Nominating the festival of Lady Chua Xu of Sam mountain as a priority option for UNESCO consideration

SGGPO 05/16/2023 13:33

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued document No. 1878/BVHTTDL-DSVH to the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO announcing Vietnam's priority choice for the 2024 Intergovernmental Committee's review of the dossier, which is the dossier of the festival of Lady Chua Xu of Sam Mountain.

The procession of the Lady of Sam Mountain's palanquin down the mountain. Photo: An Giang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, after reviewing and considering, it was found that in the Southern region, there is no heritage of any ethnic minority that has been registered. The heritage of the festival of Ba Chua Xu in Sam mountain belongs to the types of traditional festivals, social customs and beliefs, and folk knowledge of the Kinh, Hoa, Khmer, and Cham ethnic groups.

If listed, this will be the first heritage of Vietnam whose subjects are both majority and minority ethnic groups, creating a balance in the heritage of beliefs listed in regions (the worship of Hung Kings in Phu Tho; the practice of the worship of the Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms in Nam Dinh , which is currently practiced mainly in the North and Central regions of Vietnam); a balance in the ethnic groups that are the subjects of heritage practice (currently, there are heritages of ethnic minorities in the North and Central regions listed such as the art of Xoe Thai, Then Tay, Nung, Thai; the space of gong culture of ethnic groups in the Central Highlands; the pottery making of the Cham people) and a balance in the distribution of heritages listed by UNESCO on Vietnamese land...

The Ba Chua Xu Festival at Sam Mountain is a traditional festival that has been preserved and practiced for many generations in Chau Doc, An Giang. The festival is imbued with the culture of the people of the Southwest region, demonstrating the identity and continuity of the Kinh community in the process of cultural exchange with the Chinese, Khmer, and Cham people. In 2014, the festival was included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The Ba Chua Xu Festival at Sam Mountain takes place from April 22 to 27 (lunar calendar) every year.

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