Traditional Vietnamese music encompasses a large umbrella of Vietnamese music from antiquity to present times, and can also encompass multiple groups, such as those from Vietnam's ethnic minority tribes. History Traditional Vietnamese music has been mainly used for religious activities, in daily life, and in traditional festivals. The music is considerably diverse due to Vietnam's ethnic population. Moreover, each of Vietnam's ethnic group owns many unique types of musical instruments. The influence of Asian musical cultures on Vietnamese music can be seen on particular instruments such as the flutes, zithers, harps and erhu. However, the recovery of stringed instruments from deer antlers dated to be 2,000 years old show clear similarities with traditional Vietnamese musical instruments which indicate that these traditional instruments have ancient origins. Royal court music Royal Vietnamese court music first appeared in the 1040s after a successful seaborne raid against Champa led by king Lý Thái Tông in 1044. Cham women were taken as singers, dancers and entertainers for the court. The chronicles recorded that a special palace for Cham women was built in 1046, then in 1060 the king ordered a translation of Cham songs, and incorporated Cham drum known as trống cơm into the royal band. During the 13th century, a new trend of music came from China: songs set to Chinese tunes with Vietnamese lyrics. Nhã nhạc is the most popular form of royal court music, specifically referring to the court music played from the Trần dynasty to the last Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam, being synthesized and developed by the Nguyễn emperors. Influenced from Ming Chinese music, it slowly emerged in the royal court in the 1430s. Along with nhã nhạc, the imperial court of Vietnam in the 19th century also had many royal dances which still exist in present times. The theme of most dances is to wish the emperor or empress longevity and the country prosperity. Classical music is also performed in honour of gods and scholars such as to Confucius in temples and shrines. These categories are defined as Nhã Nhạc ("elegant music" or "ritual and ceremonial" music), Đại nhạc ("great music"), and Tiểu nhạc ("small music") are classified as chamber music, often for entertainment for the ruler. In Vietnamese traditional dance, court dances were encompassed văn vũ (civil servant dance) and võ vũ (military dance). Dilettante music Dilettante music is a genre of chamber music in the traditional music of