Khanh Son stone organ - a treasure more than 2,000 years old

Two sets of Khanh Son stone instruments are about 2,500-3,000 years old, with lively sounds, bearing the characteristics of the Central Highlands mountains and forests.

The stone organ was recognized by the Prime Minister as a national treasure in January. The artifact is made from rhyolite porphyre , a natural stone distributed mainly in the mountains of Khanh Son (Khanh Hoa province) to Bac Ai (Khanh Hoa province). Ninh Thuan). The stone bars are dark gray and sturdy. When tapped, the sound is as distant and clear as the sound of copper or steel.

The treasure was roughly carved into cylindrical stone bars, rough in shape, with large, deep cuts and little repair. Therefore, the surface of the head of each bar shows smooth wear marks, with a diameter of about 4.8 cm to 12.6 cm, which is the impact point of the percussion object.

Khanh Son stone organ. (Photo: Department of Cultural Heritage).

Treasure records of the Department of Cultural Heritage prove that this is a unique original artifact with a unique form.

The Khanh Son stone instrument set was discovered by the family of Mr. Bo Bo Ren - a Raglai ethnic group - at Doc Gao mountain, Trung Hap commune (now To Hap town, Khanh Son district) around 1947, while working in the fields. . Based on materials, colors, patina layers, and manufacturing techniques, the artifacts are determined to be about 2,500-3,000 years old.

After surveying and realizing that this was a rare artifact, in March 1979, the government encouraged Mr. Bo Bo Ren's family to donate the stone instrument to the State for research, preservation and introduction to the public.

In 1980, the Archeology Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Academy of Social Sciences, the Vietnam Museum of History and the Vietnam Music Research Institute conducted two surveys at the top of Doc Gao mountain, discovering more than 500 pieces of bamboo and The stones of the Khanh Son stone organ, some of which are still unfinished and broken. This shows that the national treasure was crafted on the spot, not transported from another place.

At the end of March 2023, the artifact "returned" to the Khanh Hoa provincial museum after more than 40 years of being preserved at the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts in Ho Chi Minh City.

Close-up of Khanh Son stone organ. (Photo: Department of Cultural Heritage).

The treasure is divided into two sets, each set has six bars. In set A, the heaviest bar is 9 grams, the lightest 5 grams. With set B, the heaviest and lightest bars are 28.1 grams and 10.5 grams, respectively. The length of the 12 bars ranges from 45.6 cm to 113 cm.

Due to the structure of the crafted material, the sound of the stone instrument is lively, both fun and quiet. When the artist performs, the listener feels the sound of the instrument is like birdsong echoing in the forest, sometimes like the sound of falling waterfalls.

According to the Department of Cultural Heritage, two sets of Khanh Son stone instruments can play familiar folk songs of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands , or be used to perform new music in the style of the Central Highlands but meet current requirements. grand. As of 1980, there were more than 50 works composed, tested and staged as performances for the Khanh Son stone instrument and other stone instruments. Most of them are solos, duets, trios of stone instruments with accompaniment by the ethnic orchestra, some performances of stone instruments accompany soloists, groups or a combination of stone instruments and dance.

Professor and musician Luu Huu Phuoc, former Director of the Vietnam Music Research Institute, commented in December 1979: "The audience was convinced that those rough, rough, moldy stone slabs were indeed real. Ancient instruments used to accompany the songs and dances of our ancestors.

Previously, treasures were used by the Raglai people to chase away animals and protect their fields. Later, at important festivals such as grave leaving ceremonies and new rice celebrations, the stone instrument was always the first to be performed by people, considering this a means of connection between people and heaven and earth. The treasure file concludes: "This is a set of stone instruments that is very valuable in terms of musicology, dating back thousands of years and is a typical artifact associated with the cultural life of the province's mountainous ethnic minorities. Khanh Hoa".

The performance "Dan Oi sing with me" was performed by artist Bo Bo Hung as soloist of Khanh Son stone instrument and the district's mass art troupe in 2018.

Since 2020, Khanh Son district has surveyed and restored three systems of water stone altars to protect the fields according to the original Raglai people. Each system has nine to 15 large, long and resonant stone bars, arranged at natural streams in three locations: Doc Gao village (To Hap town), Ba Cum Nam commune and Thanh Son commune. For performance stone instruments, the district crafted 10 sets, each set includes 14 bars, which can be used for solos and ensembles. In addition, this place also sets up classes to teach stone instruments so that the next generation can promote the cultural beauty that their ancestors created.