Definition

1. Noun:
   • Music and song: "Cầm ca" refers to the art or activity of playing music and singing, often used in a classical or literary context to denote refined artistic performance.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Trong cung đình xưa, cầm ca là một thú vui tao nhã. (In ancient royal courts, music and song were an elegant pastime.)
  • Ông ấy say mê nghiên cứu nghệ thuật cầm ca cổ truyền. (He is passionately researching the traditional art of music and song.)

Advanced Usage

• As a classical/literary term: The word "cầm ca" is primarily used in formal, poetic, or historical contexts to evoke the traditional arts. It is less common in everyday modern speech.
  • Thời phong kiến, các tao nhân mặc khách thường thưởng thức cầm ca. (In feudal times, literati and scholars often enjoyed music and song.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ca hát (verb): To sing. This is the modern, common verb for singing.
  • Cô ấy rất thích ca hát. (She really likes to sing.)
• Âm nhạc (noun): Music. This is the general, modern term for music.
  • Âm nhạc làm cuộc sống thêm phong phú. (Music enriches life.)

Synonyms

• Ca nhạc (noun): Music and singing. A slightly more modern compound term than "cầm ca," but still formal.
• Đàn hát (verb/noun): To play (an instrument) and sing / instrumental and vocal performance. This is a descriptive phrase for the same activity.

Related Idioms

• Cầm kỳ thi họa: A four-word idiom describing the four refined arts of an ancient scholar: playing the lute ("cầm"), playing chess ("kỳ"), writing poetry ("thi"), and painting ("họa"). "Cầm ca" relates to the first art in this set.
  • Vị học giả đó tinh thông cầm kỳ thi họa. (That scholar is proficient in the four gentlemanly arts.)

1. Music and song