The khaen ( pronounced roughly 'cane' and spell qeej transliterated Hmong) is a bamboo and wooden mouth organ found throughout Eastern Asia. It is one of the oldest harmonic instruments in the world. References to the Chinese version dating as far back as 1100 BC have been found. These Asian bamboo pipes may also be a distant ancestor of the western organ.
The most important function of the khaen for the Hmong is during the funeral ceremony when it is played continuously for many days. The soul of the deceased cannot return to the ancestors without this ceremony, which is fundamental to the Hmong world view. The khaen is also played at the New Year Festival and special occasions.
The qeej has six pipes of different lengths attached to a wooden air chamber. Each pipe contains a free reed which vibrates when the single small fingerhole on the pipes is covered. The instrument produces a continuous sound when the player is both inhaling and exhaling. Each pipe has its own name, which is onomatopoeic as well as meaningful. For example, the first pipe, ntiv luav, is the most important pipe, being the leader and setting the drome. The second pipe, ntiv laig, communicates with the spirits of the ancestors and speaks the best; the third, ntiv xees, speaks behind the second; the fourth,ntiv tw, is the shortest; the fifth, ntiv ntsuj, speaks the most often.
The upper and lower pipes produce a drone, while the inner four pipes produce the notes which sing the texts of the funeral ritual or any song. The drone itself can also be used rhythmically. Thus the khaen is capable of creating melody, rhythm and harmony simultaneously.
The musician's dress includes an elaborate metal necklace which tinkles as he performs the mandatory dance movements while playing. These movements include spinning (to confuse evil spirits which may try to prevent the soul of the deceased from joining his ancestors) and larger circular patterns (which indicate the journey on horseback of the soul).
The relationship between the pitches of the pipes on one of my recordings is as follows:
The following is the first sentence of a major part of the funeral ceremony. This section is called the Qeej Tu Siav, or 'Song of Expiring Life". It was played on the qeej by Mr Seng Thao, who comes from Muangkasy on the border between Luang Prabang, Vientiane and Xiengkhouang, in Laos. He was 32 years old at the time of recording. He learned the funeral ritual in his isolated village between the ages of 9 and 15, while walking to the fields and in between working in the fields. He fled to Ban Vinai refugee camp in northern Thailand in March 1991.
The pipes played for each word are shown by number beneath the word.
Tog... muam xees niaj hnub, pes
2/3/4...2/6..3/4.. 3/5.. 4/2...5/3
nrab hnub, nplooj tsis zeeg zoo
4...... 4/2 ..2/6....4.. 2/4...1/3
tsis kaj, ntiaj pes teb nrag qa cai
4...2/6..2/6...5/3...2/4..2...3....2
txooj tib neeg los ntsib tuag ntim tis tag
2/6...4...2 ....1/3.... 4..2/5....3/2.. .4....2.
Translation: The day is not even the right day or the right half day. The jungle kingdom is dark and unclean. The world is full of sadness and death awaits. The world is overflowing with all living things. That is why someone must die.
There are various Hmong legends about the origin of the khaen. One Chinese Hmong legend tells as follows:
There was a family that had seven sons. The father died in the sixth moon in the summer. Each son had to offer a sacrifice a day and a night When they had made offerings only a day, on the dead person were maggots that crawled out into the house. The sons were helpless so the eldest son said "This way we can hardly protect the body of our deceased father." The second son said "Each of us can make a bamboo tube and blow it and walk around the corpse, and one person take leather and make a drum to be hung in the center and let the one in the center beat the drum and we six other brothers walk around and tread on the maggots."
Thus six persons blew the bamboo tubes and one beat the drum and walked and they trod on the maggots until they were no more.
After three years the sons thought, "Since father had maggots, we must still find a way to do another ceremony, since three years have passed. It will be best if we can take these tubes and bind them together and make a hole in each as we did in the tubes we were blowing... and let one person play it and one beat the drum, one control the sacrifices, one cook the food, and three dance with the one who plays the khaen. This custom we can pass on to the later generations."
The length of the tubes differs because the ages and sizes of the sons differ. There is also a statement which
we will repeat forever, "Even if the husband and the wife have quarrelled, they must not sleep in different
beds. Even if brothers have scolded each other, they will not desert the ancestors. Therefore all must use the
Hmong khaen." (After Graham David C. "Songs and Stories of the Ch'uan Miao".
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1954, pp20-21)
Figure 1. The Hmong qeej: pitches of pipes.