ALL
narrative poem
ICH Elements 3
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Lkhon Sbaek Thom (Large Shadow Theatre)
There are three types of "shadow theater: large shadow theater, small shadow theater, and colored shadow theatre. "Large Shadow Puppet or Lkhon Sbaek Thom" is one of the oldest and most revered theaters in the country. It is interesting that in the inscription of Wat Baseth (K, 78) written in AD. 668 and 677 with the word "tokkatak" and the inscription of Kork Chak temple (K. 155) in the 7th century CE, there was the word "tokk tor", which are now called "tokkaktar". A picture that can be held up or down or a drawing that plays a story. Although it is not possible to confirm that this word is an ancient Khmer word called for "shadow theater", but it is also a proof or idea for consideration. The Lkhon Sbaek Thom only plays the story of Reamker, which is an ancient epic, and because the story of Reamker is too long, the whole story is never performed. Therefore, it is only excerpted the scene only. Traditionally, Lkhon Sbaek Thom is performed only in large ceremonies that are characterized by faith, devotion, prayer, and so on. Major ceremonies with large shadows include the Royal Cremation Ceremony and the Royal Family, Samdech Preah Sangkhareach, Chao Athikar Wat, Coronation Ceremony, and Birthday Celebration of the King, Chao Athikar Wat .... As for the ceremonies in the villages and districts, there are burial ceremonies in Khan Seima, the Inauguration Ceremony of the Buddha Statue, the ceremony for various achievements in the pagoda, Bon Phum, and so on. Lkhon Sbaek Thom is performed with a white canvas, about 2-3 meters wide, about 8-10 meters long, stretching about 1 meter above the ground. Behind the white cloth, there is a fireplace about 1 meter above the ground for lighting to illuminate the skin on the white cloth. Before the performance, they have to hold a ceremony to offer and pray to the masters and the souls. In that ceremony, a puppet shadow is put in front of the stage, and the most important image is Ey Sei, which is placed in the center and accompanied by the main characters, such as Noreay Pleng Sor, Preah Ream, Krong Reap, Hanuman, etc. In front of the skin, they prepare offerings of Bay Sei, Sla Thor, bananas, Mlu Sla, flowers, candles, incense, and rice ... as well as a bowl of blessing water. During the ceremony, all the performers must come and light candles and incense, with a teacher leading the prayer ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, the performance begins with the performer (also known as the "Neak Jert Sbaek") picking up a piece of Sbaek that is already arranged according to the story, places it next to the white cloth to reflect the shadows, and move it up and down with the rhythm of the music, accompanied by a narrative voice. In a fighting scene, the Sbaek are placed one on top of the other, or sometimes the two Sbaek are pressed against each other, slightly apart from the canvas, in order to make the fighting scene more realistic, leaving the two skins behind the performers to turn to a fight, pretend that the Sbaek is fighting like that. The audience can easily understand the story of the large shadow drama because of the narrator. That is why the narrator has a very important role. The narrators are usually old people who know the story well, although sometimes they have to look to the Sastra for help. Narrators sometimes have one and sometimes two to correspond. The words that are said are a collection of words, a poem and a list of words. The best narrator is one who uses humorous words to make the audience laugh. The fire that accompanies the large shadow theater is the music of Pin Peat ensemble. Usually, the skins for the large shadow theatre are made of cow skin, but according to some opinions, the main characters such as Ey Sei, Eyso and Noreay in ancient times were made from the skins of big tigers or bears, because these characters have higher power than the other characters. Freshly peeled skin is first cleaned and "killed" by staining the ashes and soaking in boiling water. The type of wood that is used to soak the leather is mixed with a strong sour and bitter wood so that it gives the leather color, lasts a long time and prevents insects from eating. Then the leather is carved into pictures according to the desired story. When carved, the bark is boiled to make ink to turn the leather brown, and the most important bark is the middle bark. Finally, a bamboo stick is used to tie the leather vertically, using one or two bamboo strips the size of the figure to hold the skin so that the leather can be held for the performance. According to research reports, between the 1960s-70s, there are large shadow theater groups in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang. In 1965, the large shadow theater troupe was formed in the traditional dance troupe under the "National Preservation of Performance" and later become the "Department of Performing Arts", now under the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. In addition to the large shadow theater group of the Department of Performing Arts, there are also large shadow groups of the Arts Associations and Communities such as large shadow group, Sovannaphum Arts Association (Phnom Penh), Kork Thlok Arts Association (Phnom Penh), Wat Reach Bo (Siem Reap), Large shadow troupe Lok Ta Ty Chien (Siem Reap), large shadow group Lok Ta Hing (Siem Reap) and Banteay Meanchey Provincial Department of Culture.
