Klei khan Y Dam San
Encyclopedia
Đam San or Klei Khan Y Dam San (klei khan: epic, Y: middle name of Ede people for male, literally: The Great Epic of Sir Dam San) is a famous seven-chapter epic
of the Ede people of Vietnam's Central Highlands
. It is about the heroic E De chieftain Dam San.
Example:
Blu sa knga
Ha sa sắp
Bi ư khắp klei mbit
(Listening by shared ears
Speaking by a shared mouth
Having together a common word, a common sentence)
language: "Đi tìm lời ru Mặt Trời" (literally: "Finding out the lullaby of the Sun", author: Y Phôn K'sor) and "Vòng tay Đam San" (literally: "The open arm of Dam San", author: Trương Ngọc Ninh).
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
of the Ede people of Vietnam's Central Highlands
Tây Nguyên
Tây Nguyên, translated as Western Highlands and sometimes also called Central Highlands, is one of the regions of Vietnam. It contains the provinces of Đắk Lắk, Đắk Nông, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Lâm Đồng....
. It is about the heroic E De chieftain Dam San.
Content
As of Chuê nuê custom (literally: "tying strings/robes", meaning: the widow must get married with her spouse's blood-relationship male. This is a custom typical of matriarchal systems), Dam San got tied up with (get married with) two sisters, Hnhí and Hbhí. He was courageous enough to fight against two chieftains, Mtao Grư (Eagle Chieftain) and Mtao Mxây (Iron Chieftain), who had caught his wives and won. Then, he wanted to struggle against this depraved custom. So, he chopped down the smuk tree—the life tree of his wives' line of blood. As a result, Hnhí and Hbhí died. Dam San became filled with sorrow. He came to the heaven, disputed and planned to cut the God's head. The God directed him to bring life to his wives. At that time, Dam San was the most powerful chieftain; however, he was displeased. His aspiration is catching Goddess The Sun and getting married with her. Dam San, at last, was failed and died because of his frenzied desire. His spirit changed into a fly and flew into his sister's mouth causing her getting pregnant. Dam San The Nephew was born and continued to "get tied up with" Hnhí and Hbhí and went on to do his uncle's unfinished work.Genre
This epic is written in klei đuê meter.Example:
Blu sa knga
Ha sa sắp
Bi ư khắp klei mbit
(Listening by shared ears
Speaking by a shared mouth
Having together a common word, a common sentence)
Popular culture
This epic has inspired the composition of these songs in VietnameseVietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
language: "Đi tìm lời ru Mặt Trời" (literally: "Finding out the lullaby of the Sun", author: Y Phôn K'sor) and "Vòng tay Đam San" (literally: "The open arm of Dam San", author: Trương Ngọc Ninh).