(VOVworld) – When the spring comes, Ba Na ethnic people in the Central Highlands set aside farm work to play brass Gongs to welcome a New Year. Gong performance is being preserved through the effort of people who have a great passion for their traditional culture. One is teacher Le Huu Phong, who has been involved in restoring and promoting the Gong culture of the Ba Na ethnic group in Mang Yang district, Gia Lai province.


Teacher Phong (in white shirt in the middle) shows his students playing Gong

Le Huu Phong, Rector of Mang Yang district’s Ethnic Minority Boarding School was the first to introduce Gong performance and Xoang dance to the school. Through the instruction of Phong and other local artists, most of the pupils can now play a musical instrument. The school has 5 classes, each with a Gong and folk dancing troupe. They have become familiar faces at district and provincial contests and performances. Many of them have been the seeds of hamlet Gong troupes. Weo, a grade 9 pupil, says: "I learn Gong and general cultural knowledge at school. It’s fun to study both. I feel happy when practicing Gong and traditional culture. I will try to learn better".

The teachers have introduced traditional culture through extra-curricular activities such as brocade weaving and singing folksongs. In 1994, student performances of folksongs accompanied by Xoang dancing and Gong playing directed by teacher Phong won top prizes at the National Singing Contest of Ethnic Minority Children.

Teacher Phong was born in Hung Yen province. He moved to Gia Lai province to work at the cultural and educational sector in 1984. He was named Rector of Mang Yang Ethnic Minority Boarding School in 2007. He felt in love with the mysterious sound of Gong on the first day he came there. Over the past 30 years, teacher Phong has spent a lot of time studying the local culture. His great passion for Central Highlands culture and music has helped him integrate into the life of the local people. Teacher Phong says: "At the beginning, I visited all hamlet festivals to enjoy and learn more about Gong performance. I was really interested in it. I recognized that the custom has gradually faded and I wanted to preserve it. I have collected a lot of old songs and Gong performances. When I came to the boarding school, I began to use them to teach my pupils."

Teacher Phong is also known as a Ba Na linguist. He is the author of a Vietnamese – Ba Na and Ba Na - Vietnamese dictionary published in 2008, and a Ba Na language, instruction manual for state officials and military forces published in 2010.