What is Bai Choi of Central Vietnam?
Bai Choi is a folk performance of Central Vietnamese people in which players take part in a card-drawing game while listening to a performer sing the calls. Players sit in huts built around a yard, each holding a set of cards; when the performer draws a card from a tube and sings the verse for that card, anyone holding a matching card is given a flag as a marker. The first to collect three flags wins.
What makes it distinctive is that the calls are not dry recitations but witty, vivid verses and lines, improvised by the performer or passed down over generations. According to Meritorious Artist Truong Tuan Hai, Bai Choi began as a folk game at village festivals and Tet, with simple instruments such as a drum or a two-string fiddle, yet the singing and the calls were always full of emotion.
In 2017, UNESCO inscribed the Art of Bai Choi in Central Vietnam on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is a unique blend of folk music, performance and the traditional folk games of Central Vietnamese people.
Origins of Bai Choi: from watchtowers against wild animals to world heritage
According to folk legend, Bai Choi formed around the late 16th and early 17th centuries in Central Vietnam. People built tall huts to guard against wild animals and protect their crops; while on watch, they sang back and forth between the huts to pass the time. Over time, the form of playing cards while singing emerged and grew into an art closely tied to community life, especially at festivals and Tet.
This legend should be clearly distinguished: it is a folk explanation, not a historical document fixing an exact date. Researchers still debate when Bai Choi began, but they agree it is tied to the farming people of Central Vietnam and to community life in provinces from Quang Binh south to Binh Thuan, along with some localities in the South Central region.
Why is it called "bai choi"?
The name comes from the word "choi", the huts players sit in to take part. Each hut is a position, and the person inside is both player and audience. This arrangement sets Bai Choi apart from an ordinary lucky draw: the playing space is structured, with the caller in the middle and many huts around.
What are the steps of playing Bai Choi?
A round of Bai Choi needs three things: the card set, the tube holding the cards, and the caller (usually called anh Hieu or chi Hieu). Players receive a set of cards printed or painted with the card names, one identical set each. Anh Hieu draws cards one by one from the tube and sings the verse for each card. Anyone with a matching card raises it and receives a flag as a marker. Whoever collects three flags in one round receives a prize from the organisers.
The specific steps
- The organisers build the huts, hand out the cards, and prepare the drum, two-string fiddle and card tube.
- Anh Hieu draws a card and sings the corresponding verse. The call is usually full of images and rhyme, sometimes with a playful riddle.
- Players check their cards; whoever matches raises the card and takes a flag. A referee or assistant confirms.
- Play continues until someone has three flags. The winner receives a prize, and a new round can begin.
According to Meritorious Artist Truong Tuan Hai, Bai Choi is captivating not because of the prizes but because of the singing itself: each call is a cultural message. At the yard, anyone can be the "main player", from farmers and workers to children and domestic and international visitors.
How many cards are in a Bai Choi deck and what are they called?
According to widely circulated information today, a Bai Choi deck has about 30 cards with distinctive names such as Ngoc Tuyet, Bach Tuong and Sau Tien. Each card is tied to its own ho thai call, usually a verse or rhymed line describing the card or carrying a message about life, harvest or family feelings.
Note that the number of cards and their names can differ between localities and between different old decks. Some sources record 30 cards, while some decks may have 32 or 33 depending on how they are counted and on the version. This is a point on which researchers and artists do not fully agree, so when researching you should compare with each specific locality.
What is a ho thai call and what role does it play?
A ho thai call is the verse the anh Hieu sings to announce the card name. This is the soul of Bai Choi: simply reading the card name would make it a lucky draw, but when sung with rhyme and rhythm, the game becomes a performance. Ho thai calls are usually short, easy to remember and rhymed, and may be adapted folk songs and proverbs, or new lines composed by artists to suit contemporary life while keeping the traditional spirit.
For example, a call may evoke an animal, a landscape or a folk tale, then lead to the card name. Players listen and guess, creating interaction between caller and player, between artist and community.
How does Bai Choi differ between localities in Central Vietnam?
