18

Changes in Funeral Music Practices of Vietnamese People 
in the Northern Delta, Vietnam

Nguyen Dinh Lam

Vietnam National University, Vietnam

Submitted: 2023-09-06. Revised: 2024-02-17. Accepted: 2024-05-10

Abstract

The funeral music of the Vietnamese people in the Northern Delta represents unique type of tra-
ditional musical heritage practiced and passed down by many generations of Vietnamese people 
to this day. Vietnamese people often say: “Sống dầu đèn, chết kèn trống” (If you live with lamp oil, 
die with trumpets and drums) - meaning that the sound of drums and trumpets at the funeral of 
the dead is like fire and oil in human life. However, this unique artistic heritage is facing a risk 
of change, as many traditional qualities in this type of music are gradually hybridizing and dis-
appearing. The main research method of this study is qualitative research, focusing on in-depth 
interviews with elite artisans - elderly people with good memories and the ability to excel in 
practicing funeral music. In-depth interviews are done with artisans in families who have prac-
ticed and taught funeral music for generations. Research results show that the funeral music of 
Vietnamese people in the Northern Delta has changed quite a lot compared to tradition; Modern 
compositions songs are gradually being practiced in the Vietnamese funeral space here. The main 
reason is that the local cultural heritage management and preservation policy, for many years, 
was not given much attention. At the same time, pragmatic economic factors resulting from these 
artisans practicing this heritage in the face of the impact of the new economic context of society 
- are also the central cause of this transformation. The need to preserve this precious heritage in 
the cultural and social life of contemporary Vietnamese people is also an issue discussed in this 
study. 

Keywords: funeral music; unique heritage; Vietnamese people in the Northern Delta; change; 
social context; preservation and promotion  

How to Cite: Lam, N. D. (2024). Changes in Funeral Music Practices of Vietnamese People in the Northern Delta, Vietnam. 
Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education, 24(1), 18-35

Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 24 (1) (2024), 18-35
Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15294/harmonia.v24i1.47436

tists practicing funeral music and receiving 
preliminary knowledge of this unique he-
ritage, the author realized that a return to 
this issue would be necessary after comple-
ting the thesis. In 2012, the author focused 
on researching the topic with the desire to 
provide a full picture of the funeral music 
in the northern delta region, contributing 
to preserving and promoting this unique 
artistic heritage in contemporary cultural 

INTRODUCTION

In 2008, during a field trip to study 
music in Buddhist rituals in the northern 
delta to conduct a doctoral thesis on this 
topic, the author was amazed by the lega-
cy of funeral music of the Vietnamese in 
this area – a unique traditional art that is 
almost not discussed by domestic music 
researchers. When meeting with many ar-

Corresponding author: 
 E-mail: tunglamtongiao@gmail.com 

p-ISSN 2541-1683|e-ISSN 2541-2426



Nguyen Dinh Lam, Changes in Funeral Music Practices of Vietnamese People 19

life. However, the author also realized that 
practitioners of traditional funeral music 
are losing their ways and identity as many 
run for profit by using non-traditional mu-
sic sources to attract customers. Therefore, 
to gradually decipher the unique values of 
traditional Vietnamese funeral music, the 
study will evaluate its changes with the 
desire to raise awareness among national 
and international researchers related to 
traditional performing arts.

In the cultural life of Vietnamese 
people, folk music is part of their lives 
from birth until death. From lullabies for 
babies over nursery rhymes for teenagers 
and children and folk songs that depict the 
love of adulthood to forms of funeral mu-
sic that send people off to the other side 
– all of these forms of folk music express 
their own unique features and core values 
of a culture with thousands of years of his-
tory.

In Vietnam, traditional funeral music 
is a functional art form. As a functional art, 
funeral music is performed according to 
specific principles and regulations throug-
hout the funeral until the dead person is 
buried. Each ethnic group and religion uses 
funeral music according to its principles, 
but each musical element is used as signal 
and command to help the funeral processi-
on take place according to these principles, 
sequentially, and with a certain meaning. 
According to Caswell (2012), both sacred 
and secular music are common for fune-
rals when personalized for the individual 
passed away. Music in a funeral setting is 
used as a means of control, inclusion and 
exclusion, a source of collective action, 
and as a means of creating or transforming 
emotions and recalling the deceased. Mu-
sical instruments are used according to the 
specific cultural principles of each cultural 
group. As such, the H’mông only allow 
drums when someone dies, and they are 
not used at other traditional cultural activi-
ties. The Chăm H’roi in Phú Yên use gongs 
when performing the funeral; the Lô Lô in 
Cao Bang province use bronze drums for 
the dry ghost ceremony, which must be 
buried in the ground when someone dies. 

That is, when someone dies in the village, 
people do a ritual to dig up the grave for a 
bronze drum to perform the funeral. When 
the funeral is done, people bury this musi-
cal instrument in the ground. This instru-
ment is not kept in the house but is always 
buried in the ground, according to their 
traditional beliefs.

Funeral music has always shown a 
sad nature. Whether it is the funeral music 
of the Mường, the Tày, the Thái, or the Êđê 
or whether the music is used in the fune-
rals of Catholics, Buddhists, followers of 
Cao Đài or other belief systems, most fu-
neral music expresses sadness, pain, and 
suffering. McFerran and Crooke (2016) 
argue that the age-old relationship bet-
ween music and emotion makes this con-
nection almost inevitable. Therefore, in the 
traditional culture of Vietnamese ethnic 
groups, regardless of the cultural context, 
historical period, or religion, ceremonial 
music is always a means of expressing the 
thoughts of the living to the dead, that is, 
primarily sadness, except for some special 
cases which will be analyzed below.

Practical research on traditional 
folk music in Vietnam over the years has 
shown that most forms of traditional fune-
ral music are constantly changing. In each 
historical period, music has changed and 
new musical melodies and traditional mu-
sical instruments were added and built up. 
As ethnic communities live in coexisten-
ce, alternating with each other, they have 
exchanges and import cultural and mu-
sical influences of each other. However, 
the State of Vietnam attempted to reform 
rituals in the period after 1954. This “state 
functionalism” could not succeed in cont-
rolling all meanings and values, as funeral 
ceremonies had long become tradition and 
a habit deeply ingrained in the social and 
cultural life and community consciousness. 
Nevertheless, the transformative dialogue 
(According to the traditional Vietnamese 
point of view: Music functions as a dialo-
gue between the living, between the living 
and the dead, and even between humans 
and gods, in a sense, in indigenous cultural 
traditions) began to take place, which was 



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 24 (1) (2024): 18-3520

a dialogue with its historical forebears, cre-
ating a set of rituals and ritual ideas, inclu-
ding the use of music (Malarney, 1996). 

Among the musical heritage of the 54 
ethnic groups in Vietnam, funeral music is 
the richest form, preserving many tradi-
tional elements. Accounting for over 80% 
of the population in the region and a rich 
history, the Kinh in the North of Vietnam 
have created their own unique traditional 
culture, of which funeral music is one of 
the legacies that can confirm the specifici-
ty of this region’s funeral music culture. 
The appearance of funeral music, as well 
as its constituent parts, will be analyzed in 
depth in the main body of the article.

