Are Viet Bac and Northeast Vietnam the same region?
Not exactly. These are two names with different origins and scopes, though they overlap considerably on the map.
Viet Bac is a name tied to political history: the base area during the resistance war against French colonialism, covering many northern mountainous provinces. This term first appeared in military and administrative contexts, then entered literature and music, becoming a cultural concept.
Northeast Vietnam is a purely geographical term, referring to the northeastern part of northern Vietnam. In contemporary cultural events, this scope is usually defined specifically by the list of participating provinces.
One example: the 11th Culture, Sports and Tourism Festival of Ethnic Groups in the Northeast region in 2024 took place in Lang Son with the participation of 8 provinces: Ha Giang, Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang, Cao Bang, Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc and Lang Son. This list shows that the Northeast scope in administrative practice can expand or contract depending on organisation, not fixed like a purely geographical concept.
| Criterion | Viet Bac | Northeast Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| Origin of name | Political history, resistance war | Geography, administration |
| Scope | Usually tied to base area, may include Northwest in some historical contexts | Northeastern provinces, list varies by event |
| Common usage | Literature, history, collective memory | Planning, cultural events, tourism |
| Nature | Soft concept, tied to memory | Listable concept |
A point to note: these two concepts are not mutually exclusive. A province like Cao Bang or Bac Kan can fall under both names. Debates about which province belongs to Viet Bac and which to Northeast Vietnam often have no conclusion because each name serves a different purpose.
What is Then singing and why was it inscribed by UNESCO?
Then singing is a composite folk performance art including singing, music, dance and acting, tied to the ritual practices of the Tay, Nung and Thai peoples. On 12 December 2019, at the 14th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in Bogota, Colombia, the heritage "Then practices of the Tay, Nung and Thai peoples in Vietnam" was officially inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
According to VietnamPlus, "Then" in the Tay language is transliterated as "Stieng" or "Thien", meaning Fairy or Heaven. Then singing is therefore understood as "fairy singing". In the life of ancient Tay people, Then singing was used in major events or ceremonies to pray for peace, for harvest, or to call souls.
Who practises Then and how?
Then practitioners are female and male Then masters, also called Then teachers. When performing rituals, the Then master wears ceremonial robes, sings in their ethnic language while playing the tinh lute, shaking a rattle, and waving a fan. Some ceremonies also include a group of female dancers. Then masters often use objects such as swords for exorcism, yin-yang sticks, and bells to perform rituals at the host's home, outdoors, or at a private Then altar.
According to VietnamPlus, the Then lyrics blend with the gentle rhythm of the tinh lute and the shaking sound, sometimes slow, sometimes urgent, carrying the Then master to Muong Troi to ask spirits to help people. Then singers at festivals and Tet play the role of community representatives communicating with spirits, praying for good harvests and prosperous life.
Then is transmitted orally during ritual practice. Then masters play the main role in transferring skills and secrets. This explains why Then has no single standard text but exists in many variations.
Origin of Then: hypotheses not yet unified
To date, no one has determined exactly the process of Then's birth and development. Some opinions claim Then was "born" in Cao Bang to serve the spiritual life of working people. Others suggest Then originated in the Northeast region, specifically Lang Son. Sources are not unified on this point, and this article acknowledges that lack of consensus rather than choosing a side.
Is Then singing the same in every province?
Not entirely. Basically, Then singing and the tinh lute in each region have the same intervals, but the lyrics have many variations to suit the characteristics and customs of each locality.
VietnamPlus cites researchers' observations on this difference:
- Then in Lang Son: gentle, heartfelt
- Then in Tuyen Quang: urgent like urging troops to battle
- Then in Ha Giang: stressing each word
- Then in Bac Kan: like a whisper
These are impressionistic descriptions of style, not a ranking. A more gentle or urgent melody does not imply which is more standard. Differences reflect living conditions, performance space and oral tradition of each community.
How are Then artists and transmission taking place?
Then transmission today takes place through many channels: families, classes organised by cultural agencies, and grassroots clubs.
Nhan Dan newspaper reported the case of Meritorious Artist Mo Thi Kit in Ngoc Tri village, To Hieu commune, Binh Gia district, Lang Son province. She was born in an area considered the cradle of Then singing of the Tay and Nung peoples in Lang Son, and married into a family with eight or nine generations of Then practice. By 2019, she was 97 years old and still participated in Lau then ceremonies. She had taught 12 students to become Then singers.
Another case is Meritorious Artist Mong Thi Sam, born in 1939 in Po Tang village, Hop Thanh commune, Cao Loc district, Lang Son. Her family also had eight or nine generations of Then practice. By the time of the 2019 article, she had practised Then for 64 years and directly taught 17 students. Her students continued to teach 19 others.
