Singing happiness in song of Dong
Print Edition
Hu Guanmei, 64, has never quarreled with her family. Her secret is to sing Dong songs.
鈥淲e Dong people love singing Dong songs. It鈥檚 our tradition and favorite entertainment,鈥 she said, adding that all her family forget about their troubles when they sing Dong songs together.
The folk songs of the Dong ethnic group are performed with a group of people to make a polyphonic singing called Kam Grand Choir without musical instruments or a conductor. It was inscribed on the World Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2009.
Hu was born in a village in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture.
The area is regarded as the birthplace of the Kam Grand Choir in southwest China鈥檚 Guizhou Province. She started to learn Dong singing from her parents at the age of 3.
鈥淲e Dong people always say 鈥楻ice nourishes our body and Dong songs nourish our souls鈥,鈥 Hu said. She explained that the songs are about the legends of the Dong people鈥檚 heroic ancestors and the wonders of the Earth鈥檚 creatures. Thus, singing Dong songs gives the Dong people a positive attitude towards life.
When Hu married in 1973 and moved to her husband鈥檚 village, she had already mastered around 400 Dong songs. When she became a mother of three children, she also started to teach them to sing Dong songs with her husband just as her parents did.
鈥淢y parents told me when you are happy, sing; when you are sad, sing too. Singing Dong songs keeps worries away and I want my children to be happy,鈥 she said. Under Hu鈥檚 guidance, her two daughters became excellent singers and have won many music competitions and have performed in France and Spain.
鈥淲e have learned not only singing skills but also life lessons from our mother,鈥 said Hu鈥檚 daughter Yang Xiuzhu, emphasizing that Hu always tells them the philosophy of the Dong people that life is just like singing Dong songs in a Kam Grand Choir where everybody cooperates.
In addition to teaching her children, Hu has also been teaching kids in her village of 716 residents.
Hu鈥檚 39-year-old daughter-in-law Yang Huanzhen was one of her students.
鈥淪he always smiles and is kind to everyone. She is patient and never gets upset in front of the kids,鈥 Yang said.
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