Research on the funeral music of 
Vietnamese people in the North has been 
carried out by numerous researchers late-
ly with different aspects. In 2001, Le Cam 
Ly published a study on the cosmology 
and the Vietnamese people’s view of life 
through funeral performances. The aut-
hor discussed the issue of funerals from 
an ethical and cultural point of view, con-
sidering funerals as a form of promoting 
village feelings, filial piety, and devotion. 
Issues related to the economics of funeral 
workers were also initially studied here. In 
2006, researcher Dang (2006) also studied 
this issue, and he approached funerals 
from a musical and cultural perspective. 
He identified the importance of funerals 
in the cultural life of Vietnamese people, 
as well as other life-cycle rituals, including 
wedding ceremonies. Loan described the 
basic funeral orchestra, including instru-
ments such as traditional woodchips trum-
pet (kèm dăm), nhị (ehu), bass erhu (hồ), tra-
ditional bamboo flute (sáo trúc), traditional 
rice drum (trống cơm) and tam instrument 
(đàn tam).

In 2012, during the fourth internatio-
nal conference on Vietnamese studies, held 
in Hanoi, Loan presented a study on the 
changes in the practice of funeral music of 
Vietnamese people in the northern delta, 
focusing on the changes and the direct im-
pact of policies and history. However, like 
previous studies on funeral music, due to 
the lack of survey data, the research results 

were not as expected. Identifying funeral 
music as an issue that needs to be resear-
ched to supplement the scientific literature 
for ethnography in Vietnam, and so, the 
author continued to expand the surveys 
in many other provinces and cities in the 
northern delta. In addition to identifying 
musical characteristics in this area, the 
work discusses in depth the changes and 
causes of any changes. The hypothesis is 
that the funeral folk music of the Vietna-
mese people in the north of Vietnam has 
changed but still retains many traditional 
values. Thus, preserving and developing 
traditional funeral music is also an impor-
tant measure to preserve traditional Viet-
namese characteristics.

Funeral music is recorded in many 
countries around the world and is domi-
nated by folk and traditional music (Cas-
well, 2011; Prelovšek, 2017; Jones, 2008). In 
Europe’s Primorska region, the practice of 
contemporary funeral music follows the 
local folk tradition, also with various tra-
ditional weeping songs. Funeral and mu-
sic choices are colored by the presence of 
the sea, bringing out the most popular lo-
cal bands and repertoire (Prelovsek, 2021). 
In Slovenia, according to Prelovšek, folk 
music predominates, followed by popular 
music; classical music is rarely requested 
at funerals (Prelovšek,  2017). And, funeral 
music has more value, more acoustic ener-
gy, more musical expression than non-fu-
neral music. Meanwhile, the appearance of 
dances at funerals is very rare (Hanser et 
al., 2022).

Funeral music emerges from funerals 
and performs specific functions. Funerals 
constitute expressive action – a communi-
cation system that articulates human-to-
human relationships between humans and 
the natural and supernatural environment 
– and an ethical system encryption is car-
ried out to achieve certain effects in these 
relationships (Hampton, 1982). The music 
that people choose at funerals provides 
an interesting reflection on a society’s at-
titudes towards death and how society 
at large over death expresses grief. In a 
way, funeral music explores the tension 

https://www.cambridge.org/core/search?filters%5BauthorTerms%5D=Barbara%20L.%20Hampton&eventCode=SE-AU


Nguyen Dinh Lam, Changes in Funeral Music Practices of Vietnamese People 21

between fitness and the need for personal 
expression in funerals as exemplified by 
musical choices (Sandra and Davidson, 
2016). Music can perform a number of va-
luable psychological functions in dealing 
with grief. The music used in funerals has 
evolved towards interpreting life, and this 
reflects important changes in approaches 
to questions of life and death (Sandra and 
Waldo, 2016). Emotions in the ringing of 
bells for the dead in England between AD 
500 and AD 700 mattered in certain com-
munities and individuals. Bells announced 
the cycle of life and death. The bell notified 
the whole parish community when some-
one died, and they are crucial in ritual per-
formance, death, burial, and mourning. Si-
multaneous ringing of bells can unite and 
divide parishes, as performing the ritual 
sounds of death, burial, and mourning, 
and is special to each emotional commu-
nity (Dolly, 2016). People who participate 
in music therapy often deal with grief and 
loss issues related to their other experien-
ces with disability and mental and physical 
illness. The age-old relationship between 
music and emotion makes this connection 
almost inevitable (Katrina and Alexander, 
2016). And, contemporary funeral rites are 
all concerned with ‘living religion’ – how 
religion is ‘lived’ both inside and outsi-
de an institutionalized environment and 
how relationships with the deceased are 
not severed but continue. Funeral music 
referring to heaven and angels can also be 
considered an element of the ritual (Bruin, 
2019).

Music is also a symbol and signifies 
the behavior of a society and culture. It 
supports cultural norms, displaying them 
in symbolic form through public perfor-
mances, and ensures that acceptance and 
reinforcement of cultural norms is achie-
ved as basic characteristics of the commu-
nity. Funeral music is also highly political 
because the people who practice the music 
communicate social issues. Thus, politics 
and social context govern funeral music; 
conversely, funeral music has an impor-
tant place in society (Woma, 2012).

Funerals constitute the social nature 

of death and mourning, often working to 
ease the painful transition for the berea-
ved. The physical, typographic, semantic, 
spatial, and temporal organization of these 
textual artifacts mobilizes the sentiments 
and structures of moral relationships du-
ring a funeral. Tradition is nourished by ri-
tual, and it can retroactively limit the pos-
sibilities for moral conduct (Shohet, 2018). 
For example, music is important in the 
social life of the H’mông, influencing the 
framing pattern, and it is found in funeral 
music. It reflects social organization, the 
art of language forming, poetic structure, 
and graphic design that can be extended 
and applied to the qeej’s musical and social 
roles in funerals (Catherine, 2003).

Funeral musical variation is a com-
mon rule. As observed by Chan and Chow 
(2017), when studying the British presen-
ce of traditional Chinese culture in Hong 
Kong in 1841, Hong Kong became an ef-
fective location for the study of Chinese 
culture, social change, and its impact on 
funeral rites (Sharon et al., 2017). In Chi-
na, social context is important in creating 
music in society. Funeral and ceremonial 
music underwent various modifications 
during the 20th century in the city of Yu-
lin, the regional capital, illustrating the 
contrast with the region (Jones, 2009). Ho-
wever, local traditions are still clearly ref-
lected in the music in each region. Funeral 
ritual music in southern Anhui province, 
located just west of Shanghai, has a variety 
of Chinese funeral sounds, creating a dis-
tinction between Eastern and Western mu-
sic (Kun, 2014). Funeral traditions in many 
parts of China are still maintained, in cont-
rast to some other traditions that were abo-
lished under Maoism. Despite profound 
social upheavals, the meaning of funerals 
in rural society has remained unchanged 
enough for associations to maintain (Jones, 
2008). Similarly, Japanese funeral music 
has many variations from tradition (Hi-
rochika, 1986).