Regarding organising classes, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology organised a model to preserve Sli singing, Luon singing, Phong slu, and Then singing for 50 artisans, prestigious people and Tay ethnic trainees in Ha Hieu commune, Ba Be district, Bac Kan province. This is part of Project 6 on preserving and promoting the good traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities linked to tourism development.
In Lang Son, since 2009, the provincial Centre for Culture and Information established the Folk Song and Instrument Club. It started with 12 participants and by the 2019 article had attracted over 300 members, the youngest 16 and the oldest 76, including Tay, Nung, Dao and Kinh peoples. From this club, 10 other clubs were established in districts and cities in the province.
What are the characteristics of market fairs in the Northeast?
Market fairs are regular meeting points for residents of many communes and ethnic groups in an area. Markets are not only places for buying and selling but also occasions for exchange, information sharing and meeting.
The reference sources in this article do not go into detail about specific market fairs in each locality. Therefore, this section only states common characteristics observable from the regional cultural context, without attributing to a specific locality or ethnic group what sources do not record.
A point to note: market fairs in the Northeast are often tied to agricultural cycles and certain days in the lunar calendar. Market rhythm depends on geographical distance between communes, on seasons and on the customs of each resident group. There is no single common market fair model for the whole region.
How is village life tied to terrain and ethnic group?
Village life in the Northeast and Viet Bac regions is influenced by rocky mountain terrain, valleys and rivers. In places with fragmented terrain, villages are often distributed along valleys or hillsides. In places with large rivers, waterway trade plays a more important role.
Different ethnic groups have different farming, settlement and social organisation customs. The Tay and Nung are often associated with wet rice fields in valleys. Other groups may be associated with slash-and-burn fields or other forms of cultivation. This diversity creates a multi-layered cultural picture, without a common template.
What should be avoided is attributing to an entire ethnic group or an entire region a single custom. Where sources only record customs in a specific locality, the article also only states within that scope.
Why does the same heritage have many variations?
This is a key question to understand regional culture. Then, market fairs and village life are all transmitted orally or through practice. When there is no standard text, each generation and each community adjusts to suit its specific conditions.
The result is variations. Variations are not deviations from an original, but the natural result of transmission in different contexts. This understanding helps avoid ranking one place as preserving better than another, or one region's rituals as more methodical than another's.
Another point: Then singing today has undergone many changes compared to before. Besides ancient Then melodies often performed in religious ceremonies with certain rituals, many adapted melodies have appeared to suit community cultural and artistic activities. Some Tay, Nung and Thai people who moved to southern provinces brought this traditional art with them, and Then continues to maintain vitality in new communities.
How do Northeast provinces organise cultural preservation?
The Culture, Sports and Tourism Festival of Ethnic Groups in the Northeast region is held periodically, each time hosted by a province. The 11th edition in 2024 took place in Lang Son from 2 to 4 November with the participation of 8 provinces.
Activities within the festival include: performing and introducing excerpts of festivals and traditional ethnic cultural rituals; exhibition space for local traditional cultural products; scientific workshop on cultural tourism in the Northeast; mass arts festival and ethnic costume performance; ethnic sports competitions; exhibition on cultural characteristics of Northeast ethnic groups.
In addition, specific preservation projects are implemented in each locality. In 2023, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology carried out 6 programmes in Thai Nguyen and Cao Bang, including models such as the Roi can (dry puppet) art of the Tay people in Binh Yen commune, Dinh Hoa district, Thai Nguyen; Soong Co singing of the San Diu people in Nam Hoa commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen; Sli singing of the Nung people in Dong Hy district; a model promoting Chau dance art in Then performances of the Tay people in Trong Con commune, Thach An district, Cao Bang; preserving traditional brocade weaving of the Tay people in Luong Noi hamlet, Ngoc Dao commune, Ha Quang district, Cao Bang.
In 2024, programmes continued to support research, restoration and preservation of weaving of the Dao Tien people in Cao Son commune, Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province; preserving Pao dung singing and traditional costume embroidery of the Dao Tien people in Ban Ca hamlet, Binh Trung commune, Cho Don district, Bac Kan province.
So how should differences between regions be understood?
Differences in melodies, lyrics, market rhythm, and village organisation are the main content that those studying regional culture need to grasp. These are real differences that can be observed and recorded.
What should not be done is turning differences into hierarchy. There is no original version of Then singing against which other variations are measured. There is no standard market fair model against which other markets are considered inferior. There is no typical village life against which other places are judged as deviant.
This approach is consistent with the fact that sources are also not unified on many points, such as the origin of Then. When sources are not unified, acknowledging the lack of consensus is more honest than choosing a side and presenting it as if there were only one way to understand.
