Quan ho singing

Hát Quan Họ was born about the 13th century in the Bắc Ninh province and was always heard during spring festivals, especially of the Buddhists. Bắc Ninh is the province where numerous pagodas were built, therefore, big Buddhist offering ceremonies were celebrated each year in spring. Boys and girls came to adore Buddha and after that, gathered together in front of or inside the pagoda orin the field to sing "Hát Quan Họ".

Originally Hát Quan Họ were exchange songs between two mandarins' families. Gradually, it spread out and became popular among the northern people. Groups were formed just for singing, and many marriages were formed at these get-togethers. After centuries, hát quan họ became the most significant vietnamese folk-song type.

Hát Quan Họ, also called Quan Họ Bắc Ninh singing, is an antiphonal singing tradition in which men and women take turns singing in a challenge-and-response fashion drawing on a known repertoire of melodies. Usually a pair of women starts, presenting in unison a complete song called câu ra (challenge phrase") lasting three to eight minutes. A pair of men of the opposing team responds with another song called câu đối ("matching phrase"), which must match the melody of the women's song in order to be considered correct. Next it will be the men's turn to challenge the women with a song that can be completely different from the previous pair of songs.