In many traditions, funeral music 
can be traced back to ancient songs and 
chants designed to ward off spirits. Tradi-
tion remains important for individuals in 



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 24 (1) (2024): 18-3522

choosing funeral music over music of per-
sonal significance in that it relates to the 
individual’s memories, values, and beliefs. 
It illustrates how the music played at fune-
rals, to some extent, reflects the changing 
attitudes towards death in society at large. 
However, with the changing practice of 
funerals today, including the increasing 
problem of cremation in secular funerals 
in the 20th century, musical choices began 
to change. Most of the music chosen for fu-
nerals in modern Western cultures reflects 
personal values, regardless of whether 
those values include religious beliefs (San-
dra and Jane, 2016).

Thus, funeral music exists in each 
culture and accompanies the culture from 
a very early age, with traditional music as 
an important background. The emergen-
ce of funeral music also demonstrates the 
symbolism and values of indigenous cul-
ture, in which music functions according 
to the individual philosophies of each par-
ticular cultural community.

The northern delta, also known as 
the Red River Delta, combines various 
subcultures with great similarities in geo-
graphical and cultural characteristics and 
includes the provinces and cities Hà Nội, 
Hải Phòng, Hải Dương, Hưng Yên, Nam 
Định, Thái Bình, Hà Nam, Vĩnh Phúc, and 
Bắc Ninh province. Apart from Thái Bình 
and Hưng Yên, there are no mountains. 
The rest of the provinces have only small 
mountains and hills (Thong, 2006).

In this paper, the author hypothesi-
zes and shows that the funeral music of 
the Vietnamese people in the northeastern 
region has been preserved and promoted 
until now because of its function as an 
environment and performance space. It 
should be added that the Vietnamese here 
practice traditional ancestor worship be-
liefs, not monotheistic religions. However, 
many Vietnamese practice a larger religion 
(such as Catholicism) and ancestor wor-
ship. Whereas in the West, those would be 
mutually exclusive, these syncretistic be-
lief systems work in Vietnam. Although it 
has changed alarmingly, it is necessary to 
research and, from there, preserve the cul-

tural values of traditional Vietnamese mu-
sic, particularly traditional funeral music. 

Funeral music has had changes and 
impacts from policies and social contexts 
in many aspects, most clearly since Đổi 
mới (1986). Historically, around the mid-
dle of 1980, the domestic economy fell into 
a serious crisis, and people suffered as the 
cooperative economy revealed many ina-
dequacies. Facing that crisis, in December 
1986, the Sixth National Party Congress 
was held and set the direction for urgent 
and comprehensive strategic change, inclu-
ding the agricultural and rural economy. 
Previously, Vietnam’s economy was self-
sufficient with centralized bureaucratic 
subsidies under the direct management of 
the state. At the congress, the multi-sector 
economy, including the private and indivi-
dual economy, began to be discussed, cre-
ating conditions for people to develop. Ac-
cording to Do (2009), the 1986 reform has 
made way for sociocultural and religious 
transformations in Vietnam in line with 
Vietnam’s reintegration into the world 
markets.

The Central Resolution No. 10-NQ/
TW from April 5, 1988, on rural economic 
renewal of the Politburo stated that one 
key content was to create economic auto-
nomy opportunities for households. The 
following Resolution of the Fifth Conferen-
ce of the Seventh Central Committee of the 
Party dated June 10, 1993, on continuing 
innovation and rural socio-economic deve-
lopment put the agricultural and economic 
development in the direction of commodi-
ty production in the process of industriali-
zation and modernization of the country, 
considering it a strategic task of top impor-
tance (Communist Party of Vietnam, 2007). 
The Resolution of the Fifth Plenum of the 
Central Committee (Term VII) focused on 
promoting the industrialization of agricul-
ture and rural areas, along with restructu-
ring the rural economy (Communist Party 
of Vietnam, 2007). However, besides the 
socio-economic renewal through these 
resolutions, it is impossible not to pay at-
tention to the strong and comprehensive 
impact on folklore in the villages. Com-



Nguyen Dinh Lam, Changes in Funeral Music Practices of Vietnamese People 23

munal music, particularly funeral music, 
had been affected by the Prime Minister’s 
strategy to build a new rural cultural life 
in the 2010-2020 period according to Deci-
sion No. 800/QD-TTg dated June 4, 2010. 
This was a “catalyst” (“chất xúc tác”) that 
has acted as another important step for the 
transformation of funeral music, especial-
ly in funeral marriages, in which time has 
been reduced.

Also, Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW da-
ted August 5, 2008, of the 10th Party Cent-
ral Committee Conference asserted that 
this strategy has helped develop indivi-
dual economic thinking. Thus, the renova-
tion policy, especially the economic reno-
vation, has led to changes in all aspects of 
social life, including funeral music culture. 
This is reflected in three points: First, being 
a traditional folk music form, funeral mu-
sic partly became professional music when 
practitioners could make a living. This is 
certainly a motivation but also a problem 
that brings with it countless adjustments to 
the content and musical properties. In fact, 
while in the past, people who practiced fu-
neral music only served because they were 
indiscriminate and had little “lucky mo-
ney” (“lộc”), then later on, this profession 
could “deal” (“thỏa thuận”) with homeow-
ners for wages. According to Practitioners 
24 and 25, the average salary for a funeral 
is currently VND3.3 million. If they work 
in Hanoi, the price can range from VND4.5 
to 5.0 million. In addition, a large amount 
of money is collected from “crying servi-
ces” or “crying for hire” (“khóc thuê”). It 
should be emphasized that, in the cultural 
tradition of the Vietnamese here, they also 
hire members of the music troupe to per-
form funeral music and cry for them, tell 
stories, and showcase the living people’s 
feelings for the deceased. This additional 
task for funeral musicians is called “khóc 
thuê,” roughly translated as “crying for 
hire.” This is also the result of the market 
economy, which has helped rural people, 
including those who work at funerals and 
weddings, to have the opportunity to pro-
mote their traditional occupations and per-
sonal economic development. 

METHOD

The study will also consider the direct 
impacts of the State of Vietnam’s cultural, 
economic, and political policies to clarify 
the changing characteristics of funeral mu-
sic in the north of Vietnam. The open-door 
policy and socio-economic development 
are the most notable reasons for the trans-
formation of funeral music. These overar-
ching changes are the core reasons for the 
change in funeral music practice. The ana-
lysis of these impacts on funeral music will 
be important for the state’s adjustment of 
cultural policies.

The main research method used to 
compile the data for this paper was field 
research. Folk artists, who are old but still 
lucid and were born into families with 
many generations of funeral music practi-
ce, were the focus of in-depth interviews. 
Renowned artists and groups of ceremo-
nial music artists in each locality were 
surveyed in-depth, both with common in-
terviews and participatory interviews, du-
ring their practice of funeral music. Some 
funerals were deeply observed to study 
the entire process, the principles, the se-
quence of musical pieces, and the musical 
instruments in the funeral orchestra. In 
the process of interviews and fieldwork in 
localities, the author also utilized genealo-
gies and professional records as main rese-
arch resources.

Besides this, the funeral music of 
the northern Vietnamese was approached 
with several theories, such as the musical 
theory of traditional Vietnamese music, 
functional and symbolic theory, and cul-
tural theory, to clarify the position and 
nature of funeral music in the Vietnamese 
cultural and spiritual life.

