~?CI)I 1~~~~~~~~~~i

O Lv'J 'pu; $X coA l S^ +^F
+A-L ((
?,, o 0 ooa 0
XA A -L A O .
a I
7.
fVAy at

Wot&i "toe S

low %4I~;
ltvt\l
I
lo cv
qrrr cv
cko& v adsettallr%SIA
" 4)

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30 Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.1 (1973)

Example 3

f Cfcist \%NV) (^s stigA

L<ic <t3e C?)

ron

L wI - vI9

- " " ^ .t r(n )

hi~i~fL~?S~T~Sr~uiiff~-L
;'6 - V I'
J-I
J14

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 ADDISS: Sung Poetry of North Vietnam 31

Example 4

9?^*oAtC ScA\t feMAo1e (Atts?o'*o^

,> i d d d6 vd d YI T a\ \
ao \? i SO\ St do r
Ao re ?r A So\ \t
hitting
1. Each word must be clear, therefore the the wooden side of the instrument is
tempo
is slow. called cac. The words are good descriptions of
2. Each word must be rounded out, using re- the sounds. Although the drum is small, it is
pressed tone. rapped smartly and both the tung and the cac
3. Each word must have an echo in sound. are quite piercing.
This means a hum or an extra vocalization after Different combinations of drum beats, as noted
each word, like a thread holding a necklace to- earlier, have had distinctive meanings aside from
gether. their musical import. Twelve cac called the mu-
4. The singer must show strong breath control sicians, 9 tung told them to prepare, and 2 tung
in long phrases. in close succession urged them to begin; 5, 6, or
5. The feeling of the singer must be noble. 7 cac indicated that the performance was inferior,
6. The presentation must be dramatic, and ex- but one cac before several tung signified praise.
press the spirit of the poem being sung. As well as commenting on the music, the drum
7. The impression must remain attractive. syncopates the phrases, divides lines of poetry,
8. The singer must display vocal agility. and provides a strong if irregular impulse punc-
Hat a dao is expected to take ten years of study tuating the music.
at a minimum; the best performers have given The dan day player weaves around the melody
several decades of their lives to the art. Nguyen of the singer in a complex heterophonic style.
Don Phuc gave his own description of the stan-He often plays a free prelude before the singer
dards of a good songstress.38 "She must sing evenlybegins, and plays between the introduction and
and harmoniously throughout her range, must scan the main body of the hat noi poems. He also
each word clearly, and every word must be fol- has short solo sections between the singer's vocal
lowed by another sound in endless succession. phrases, and he extends the scale at these times
Each word must be like a pearl and the extra with metaboles. A fine performer seems to be
sound like a silk string linking it to the others."39
wandering as far afield as possible only to return
The singer uses her phach to help her in severalas the singer begins the next phrase.
ways. She produces spacings and tempo changes In sum, hat a dao is a combination of the arts
by different effects with the small wooden dowels.particularly suited to a scholarly or mandarin-
A steady tremolo lets the singer scan the poem literatus set of values. The form combines poetry,
to herself before singing, and a dotted rhythm music, dedication to friendship, contemplation,
gives the singer a chance to take a breath between and personal involvement, all producing the kind
phrases. Other rhythms are used for slowing of art that hides art. On-Nhu' Nguyen Vin
down, speeding up, and for rhythmic accentuation. Ngoc tells us of the feeling of the poet:40
The small drum, played by a poet or guest, "After composing a pair of phrases, we write
also has several purposes. It accentuates a song them with the brush and stick them up on pil-
and also comments on it. Beats on the top part lars. As we gaze at our own calligraphy, we are
of the drum, on the skin, are called tung, while quite delighted. When the poem is complete, we
scan it so as to review our own creation. If we
38 Nguyen Don Phuc, Nam Phong Review, 70 (April,
have a recitation piece, and give it to the song-
1923), pp. 285-6.
stress, it will blend with the musical notes, phach
39 This image may be compared to that of Po Chii-i
rhythm and our own drum playing; our rapture
in the latter part of his poem "Lute Song" (see n. 29),
is infinitely amplified. . .".
in which he compares singing to pouring large and
small pearls on a plate of jade. 40 On-Nhu' Nguydn Van Ngoc, op. cit.

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