Musical instrument đàn bầu as a symbol of ethnic culture in Vietnam and beyond

The article focuses on đàn bầu, the traditional Vietnamese single-string musical instrument. It examines the construction features of đàn bầu, the playing technique, analyzes the reliable information on the history of đàn bầu, defines the place of đàn bầu in the system of Vietnamese musical instruments in old and contemporary Vietnam, and argues that đàn bầu has the function of an ethnic marker for the Vietnamese diasporas overseas. The article examines the role of đàn bầu using the example the Jing community, i.e., Vietnamese people living in China, in the border areas with Vietnam. The playing technique is examined on the experience of the author, who learned to play the Vietnamese monochord during her study in Hanoi in 2007. The article is relevant because Vietnam is currently preparing a dossier for the recognizing đàn bầu as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. In addition, on November 1, 2020, a regulation on the protection of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the Jing people, including the single-string musical instrument duxianqin (a Chinese name for đàn bầu), entered into force in China. Folk music is important in modern Vietnam in terms of the national identity construction, that is why giving đàn bầu heritage status in China creates a tense situation around the most famous and significant instrument. The article uses both primary and secondary sources on the topic, including Lê Quý Đôn's manuscript "Kiến Văn Tiểu Lục" (1777) in Hán văn.

đàn bầu, Vietnamese music, Jing, monochord, border areas, ethnic Vietnamese