Tây (lit. 'West') is the common name that people use to refer to the most Southern part of Vietnam. This part of the country is also where the Mekong Delta rests. The trans-national Mekong River, originated from Tibet, then spreads into smaller rivers and streams as it enters the Tây area of Vietnam. It was said that in the past, after splitting into smaller waterways, the Mekong River would eventually meet the Pacific Ocean in 9 gates. This led to the river also being referred to as Cửu Long ('Nine Dragons') River.

The Tây community holds a rich oral tradition that includes not only folktales, idioms, proverbs, but also a unique collection of non-instrumental, lyrical, performative genres like Hò, Hát Ru, Lý, Vè, or Nói Thơ Vân Tiên. Each genre was performed in a specific context for a specific reason.

For instance, Hò Gặt ('Harvesting Hò,' a subgenre of Hò) was performed on the field during harvest seasons. With an upbeat melody and lyrics filled with a love for work and life, Hò Gặt was sung by farmers to encourage each other and increase productivity. 

In another example, Nói Thơ Vân Tiên is a genre unique to the Bến Tre province, particularly Ba Tri district. This genre was originally performed to disseminate the epic poem Lục Vân Tiên written by Nguyễn Đình Chiểu (1822-1888) among the wider population. The melody of Nói Thơ Vân Tiên was then utilized to sing other shorter folk poems or become lullabies to soothe children. 

The Melody of Cửu Long ('Giai Điệu Cửu Long') is an ongoing project to document and revitalize the oral tradition of the Tây community. 

For more information, please visit the project's official YouTube channel, where I upload fieldwork data of various Tây oral genres: https://www.youtube.com/@Tayoralliteratureproject

My blogpost about Tây oral literature was recently published by Imagining America. Feel free to check it out here: 

https://imaginingamerica.org/the-melody-of-cuu-long/