Efforts to preserve bai choi of Khanh Hoa Provincial Cultural Center

Many tourists travelling to Nha Trang have showed interest in watching and taking part in bai choi (Vietnam’s traditional art form) festival held at the beach park at weekends. In order to organize and keep organizing bai choi festival, the provincial Cultural Center of Khanh Hoa has made many efforts in researching and reviving this folk art.

 

Efforts to revive bai choi

 

The researchers said that bai choi appeared in Khanh Hoa at the end of 19th century. Ninh Hoa, Van Ninh, Nha Trang, and Dien Khanh were the localities where bai choi developed strongly. Over the years, there have been fewer and fewer bai choi festivals as well as people knowing bai choi. 

 

As reported by Nguyen Phuong Dong, Director of Khanh Hoa Provincial Cultural Center, in 1996, the province’s cultural department tried but failed to organize bai choi festival. The reason was the festival was not attractive enough to attract participants because there were not people playing the role of “Hiệu” (game’s umpire). In 2002, Dien Toan Commune (Dien Khanh District) in association with TQT Company held a bai choi festival to serve the locals in Lunar New Year. Although this bai choi festival was joined by many people from the surrounding localities, it was a different format with the original one. Therefore, from 2005 to 2009, the provincial Cultural Center sent staffs to Quang Nam Province and Binh Dinh Province to conduct studies on bai choi. However, those efforts of Khanh Hoa could not revive bai choi at that time due to some difficulties such as differences in singing and playing bai choi among provinces, and lack of funds.

 

At the end of 2009, Khanh Hoa Provincial Cultural Center formed Traditional Art Club with the main objective is to train people to play “Hiệu”. After that, the provincial Cultural Center under the directions of the provincial Department of Culture and Sports successfully organized bai choi festival during Sea Festival 2013.

 

Bai choi festival has been among activities to welcome New Year since 2014. From 2015 until now, thanks to the financial support from the provincial People’s Committee, bai choi festival at the beach park (artisan Nguyen Dung in charge) has become an interesting place for locals and tourists in Nha Trang at weekends. Reportedly, Khanh Hoa and Quang Nam have been the only two localities in the Central holding regular bai choi festival. 

 

 

Incorporating bai choi into school’s program

 

Apart from holding bai choi festival, in 2016, Khanh Hoa Provincial Cultural Center organized bai choi show at 12 junior high schools over the province. Through these shows, the artisans provided the teachers and students the knowledge about the formation and development of bai choi; way to sing and play bai choi, etc.

 

“We hold bai choi show at schools as an extracurricular activity to help the student to know more about bai choi instead of teaching them to perform bai choi. This activity is expected to raise the awareness of young people about preserving and up holding the traditional culture,” said Nguyen Tuong Vy, Deputy Director of Khanh Hoa Provincial Cultural Center. 

 

As planned, the center will organize around 12 to 15 “Bai choi with schools” shows in 2017, starting from October. The center will associate with some schools in Nha Trang to hold extracurricular activities in which the students take part in bai choi festival at the beach park.

 

According to the researchers, bai choi folk art consists of three periods of development: bai choi game, “bài chòi chiếu” (bai choi on sleeping mat), “ca kịch bài chòi” (bai choi opera). Nguyen Tu Hai, former Deputy Director of Khanh Hoa Provincial Traditional Art Theatre stated that in order to preserve bai choi, it is essential to preserve its origin which is bai choi game. “We need to make bai choi festival to become a familiar activity during Lunar New Year at all localities over the province,” Hai added.

 

Thanh Nguyen

Translated by H.N