Thus, the study is also based on the 
research method of ethnomusicology, 
combining methods from cultural anthro-
pology and religious studies to show that 
funeral music has a close relationship with 
Vietnamese culture and is an indispensa-
ble part of Vietnamese cultural life. Based 
on research methods of cultural anthropo-



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 24 (1) (2024): 18-3524

logy, the author conducted in-depth inter-
views with insiders (người trong cuộc), 
those who directly practice funeral music 
and those who hire musical groups to per-
form funerals for their loved ones.

The survey sample is made up of 
those who practice and teach talents in 
funeral music practice, especially fami-
lies with a multi-generational tradition of 
practicing this type of music in Bắc Ninh 
and Hải Dương, Hanoi, Nam Định, Thái 
Bình, and Hưng Yên – all localities where 
there are still many talented artisans. The 
interviews focused on the history, names, 
and characteristics of funeral music in ge-
neral and the different genres of singing 
and instrumental music and performances 
used in funerals. The interviewer also at-
tended the musical performances and ob-
served the instruments in each locality. In 
addition, several religious experts were se-
lected for in-depth interviews to clarify is-
sues. Interviews specifically focused on fa-
milies of musicians with many generations 
of funeral music practice, including 25 
interviews with people who practice and 
teach funeral music, five interviews with 
local shamans (thầy cúng); five interviews 
with people in the area, and three religio-
us experts. Although the number of inter-
views was only 35, the author found that 
focusing on older, experienced people led 
to reliable research results. They are peop-
le who have been involved in the creation, 
practice, and teaching of funeral music. In 
addition, relevant experts and individuals 
who have a profound understanding of ac-
culturation and folk art were selected for 
interviews.

Through religious research, funeral 
music is shown to perform a sacred func-
tion at a funeral. In other words, the songs 
of the music used in the funeral are perfor-
med according to the regulations in each 
funeral procession; lyrics cannot be prac-
ticed spontaneously like in entertainment 
music outside a funeral. This is true not 
only in Vietnam but also in neighboring 
China. For instance, the number of perfor-
mers in Chinese funeral music should be 
odd, usually 5 or 7 people. Numbers and 

colors have symbolic meanings, clearly 
representing the Chinese theory of the ori-
gin of the universe. During funerals, the 
“qupai” (a type of music) is chosen from 
a variety of more than 100 tunes, the cho-
ice of which depends on the age of the 
deceased. During such a 3-day ritual, the 
Chinese perform most of the day in front 
of their home (Iguchi Junko, 2004). Thus, 
the use of music is disciplined and strictly 
regulated, similar to Vietnam.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Functions of funeral music and its 
fate in comparison with some other regio-
nal folk music genres

The traditional funeral music of the 
Vietnamese people in the northern delta 
consists of three components:

One is the system and organization 
of the orchestra. The system includes the 
Lâm khốc system, including Lâm khốc ai, 
Lâm khốc xuôi, Lâm khốc ngược, Dàn Thưa, 
Bản Chở, and Thái Bình. Lâm khốc means 
the forest weeps with a sadness that can-
not be expressed in ordinary language, but 
only with the Lâm khốc melody in tradi-
tional Vietnamese funeral music. In it, Lâm 
khốc ai is performed at all stages of the fu-
neral ritual, from the time of admission to 
the end of the burial of the dead; The Lâm 
khốc xuôi is the music used when bringing 
the coffin (quan tài) of the dead from the 
house to the cemetery for burial; Lâm khốc 
ngược is a piece of music used to perform 
when the burial of the dead is completed – 
performed on the way back to the home of 
the dead, at the end of the funeral rite. Dàn 
thưa, Bản chở, and Thái Bình are songs 
that are used interchangeably during the 
funeral process, similar to Lâm khốc ai, 
used mainly when the coffin of the dead 
has not been taken to the cemetery to bury. 
These songs are used and performed by 
the orchestra, in which the trumpet plays 
the melody mainly.

In the music system, there is also sin-
ging, often accompanied by “crying trum-
pets” (Khóc kèn), and the actual crying of 
the deceased’s loved ones when they visit 



Nguyen Dinh Lam, Changes in Funeral Music Practices of Vietnamese People 25

the funeral.
Orchestral arrangements are divided 

into two categories: i) Drums and trumpets 
and ii) the Orchestra of the Eight Sounds. 
Among them, the organization of drums 
and trumpets is the oldest and most im-
portant tradition. The Eight Sound Or-
chestra was traditionally reserved for tho-
se 70 years old or older; young deceased 
would not be mourned with this orchestra, 
but only with drums and trumpets. Howe-
ver, this tradition has changed. 

The second is a system of short folk 
dramas, which includes Mục Liên - Thanh 
Đề; Rowing – Horse spear (Chèo đò- Giáo 
ngựa); Twenty-four filial piety (Nhị thập tứ 
hiếu); and Uncle Tau Listens to the trumpet 
(Chú tàu nghe kèn).

Despite the simple composition sys-
tem, it entails the richness, diversity, and 
uniqueness of its culture and art. The pa-
per will look into these systems in-depth in 
the main body of the paper.

The study also uses functional the-
ory to interpret the music’s specific fun-
ction in funerals, identify funeral music, 
and study its function and changes in this 
region. In sociology, religion, and art, un-
derstanding the parts or the relationship 
of smaller things in the bigger picture has 
helped scientific researchers to recognize 
and decipher many interesting phenome-
na. Finding out the function of each part in 
the whole of a certain structure means ap-
proaching functional theory, which is also 
known as functionalism or structure-func-
tion theory. The basic content of functional 
theory can be laid out with the following 
three aspects:

Firstly, any social phenomenon exists 
and develops in a certain structure; if that 
structure is lost, it means that the object’s 
meaning of existence is lost.

Second, a structure consists of many 
components, and each individual part ex-
presses and assumes its function in the 
synthesis of the elements that make up 
that structure.

Third, the function of each part, in 
addition to the positive functions in the 
structure, there is also a type of counter-

function, which, according to Le Ngoc 
Hung (2011), can reduce the viability and 
adaptability of the structure.

Thus, the essence of functional theo-
ry is to see each individual object in a cer-
tain structure and the role of individual 
objects in the whole of a phenomenon. The 
making of this theory has contributed an 
important part to social research and other 
aspects of social life.

Many successful studies by foreign 
scholars approached the phenomena of 
ethnography, culture, and religious beliefs 
in Vietnam from different perspectives. 
Two famous figures are Georges Condo-
minas (1921-2011) and Léopold Cadière 
(1869-1955). Nowadays, the application of 
functional theory to the study of religious 
phenomena in Vietnam can bring about 
various results. In this article, the author 
uses Emile Durkheim’s functional theory 
to understand the relationship between 
music and Buddhist rituals in the case of 
Buddhism in Hanoi.

