Google Doodle honours Vietnam’s Cai Luong folk opera
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Google Doodle releases an image featuring Cai Luong, a popular style of modern folk opera in Southern Vietnam.
An image that showcases the art of Cai Luong can be seen when users visit www.google.com.vn, in order to commemorate Vietnam Stage Day which falls on September 28, or the 12th day of the eighth lunar month.
According to Google Doodle, Cai Luong, which is loosely translated as “reformed theater”, is an evolved form of traditional Vietnamese opera known as hat boi in the Mekong Delta, a style of music that was popular in southern Vietnam at the turn of the 20th century.
Featuring an orchestra containing traditional Vietnamese instruments such as the đàn tranh (the six-string zither), Cai Luong brings to life a wide range of stories, from ancient legends of monarchs and warriors, to a deep insight into modern Vietnamese social themes. While much of the subject material may vary, one common element is the signature melancholic song structure called Vong Co, which translates into “nostalgia for the past” in English.
One of the most iconic Cai Luong productions is called Tieng Trong Me Linh, a historical play portraying Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, the two sisters who helped to lead the fight for Vietnamese independence from the Chinese Han Dynasty during the first century. The play has been put on by many of the country’s leading Cai Luong performers since its first debut in 1977.
Over a century on from its birth, Cai Luong is still popular today as one of the Vietnamese unique artforms that provides a vital link to a bygone era from the country’s history.
