3 . On the Origins of Traditional Vietnamese Music

As a result of numerous archreological discoveries made especially during the last four decades, it is increasingly evident that the ancient Vietnamese civilization can no longer be regarded as a mere branch of the Chinese cultural complex. Even though Chinese contributions are not to be minimized, especially in regard to the court, the mandarins, and the city dwellers, we have ample evidence of certain Western elements that played part in the formation of the Vietnamese heritage, which can be traced back two thousand years at least. 1 Several of these Western elements have survived in one form or another, especially among the country people and the mountain tribes. One of the most fascinating and puzzling problems in this respect is related to the traditional Vietnamese music and dramatic art as stressed inter alia by the Exhibit of Vietnamese Art, Archreology and Ethnography circulated in the U.S.A. 1961-62 (Smithsonian Institution 1961). The study of the origins of these local art forms and of their survival to the present day is of special interest. Vietnamese and Western musicologists (see Bibliography) have made valuable contributions on the traditional local instruments, the musical system, and the classical Vietnamese theatre. Butwhat comparative archreology and related disciplines can now offer in answer to the questions: 'When, why and how?' have never been fully explored. This paper sets out to present some relevant, but hitherto little known, facts which should help to stimulate further research in a most promising field. Such research could eventually even contribute to the elucidation of sundry problems regarding the Eurasian and the Amasian cultural complexes and thus open up new broad vistas in space and time. A pioneering work of great value in this field was done by the late Jaan Kunst (1949) among other Western scholars mentioned in the Bibliography. Kunst has shown convincingly that the Javanese and Balinese have developed their musical