“Đúm” singing at Thuy Nguyen district's festival in Hai Phong province

Abstract

The love song is one of the unique folk songs formed from the cultural life of the ancient Vietnamese. It’s a form of male-female reciprocal singing developed through the course of production and labor, connecting with traditional festivals and “Đúm” singing in the North. The coastal region of Thuy Nguyen, Hai Phong, however, is where this art is still practiced on a large scale and has distinctive elements in the local culture. Here, "Đúm" singing plays a significant role in the working class' spiritual life. Nevertheless, compared to the old traditional singing, Thuy Nguyen's Đúm singing has undergone a significant transformation over time. As a result, pressing issues must be brought up in order to safeguard and elevate the value of this folk art form.