In Vietnam, Durkheim is known by 
religious researchers for his significant 
contributions and new perspectives when 
studying religious phenomena, especially 
through the work The Elementary Forms of 
the Religious Life from 1912. According to 
him, “when one explains a social pheno-
menon, it is necessary to find only the ef-
fective cause which is the cause that produ-
ces it and the function it fulfills” (Le Ngoc 
Hung, 2011). This is true when looking at 
the phenomenon of ritual music. Music is 
an indispensable part of the Vietnamese 
funeral rites. Instruments and each piece of 
music in the funeral have a function, from 
the beginning of the ceremony (“Lễ Nhập 
quan,” lit. “Entering into the coffin”) to the 
end (“lễ Hạ huyệt, lit. “lowering the gra-
ve”), music is performed its specific func-
tion. The following subsection will explain 
more about music and the relationship bet-
ween music and the funerals of Vietname-
se people in the northern delta.

The function here is understood as 
the traditional social function of funeral 
music in which Vietnamese funeral rites 
are alive as well as the conditions for mu-



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 24 (1) (2024): 18-3526

sic to be maintained to promote, develop, 
and make up the body of Vietnamese fu-
neral rites. If this condition is lost, it means 
the loss of function as well as no reason 
for the existence of funeral music. Herbert 
Spencer (1820-1903) stated that any stable 
system is composed of different but inter-
related parts, which work together to form 
the whole, creating the system stability. 
The contribution to the stable operation 
of the system is called a function (Bui and 
Dinh, 2021). Looking at the social function 
of folk music in the northern delta, we can 
see this clearly. In the past, in pure folk 
cultural activities, musical forms such as 
wallets, drums, and storks were used as 
means for people to follow. At each age, 
village people would express and convey 
their thoughts, feelings, and emotions to 
themselves, their family, their children, 
and their friends and lovers. By the se-
cond half of the 20th century, that functi-
on had gradually been disappearing and 
is now completely lost. This comes from 
the fact that its traditional living environ-
ment and performance space no longer 
exist and instead become a professionali-
zed environment. In the words of resear-
cher Nguyen (2006), this phenomenon is 
the “shifting from the living environment 
to the artistic environment.” Looking back 
at history, from the second half of the 19th 
century to the middle of the 20th century, 
after Western missionaries were coming 
to Vietnam, the country’s cultural life has 
been interwoven between traditional and 
non-traditional cultures. This period can 
be considered when non-traditional cul-
tural flows penetrated strongly and con-
tinuously in several waves. Books on the 
culture, society, and science of countries 
such as France, England, and Germany 
were gradually translated and dissemina-
ted to the intelligentsia and those who ser-
ved the purpose of exploiting the colonies 
of the French colonialists. Marxist and Le-
ninist books and newspapers representing 
the working class were also translated, 
published, and propagated into Vietnam. 
In general, it can be seen that many aspects 
of social life in the country also followed 

a new trend. In music culture alone, the 
musical reform movement in the 1930s, 
which began as a means of translating and 
putting lyrics into Western music tunes, 
began to gain popularity. After the August 
Revolution of 1945, the public education 
movement (Bình dân học vụ) was foun-
ded, launched, and put into operation by 
President Ho Chi Minh, once again cont-
ributing to bringing popular culture to a 
higher level. Its influence spread to most 
provinces and cities nationwide. Since the 
mid-20th century, it was possible to see the 
two traditional cultural flows of Vietnam 
and the West gradually merging. Many 
new cultural forms were born and chan-
ged. Especially after the new Vietnamese 
music scene appeared, the public’s musical 
tastes changed a lot, gradually replacing 
traditional folk music with the main crea-
tions of scholarly and professional music, 
which was theoretically absorbed from the 
Western music background.

New lines of music, composed and 
performed in new forms, appeared. The 
theatricalization of previous traditional 
music forms – such as Tuồng, Chèo, and 
Đờn Ca-Tài Tử (Cải Lương theater) be-
gan to develop and influenced many tra-
ditional art forms. As mentioned above, 
when people’s needs change, the means 
of serving those needs change at the same 
time. It may not be difficult to explain why 
today’s young generation no longer uses 
the tunes of lullabies to convey affection 
and moral education to children from the 
moment they lie in the crib. Children no 
longer play folk games and create rhymes. 
Young men and women no longer use 
songs like Ví singing, Đúm singing, and 
Trống quân singing to reciprocally sing to-
gether to express their affection, love, and 
feelings towards one another. The perfor-
mance environments and spaces changed, 
their function ceased to exist, and thus, 
their nature changed. A basic summary of 
some of those changes in some art forms 
can be seen in Table 1.

We can see that the original content, 
form, and performance spaces of the above 
folk music genres disappeared and beca-



Nguyen Dinh Lam, Changes in Funeral Music Practices of Vietnamese People 27

me art forms that are gradually being spe-
cialized on the stage. It also shows that it 
no longer exists when its traditional social 
function is no longer synonymous with 
reason.

Looking at funeral music, we see that 
the above argument is not entirely true 
for this genre. Vietnamese funerals can 
be considered a constant in Vietnamese 
culture, so up to this time, funeral music 
still retains its function, closely associated 
with its living environment as well as its 
meaning, role, and position in the cultural 
and spiritual life of people in Bắc Ninh and 
the northern delta. Thus, one might won-
der: While many other forms of folk music 
have been and are in danger of being lost, 
disappearing, and deformed, in what sta-
te is the funeral music of the Vietnamese 
people in Bắc Ninh province? This questi-
on will be the focus of the analysis in the 
section below.

Changes in funeral music today
When comparing the changes in fu-

neral music practices of Vietnamese peop-
le in Bắc Ninh province, the author focus-
ed on conducting in-depth interviews and 
observations, including with some artists 
whose families have worked in funeral 
music for many generations. They are re-
ferred to as professional funeral trumpet 
players (“nghề thổi kèn đám ma”) who 
chose to perform as a career. With their 

professional experience, the materials ob-
tained from them are reliable and among 
the most original sources that the author 
synthesizes and presents within the formal 
system (of songs and musical works, that is 
Lâm Khốc, Bản Chở, Thái Bình, Dàn Thưa, 
etc.), the organization of the orchestra, and 
the performances.

In a formal system
When recognizing the changes in the 

Vietnamese people’s funeral music practi-
ce in the northern delta, the study first exa-
mines the changes in the formal system. 
In addition to the rhythms in the perfor-
mance, which will be analyzed later, four 
main songs are still maintained and used: 
Forest of tears - ”Lâm khốc” (including 
“Lâm khốc xuôi” and “Lâm Khốc ngược 
ai”); Seamless - Thái Binh (“Dàn Thưa 
– Thái Bình” (also known as “Cách cú”); 
Ban Choo (“Bản Chở”); and ”Sing - cry” 
(“hát khóc”), used with trumpet and drum. 
In addition, those who are long-lived also 
use Lưu Thủy. This is one of the songs in 
the formal system of Nhã Nhạc, but it has 
been used in funeral rites of Vietnamese 
people in the northern delta and Bắc Ninh 
for hundreds of years and is part of the tra-
dition of Vietnamese funeral music. The 
above compositions, in terms of musical 
properties, can be divided into two types: 
deep, sad tones – such as Lâm khốc ai – 
and sad tones, such as Lâm khốc xuôi and 

Table 1. Comparison between the content, form, and performance space of some folk songs in 
Bắc Ninh and the northern 