Cambodia -
Lozey: Lyrical Ballad
Lozey (lyrical ballad or witty narratives) is a form of oral expression, appropriately described as one of the ornaments of speech. According to the accounts of elderly citizens in the western districts, the origin of Lozey goes back to the 12th century coinciding with the arrival of Phajo Drugom Zhigpo (1148-1251). Often known as Togden Phajo, he was a Tibetan saint whose life and deeds are closely linked with the initial spread of the Drukpa School of teachings in Bhutan in accordance with the prophesy of Tsangpa Gyare (11611211), the founder of the Drukpa Kagyud Lineage. Phajo Drugom Zhigpo was followed by numerous Tibetan scholars who disseminated the teachings of the Buddha. Amongst these realised beings Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651) was the destined leader. He instituted the traditions based on the Buddhist values of Mi-choe tsangma chudrug (sixteen virtues for mundane practice) and reformed the old traditions, resulting in establishment of the dual system of government in Bhutan, whereby a temporal ruler coexists with the spiritual authority of the nation. Amongst those indigenous traditions, the songs Parshing mindru gyelmo and Zurchen gyi sheypa are the most popular in Bhutan and are sung especially during the construction of typical Bhutanese house made of rammed earth. These age old songs are solely sung by the people of central and western Bhutan. Parshing Mindru Gyelmo is an honorific name given to the wooden tools used for ramming earth, therefore the tools are respected and revered as an embodiment of Khandro Sonam Peldon, consort of Phajo Drugom Zhigpo. The song has many verses inviting the Parshing Mindru Gyelmo to visit from Tibet and concludes with propitious words of seeing her off back to Tibet during the consecration ceremony for the new house. Similarly, Zurchen gi sheypa (song sung during the installation of four phalluses on the four eaves of the house facing the four directions) is also sung on the day of the consecration ceremony. Two groups are formed for the singing of the songs, normally separate groups for males and females. There are often verbal skirmishes between the male and female groups. A quick-witted and verbally eloquent person may compose appropriate verses of response on the spot based on the nature of the opponents’ song. It is said that the verses of these songs are so long, “if sung till the end, it is believed that it could last for almost a day” as told by a few elderly citizens. There have been incidents in the past when the host family had to place a large Palla (bamboo container) of Ara (distilled home brew) down and request the verbally warring songsters to reconcile. However, these songs are actually a type of ballad or narrative poem to which a melody was added later. The recitation of Lozey is still widely practised in the western part of Bhutan and is regarded as an entertainment and enjoyment by one and old alike. There are variants of given names for Lozey, sometimes it is also written as Losel, but, there is no clue why, since both terms have their separate sets of definitions. According to Lopon Kunzang Thinley, chief researcher at KMT Press, Thimphu, Lozey is an art of speech which requires a unique skill in making rapid response. It requires constant flow like the hair on a horse’s neck, thus, the term ‘lo’ means statement and ‘ze’ refers to the neck hair, and in this context to the brilliance of the bantering back and forth. Lozey is defined as brilliant, intelligent, clever and bright. In both Dzongkha and Tibetan dictionaries, Lozey is defined as any prompt statement constructed in verse well decorated with rhetorical qualities of similes and metaphors according to the situation. Such qualities can only be attributed to intelligent, quick-thinking and witty persons. Lozey is of three kinds: popular lozey (which consist various subject and episodes occur depending on the moods and feelings), lojue lozey (a narrative, usually of epic dimension), and finally lozey labja (lozey associated with advice and guidance). Therefore, most often lozey dwells within these episodes; che toed (praising), nyen lu or zalu (romantic), dralu (odium), medlu (disgrace), trolu (joyful), cholu (sad), tse tshol (debating/challenging), trashi/monlu (supplication) and lozey labja (advice/guidance). Lozey labja is sometimes identical to kortam (innuendo or indirect statement). Lozey has no fixed length, but may be long or short, which entirely depends upon the depth of knowledge of a person, but generally the shortest will vary from three lines to fifteen. Short lozey are called lozey do thum while long ones are called lozey jun-ringm. However, loju lozey are historical accounts and regarded as the longest and some lojue lozey are accounts drawn from oral tradition of how the fortresses were constructed by Zhabdrung Nawang Namgyal. Lozey of each district has its own unique characteristics in style, language tone and recitation tune. Sometimes lozey can be used as means of debate or verbal skirmishes between people of different communities or villages, and between male and female. At least two participants are required for a lozey. After one has recited the initial verse, the other responds depending on the gist of the preceding verse. This is called Lozey khaejew (lozey competition) in Dzongkha. While reciting lozey, the rules are very simple. Depending on the type, if the opponent has good knowledge, he/she must respond with the same similes and metaphors that were used by the other. The challenge will continue until a winner or a draw is declared. In both cases, messages will be conveyed through eloquent usage of metaphors and symbols. The responses are never direct. Nevertheless, lozey can be used for both entertainment and wish-making in every aspect of life such as: Parshing gi she pa, Zurchen gi she pa, Dha she (description of Arrow), Gishey (description of Sword), Zo she (description of an Art), Shog da kuelwa (encouraging words while dragging large logs or boulders), Lang key (Praising words to the Oxen while ploughing), Che sho (making wishes while sowing seeds) and Bab she (wish-making while threshing rice) etc. A person who has the knowledge and skills is known as kham khe gyep (King of eloquence or an articulate person) in Dzongkha.
Bhutan -
Syair
Syair is a form of traditional Malay poetry that is made up of four-line stanzas or quatrains. The syair can be a narrative poem, a didactic poem, a poem used to convey ideas on religion or philosophy, or even one to describe a historical event. The word syair is derived from the Arabic word shi’r, a term that covers all genres of Arabic/Islamic poetry. However, the Malay form which goes by the name syair is somewhat different and not modelled on Arabic poetry or on any of the genres of Perso-Arab poetry. The earliest known record of syair is from the work of Hamzah Fansuri, a famous Malay poet in the 17th century.The most famous syair is a 1847 poem by Raja Pengiran Indera Mahkota Shahbandar: Syair Rakis. It is considered to be the passage to modern Malaysian literature. Many characteristics of the Malay syair have become standard items in handbooks and textbooks concerned with classical Malay literature. These works uniformly agree that the syair consists of a series of quatrains containing an ongoing story. The final syllable of each line (kerat) within a stanza (bait or rangkap or untai) rhymes with every other final syllable of that stanza (aaaa, bbbb, .... ). Furthermore, the line generally consists of four words with a more or less definable caesura (jeda) after the second word. Syair has a continuous story throughout the quatrain and between quatrains.
Malaysia