Bai Choi is not found in only one province but spreads across Central Vietnam, with each place having its own organisation, instruments, calls and performance space. Below are some notable points in a few localities with lively Bai Choi activity:
| Locality | Notable features | Form of organisation |
|---|---|---|
| Da Nang | The Hai Van Bai Choi Club performs regularly on Saturday evenings at the park on the east bank of the Dragon Bridge, from 7:30 pm to nearly 10 pm | Street performance for residents and visitors, with interpreters for international guests |
| Hoi An (Quang Nam) | Meritorious Artist Luong Dang has been involved for more than 25 years, performing at the An Hoi Sculpture Garden in Hoi An ancient town | Ancient town space, combined with cultural experiences for visitors |
| Quang Ngai | 7 folk song and Bai Choi clubs, about 500 participants, with 1 People's Artist and 9 Meritorious Artists | Provincial and district clubs, tied to community tourism such as Go Co and Mo Duc |
| Thua Thien Hue | Maintains several Bai Choi clubs, staging performances at festivals and on Tet holidays | Club activity and festival performance |
The table shows that Bai Choi has no single "standard version". Each locality adapts in its own way to contemporary life: some take it to the streets, some tie it to community tourism, and some keep traditional club activity.
Why does Bai Choi survive in contemporary life?
Bai Choi survives thanks to three factors: community, improvisation and adaptability. First, it is a collective game that anyone can join, regardless of age or occupation. Second, the calls can be newly composed, so artists can update the content while keeping the traditional structure. Third, Bai Choi is easy to stage in many spaces: communal courtyards, parks, ancient streets, community tourism villages.
In Da Nang, Nguyen Van De, Vice Chairman of the Hai Van Bai Choi Club, says the club has 12 members who, despite busy work, still practise eagerly, research and compose new lines. Nguyen Nhu Tuan, an engineer passionate about Bai Choi, spends every Saturday evening performing, both recovering old calls and writing new ones suited to audience tastes while keeping the artistic essence.
In Quang Ngai, facing the risk of decline, the province encouraged artists to found folk song and Bai Choi clubs. Meritorious Artist Tran Tam says the unit regularly holds training classes, teaches singing skills, weaves Bai Choi playing sessions into art programmes, and brings Bai Choi into schools. The province aims for every district, town and city to have a Bai Choi performance venue for residents and visitors by 2030.
The role of young people and schools
Bai Choi is no longer a "game for older people". In Da Nang, many young people join in, not only watching but performing. The city opens classes for teachers and students and holds folk song contests for pupils. In Quang Ngai, the folk song and Bai Choi club under the provincial Centre for Culture and Arts, founded in September 2024, has 30 members, including young core members such as Ta Van Cuong, a primary school teacher, who joins to gain experience and spread it to students.
In Go Co (Quang Ngai), Huynh Thi Thuong, Chairwoman of the Go Co Village Bai Choi and Ho Singing Club, says not only adults but many children aged 7 to 8 also sing Bai Choi. This shows the heritage can continue if there is an environment for practice and teaching.
Debates and points of disagreement about Bai Choi
Like many other folk heritages, Bai Choi has points on which sources do not fully agree. First is the date of origin: folk legend says the late 16th to early 17th century, but this is legend, not fixed historical evidence. Second is the number of cards: commonly 30, but some decks may differ. Third is the scope of distribution: UNESCO inscribes "Central Vietnam", but in reality Bai Choi is also known in some South Central localities and has variants in the South. Fourth is how "old" the calls are: some are oral traditions passed down over generations, some are new lines by artists, so they are hard to separate completely.
A reasonable approach is to acknowledge the diversity rather than seek a single correct version. Each locality and each club has its own practice, and that diversity is what gives the heritage its vitality.
Is Bai Choi a form of worship?
No. Bai Choi is a folk game and performance tied to community life at festivals and Tet, not a religious rite. However, it often appears in festival spaces alongside other rituals such as the fishing prayer ceremony or village festival. So Bai Choi can be described as a cultural practice tied to the spiritual life of Central Vietnamese people, but it is not itself an act of worship.
Describing Bai Choi as a cultural practice helps avoid two extremes: neither asserting spiritual efficacy nor dismissing the spiritual value the community attaches to it. This is an approach suited to folk culture research.
In short
Bai Choi of Central Vietnam combines a card-drawing game with sung performance, with a deck of about 30 cards and vivid ho thai calls. From the old watchtowers against wild animals, Bai Choi has become an intangible cultural heritage representative of humanity, inscribed by UNESCO in 2017. Today it still lives in Da Nang, Hoi An, Quang Ngai, Thua Thien Hue and many other localities, thanks to communities, artists and younger generations joining to preserve it.