Category
Old Now

Content Form Space Content Form Space

Lullaby sing-
ing

Improvi-
sation 

Lull the 
baby to 

sleep

In the cradle/
In the ham-

mock

Collect, 
memo-

rize

Solo per-
formance

On the 
stage

Ví singing

Improvi-
sation

Reciproc-
ity (collec-

tive)

Outside the 
courtyard, 
around the 
village well, 

under the ban-
yan tree

Collect, 
memo-

rize

Collective 
perfor-
mance

Perform-
ing on 
stage

Đúm singing

Trống quân 
singing

Xa mạc/Bồng 
mạc singing

Source: Survey in 2012-2022 in Bắc Ninh and Thái Bình province



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 24 (1) (2024): 18-3528

Dàn thưa. Artists use the adjective “fresh” 
to describe their music. Traditionally, the-
se songs will be used with a specific fun-
ction. A typical funeral procession with 
Lâm khốc ai and ”Sing - cry” could look as 
follows: Starting with the Phát Phục (wea-
ring funeral attire) ceremony over reciting 
and placing the dead body in the coffin 
to burying the dead person’s coffin in the 
ground, the two songs Lâm khốc ai and 
Lưu Thủy (for the old people in the past) 
are used; When the grave is lowered and 
buried, the funeral procession uses the two 
songs “Dàn thưa” and “Lâm khốc xuôi”; 
When the dead are summoned, attendants 
mainly use the “Thái Binh” song; “Sing – 
cry” is used when a tenant’s family mem-
ber cries. 

However, what are the aspects that 
changed over time? They can be generali-
zed into the following three issues: First, 
the omission and addition of musical 
instruments in the practice process. In the 
past, the song Lâm khốc ai was used in the 
form of “the drums are played forward 
/ the trumpet blows back” (“Trống đánh 
xuôi, kèn thổi ngược”) – that is, a small 
drum is used to beat and keep at the first 
beat (regular rhythms) not divided into ac-
cents – and two trumpets go against each 
other, then that principle was later broken 
and lost. This is expressed through two 
points: the drum can be supplemented 
with a large drum and a gong placed in the 
lying position, keeping the rhythm (“trì 
tục”) with regular rhythmic sounds. The 
two trumpets go in the direction of each 
other (both play the same musical melo-
dy, but one has a low pitch and the other 
a higher one), and there are additional nhị 
instruments, sáo flute, and đàn bầu instru-
ment. Compiled from in-depth interviews 
with practitioners, the author gathered 
that adding drums and string instruments 
will make the sound richer and better and 
thus will be more suitable for listeners. Ho-
wever, it would be important that during 
the performance, the substitution between 
the members of the orchestra will help 
the trumpet player and the drummer lose 
more energy. While in the past, Lâm khốc 

ai ứa performed with all its elements – a 
sequential opening, middle, and end part 
– now, people only use parts of it. In such 
a practice process, as long as one person 
in the orchestra improvises a tune or sen-
tence in the song, the others can follow it 
right away. According to field research, 
this stems from the breaking of traditional 
principles from the past, such as “Trống 
đánh xuôi, kèn thổi ngược” – (that is, the 
drums always play one rhythm, but the 
trumpets play another. This transformatio-
nal step is also caused by the metamorpho-
sis of the concept of “death with oil lamps/
death with drums” (“Sống dầu đèn, chết 
kèn trống”) (any death must have trumpet 
and drum sounds as a means of expressing 
the pain of loss of family members). Third, 
in the “Sing – cry” form, there are also ex-
pressions of borrowing and integrating 
some non-traditional tones (Traditional to-
nes here are understood as those used in 
indigenous Vietnamese people mourning 
ceremonies). Especially for the last one 
or two decades, people who cry for hire 
get a fairly high “remuneration”, so some 
have professionalized this genre by ad-
ding more musical instruments. While in 
the past, after each “cry” sentence would 
be an unanswered passage with two or 
three trumpets (“Kèn tiểu, kèn trung, or 
Kèn đại”) along with a small drum, today, 
people in Bắc Ninh city have often added 
drums and other musical instruments to 
accompany the rhythmic sounds in the 
form of a professional traditional folk or-
chestra. The melody of the “Sing – cry” 
genre has been losing its inherent charac-
teristics. Instead, it is influenced by some 
other musical genres, including Chèo 
singing, making the method better than 
before. Talking about this phenomenon, 
practitioner 3 added that when teaching 
children in the traditional way, the elders 
taught them again, but when they practice, 
they do it their way, so they also change 
their practice a lot. In the author’s opinion, 
this phenomenon comes from the change 
in musical aesthetic perception.

Thus, the changes in the formal 
system of funeral music compositions, 



Nguyen Dinh Lam, Changes in Funeral Music Practices of Vietnamese People 29

through the analysis of Lâm khốc ai, clear-
ly show four sequential levels of melody, 
tonal nature, performance form, and addi-
tional instrumental accompaniment. The 
same is true in other cultures. According 
to Prelovšek, A., music at a traditional 
funeral usually includes an orchestra or 
trumpet in Ljubljana and the surrounding 
areas. But by 2016, this music was increa-
singly replaced by a girl’s voice and an 
instrumental ensemble (Prelovšek, 2017). 
The northern delta of Vietnam has the 
most notable additions of modern, non-
traditional songs, which will be analyzed 
in more detail below.

In orchestra organization
Orchestral organization is a concept 

the author borrowed from professional 
modern music to easily analyze the chan-
ges in Vietnamese funeral music, including 
the additions and variations in the practice 
of funeral music. 

In the funerals of Vietnamese peop-
le in the northern delta, two orchestras are 
now commonly used, with drums, gongs, 
and trumpets, forming the Orchestra of the 
Eight Sounds (“dàn bát âm”). According to 
some older people who are still practicing 
funeral music, before the 1980s, there were 
only drums, gongs, and trumpets in Viet-
namese funerals. The drums consist of a big 
drum (Trống lớn: Drum surface diameter 
is about 45-50 cm, with an average height 
of 65-75 cm), a small one (Trống ban: The 
drum surface diameter is about 30 cm, the 
average height is 18 cm); a gong (chiêng: 
The gong surface diameter is about 25 cm, 
the average height is 10 cm), and trumpets, 
popularly three: minor (higher, high-pit-

ched), middle, and big (lower pitch). The 
two main instruments, drums and trum-
pets, are present in the funeral from the 
casketing of a body until the burial. The 
gong (also known as “Lệnh”) only per-
forms the function of notifying attendees 
before and during the process of bringing 
the deceased’s coffin to the cemetery.

As for the Orchestra of the Eight 
Sounds, the instruments added were for-
merly not part of traditional funeral music 
but folk ceremonies (originating from the 
royal court) and associated with the com-
munal house ceremony and were a product 
of the cultural institution of Confucianism. 
Their presence in funerals is the result of 
a move from court music to folklore and 
village tutelary rituals and, possibly, from 
performing for the emperors. The elderly 
practice the Orchestra of the Eight Sounds 
in the village god’s ceremony (“Chấp lễ”) 
of the communal house. However, it was 
only acceptable at funerals of older people 
aged 70 and over; young people who died 
were not allowed to use this orchestra. 
But after 1986, the Orchestra of the Eight 
Sounds was used in many funerals in the 
north, no longer distinguishing young and 
old, which means it changed the function 
and taboo from before. Currently, there is 
no document that specifically records and 
details this step, but based on the history of 
traditional music and in-depth interviews 
with older people working in the professi-
on, the move seems logical.

Called Orchestra of the Eight Sounds 
(Bát âm), in the northern delta, this or-
chestra is popular with the following 
instruments:
• The erhu (Nhị)
• The bass erhu (Hồ) 

Table 2. Comparison of transformational aspects in Lâm khốc ai before and after the national 
innovation period

Before innovation After innovation

Melodies in verse order, deep and sad
Performing in the form of “backward-

beating drums and backward trumpets”;
 Mainly uses drums (mostly one) and 

trumpets (one to three)

1. Has been irreversibly altered;
2. Influenced by non-traditional melodies such as 
Chèo singing, especially modern songs: Tình Cha 

by Ngọc Sơn and Tình Mẹ by Y Vân;
 3. Breaking the rules and very little first-form

 4. Arranged into an orchestra
Source: Author’s direct survey from 2012 to 2021



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 24 (1) (2024): 18-3530

• The Flute (Sáo)
•  The bass Flute (Tiêu)
• The Tam instrument
• The one string instrument (Đàn bầu-”Độc 

huyền cầm”)
• The rice drum (Trống cơm) 

However, the number of musical 
instruments and participants in this or-
chestra is not always sufficient because 
of the family’s economic condition of the 
deceased or because gathering the full 
number of people participating in a fune-
ral orchestra is very rare. In addition, three 
other musical instruments – the rice drum, 
the zither, and sinh tiền instrument – are 
only common in some localities such as 
Bắc Ninh, Hưng Yên, and Thái Bình.

It should be added that the concept 
of “Bát âm” does not depend on the num-
ber of instruments used. Centuries ago, the 
name of the orchestra was derived from 
the eight instruments. But now, people 
only keep the name of this orchestra, and 
the number of instruments is not eight like 
before, maybe just 5-6 instruments. Practi-
tioner 23 said the musical instruments used 
in funerals in Bắc Ninh today are mainly 
three: the đàn nhị, the đàn bầu instrument, 
and the sáo flute. 

Regarding the changes in the organi-
zation of the orchestra and its conception 
and usage, we can see three points: 1) Whi-
le in the past, the “Bát âm” orchestra was 
only used when the mourners were elderly 
people, today it is present in most funerals 
in villages in Bắc Ninh; 2) Stemming from 
the break in principles and conceptions of 
using musical instruments, today, in the 
funeral process, the above instruments 
(drums, gongs, trumpets, and octaves) are 
combined and used in a unified orchestra; 
3) The function of this orchestra has chan-
ged in that, in the past, they only perfor-
med their compositions (drums and trum-
pets played Lâm khốc, Dàn thưa, and others 
– the Orchestra of the Eight Sounds played 
Lưu Thủy and Thái Bình). Today, the two 
orchestras – that is, drums and trumpets 
and the Orchestra of the Eight Sounds – 
have been harmonized, especially when 
performing non-traditional songs such as 

Father’s Love (Tình cha) and Mother’s Heart 
(Lòng mẹ) – which are new music that was 
composed in the last decades of the twen-
tieth century.

Thus, through the analysis of the Or-
chestra of the Eight Sounds and its parti-
cipation in the funerals, we see a change 
in the organization of the funeral music. 
It manifests itself in the introduction and 
mixing of the two above-mentioned musi-
cal organizational structures and in the use 
and principles. These are the most remar-
kable points in the transformation of the 
funeral orchestra from the previous tradi-
tion. This is also the result of the process 
of changing aesthetic tastes, which leads to 
a change in the concept of using musical 
instruments, which could eventually lead 
to the disappearance of some of these tra-
ditions.

In folk drama
The changes in the practice of fune-

ral music are not only limited to the two 
above-mentioned aspects, but also mani-
fest profoundly in the performances. In 
Bắc Ninh, Hưng Yên, and Thái Bình, there 
are four traditional funeral acts:
• Mục Liên – Thanh Đề
• Twenty-four filial piety (Nhị thập tứ hiếu)
• Horse spear boating (Chèo đò giáo ngựa)
• Uncle Tau listens to the trumpet (Chú Tàu 

nghe kèn)
However, two of these acts remain 

only in the memory of the older practitio-
ners. Practitioner 7 said Chú Tàu nghe kèn 
and Chèo đò giáo ngựa had practically ceased 
to exist. Thus, this paper focus on analy-
zing the changes in such acts through ex-
cerpts from Mục Liên - Thanh Đề. Mục Liên 
was a disciple of Buddha, and Thanh Đề 
was the mother of Mục Kiền Liên or Mục 
Liên. This play is a folk performance based 
on a story recorded in Buddhist scriptures 
about a mother and son with two opposing 
qualities. Practitioner 2 explained Thanh 
Đề is the mother of Mục Kiền Liên (also 
known as Mục Liên) who lives greedily 
and cruelly, creating many sins. So, when 
she died, she was banished to evil paths 
and reborn as a hungry ghost. In contrast, 



Nguyen Dinh Lam, Changes in Funeral Music Practices of Vietnamese People 31

Mục Liên, with his holy, predestined natu-
re and determination to practice cultivati-
on, became one of the ten great disciples of 
the Buddha and was considered talented 
and virtuous. After seeing that his mother 
was placed on the path of hunger in the 
depths of hell, suffering under torture, he 
had pity on her and was very sorrowful. 
He returned to tell Buddha everything and 
begged for a way to save his mother. The 
Buddha taught that although his filial pie-
ty was great, he needed to rely on the bles-
sing power of monks and nuns in the ten 
directions to liberate his mother. And so, 
he followed Buddha’s words to find a way 
to save his mother.

The Mục Liên - Thanh Đề funeral 
play focuses on the excerpts from the story 
and consists of three parts:
• Head spear (“Giáo đầu”),
• The way to save mother (“Con đường cứu 

mẹ”), and
• The Mother Rescue section(“Giải cứu cho 

mẹ”).
Through research in the area, and 

with the characteristics associated with 
the central sub-region and developed re-
ligious centers such as Luy Lâu, Thăng 
Long, and Nam Định, we found this show 
to be imbued with Buddhism; it can even 
be considered part of the Buddhist cultu-
re. This can be seen clearly from the study 
of the performances and melodies, which 
have characteristics close to those of many 
genres of Buddhist music in this region. 
When conducting in-depth interviews 
with Practitioners 1, 2, 3 and 20, 21, and 
22 – all of whom are talented artisans in  
Bắc Ninh and Thái Bình – the author noted 
many unique genres of singing and spea-
king performances – four of these stand 
out the most:
• Singing giàu History
• Đàn thảm
• Kể Thập ân 
• Kể hạnh

These melodies are now also only 
in the memory of a few artists and rarely 
used in any funeral rites nowadays. When 
old people die, the old women (known 
as “Các già”) organize a team to perform 
while others bring the coffin to the cemete-

ry. This is also the aspect that changed the 
most noticeable in terms of musical com-
position and performance. It should be ad-
ded that, because the methodology in the 
performances lies in its unified system, re-
latively independent of the formal system 
in other musical components of the funeral 
rites, they are separated here for analysis. 
According to Practitioners 1, 2, and 3, this 
situation stems from two main reasons: 
First, although  full plays take about 4-6 
hours, nowadays, local authorities only al-
low funerals to perform funeral rites until 
10:30 pm due to concerns about noise pol-
lution in the community. It should be ad-
ded that, the duration of the performances 
depends mainly on the use of the above tu-
nes. The string is the main reason why the 
musical composition system in Mục Liên 
performance in funeral music has formed 
and developed many unique features. The 
time limit is one of the reasons why the 
show has to be shortened, and the use of 
melodies is therefore cut off and gradually 
disappearing. Next, those who practice fu-
neral music today, in addition to a few el-
derly people or those who have been han-
ded down from the family’s professional 
tradition, are mostly young, so learning 
and practicing mourning music is essen-
tial. However, the main ceremony stops at 
the drum trumpet, so the performances are 
not well-learned, mainly grasping stories 
and then reciting, singing, and speaking 
them based on some Chèo tunes.

Thus, the environment and age fun-
damentally change the aesthetic concepts 
and tastes in those who learn to practice 
funeral music. This can explain why in 
the current Mục Liên – Thanh Đề perfor-
mances in some localities only use Chèo 
singing but not some traditional songs. 
Besides the change and disappearance of 
ancient singing tunes, the introduction of 
many Chèo melodies along with changes 
in performance and costumes, are also the 
underlying causes. The most obvious ma-
nifestation is the professionalized costu-
mes. In the past, performers mainly wore 
brown áo dài with “thâm đất” material 
(also known “vải phim”), but today, peop-



Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 24 (1) (2024): 18-3532

le have moved to the costumes of profes-
sional.

The most obvious changes in the 
Vietnamese mourning acts are seen in the 
reduction of excerpts, the theatricalization 
of the performances expressed in the per-
formers’ demeanor and costumes, and the 
disappearance of ancient songs that were 
replaced by some modern Chèo tunes. 
Those are the fundamental changes and, 
at the same time, the most remarkable core 
points when looking at the changes in fu-
neral music performances today.

Discussion
 The development and transformati-

on of folk and funeral music through diffe-
rent periods is inevitable. This is not only 
happening in Vietnam but also in other 
cultures and can be described as a global 
trend. In China, Hwee-San Tan recorded 
in a memorial ceremony for the dead in 
Minnan (southern Fujian) called Gongde, 
possibly performed by experts in Buddhist 
rituals. Such changes – such as in musical 
composition systems and musical perfor-
mances at funerals – were due in part to 
state control and partly to Buddhists’ rede-
finition of ideological orthodoxy, the basis 
of which lay in an early Buddhist reform 
movement in the 20th century (Tan, 2002). 
Each genre is historical, so cultural policy 
and social context are directly affecting the 
preservation of the function and traditio-
nal values of funeral music in contempo-
rary society. This can easily explain why 
some genres are now gone while others 
continue to exist and develop. As for fu-
neral music, to continue its mission, it has 
constantly changed to adapt to the specific 
living environment. That is a social envi-
ronment in which the influence of political 
and cultural institutions leads to a change 
in the aesthetic tastes of the subject who 
created it. Before 1986, the self-sufficient 
and cooperative economy made people’s 
economic thinking and perception, in 
general, passive, while the multi-sector 
economy with private enterprises has hel-
ped them to be proactive in accessing met-
hods of household economic development 

and career problems. This was the cause of 
the socio-economic change. This is also an 
important cause leading to the uncontrol-
led changes of funeral music in this area, 
which makes it necessary to find suitable 
policies to protect the traditional values of 
this unique art form.

As change is a historical category, it 
can reflect both positive and negative di-
rections. It can be seen that the transfor-
mation and change in traditional culture 
and music without being built on the tra-
ditional foundation will risk the loss of 
ancient values that the Vietnamese have 
created for centuries. This second aspect 
can be seen when considering the changes 
in the practice of Vietnamese funeral mu-
sic in Bắc Ninh province. Many traditional 
forms of music have been and are in dan-
ger of disappearing as many new things 
that are not part of tradition are introdu-
ced. This is the reason the religious beliefs 
of the Vietnamese are facing erosion and 
metamorphosis, threatening to degrade 
the fine customs and traditions in culture, 
such as ancestor worship customs and fu-
neral rituals.

Change is inevitable, but policy is an 
important factor in that general direction 
of change, which can go in one direction or 
another. When formulating economic de-
velopment policies, following correspon-
ding cultural and social policies is often 
necessary to ensure common sustainable 
development. Reasonable policies will 
motivate and impact the consciousness 
and responsibility of all subjects in society. 
In other words, in cultural preservation, 
the role of the masses is decisive, thereby 
providing policies and strategies in which 
education, promotion, and public orien-
tation work towards sufficient awareness 
of cultural heritage. If we have a consen-
sus, we can build a traditional culture in 
relation to the whole community. Cultural 
development policy can only be effective 
and practical with the participation and 
support of the entire community, based 
on a common understanding of those tra-
ditional values. The government needs to 
preserve traditional culture in the best way 



Nguyen Dinh Lam, Changes in Funeral Music Practices of Vietnamese People 33

possible, avoiding situations like Fjelstad 
and Nguyen TH’s stated: “Vietnamese 
people have engaged more in displays of 
rituals, constructed more temples, renova-
ted places of worship, traded religious ob-
jects, and participated in public and priva-
te rituals. Strikingly, some prevalent ritual 
practices once regarded as backwardness, 
superstitions, or even social evils boomed 
again in Vietnam”(Ngo, 2018).

CONCLUSION

Traditional music comes from cultu-
re in its respective context. Traditional art 
develops aspects that are consistent with 
the general cultural development history 
of a community and humanity. However, 
cultural policy could destroy many precio-
us traditional values   of Vietnamese ances-
tors and bring many other negative conse-
quences in contemporary social life.

Over thousands of years, the Vietna-
mese have shaped traditional music with 
its nuances, of which funeral music is an 
important and indispensable part of the 
cultural life of the people. However, along 
with other traditional folk art forms, for a 
long time, the policy of focusing on econo-
mic development has led to a negligence 
of many traditional cultural and artistic 
aspects, including funeral music. This is 
a critical issue for the study of traditional 
arts. Artists who practice folk and funeral 
music do not have the opportunity to ex-
press their identity and talent, as well as 
protect the heritage handed down by their 
forefathers. Therefore, as soon as possible, 
the government should come up with sui-
table policies to protect artisans and the 
traditional folk heritage of the country, in-
cluding traditional funeral music.

From the field studies, the article has 
recognized an important problem in the 
study of funeral music in the northern del-
ta: Before studying the unique characteris-
tics of this art form, it is necessary to evalu-
ate its status, and at the same time, provide 
the rationale for making policies to preser-
ve and promote this artistic heritage in the 
cultural life of contemporary Vietnamese 

people. The analysis of the changing fu-
neral music in the northern delta can ser-
ve as a necessary element for conducting 
further studies on the issue. The author’s 
future research will also be conducted in 
the same direction.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research paper is solely funded 
by the VNU University of Social Scien-
ces and Humanities, Hanoi under project 
number USSH - 2024.18.

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