Heritage value deviation
The graduation competition combined the song Phong Nu (composed by Ho Hoai Anh) with the Chau Van song Co Doi Thuong Ngan with drums and Hau Dong dance by a female student at a college in Ho Chi Minh City, receiving praise from many teachers, friends and the public who love heritage. However, some other opinions from the community said that this combination is not really suitable for protecting the heritage of "Practicing the worship of the Mother Goddess of the Three Realms of the Vietnamese people".
Also related to this issue, in early 2025, the Department of Cinema requested the distributor of the film 404 Run Now (Thailand) to cut out the image of the character wearing a Taoist costume played by actress Uyen An, which was advertised after the end of the film. According to the Department of Cinema, the removal of this image was to avoid causing misunderstandings and distorting the meaning and value of the intangible cultural heritage "Practice of worshiping the Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms of the Vietnamese people".
Previously, at the end of 2024, the Department of Cultural Heritage sent a document requesting the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Bac Ninh province to immediately rectify the illegal spirit mediumship activities in the locality. The reason was that on October 24, 2024, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the province coordinated with the People's Committee of Yen Phong district to organize the 2nd Bac Ninh Province Hat Van and Hat Chau Van Festival. However, through actual inspection, the activities were performances of the practice of the Mother Goddess Worship of the Three Palaces (spirit mediumship) on stage by a number of outstanding artists and artisans inside and outside the province. This is a spirit mediumship performance activity that is not true to the nature and practice space of the heritage "Practice of the Mother Goddess Worship of the Vietnamese people".
Return the sacred space
In 2016, UNESCO recognized “The practice of the Vietnamese Mother Goddess worship” as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. At the same time, UNESCO also assessed this as one of the important heritages of the Vietnamese people, which has contributed to creating a spiritual bond connecting communities practicing the heritage, promoting tolerance between ethnicities and religions, compatible with international human rights regulations and without limits on practice.
In 2018, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism sent an official dispatch to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism/Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of provinces/cities directly under the Central Government to promptly inspect and correct offensive phenomena that deviate from the nature of the intangible cultural heritage "Practice of worshiping the Mother Goddess of the Three Realms of the Vietnamese people". Accordingly, only organize the spirit mediumship in places with Mother Goddess temples or relics; do not organize the spirit mediumship ritual in public areas as a type of tourism service, or street music; promote propaganda, raise awareness of practitioners about the value of the heritage, thereby recommending to limit the use of a lot of votive paper and offerings of money to divide and distribute fortune in the spirit mediumship ceremony.
Regarding the trend of theatricalizing the spirit mediumship, leading to the “secularization” of the ritual, Professor and Doctor Tu Thi Loan (former Acting Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts) analyzed: “Up to now, there are still two different opinions on bringing the spirit mediumship ritual to the stage. One is in support, believing that it is an effective form of promotion to bring the image of heritage closer to people at home and abroad. The other is against, because it is secularizing the ritual, reducing its sacredness, not in accordance with the nature of the heritage, distorting the heritage. Meanwhile, if considered from the perspective of preserving cultural heritage according to the dossier submitted to UNESCO and the commitment of the Vietnamese Government, spirit mediumship must be performed as a religious practice”.
The story of preserving, conserving and promoting “The practice of worshipping the Mother Goddesses of the Vietnamese people” also reflects the difficulties and contradictions in preserving and promoting the value of heritage. To preserve and promote the value of heritage, first of all, it is necessary to fully and correctly understand the original value of the heritage, especially the rituals of practicing cultural heritage beliefs must take place in sacred spaces. Therefore, the problem of spreading the value of cultural heritage is not easy to solve in the contemporary context.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/gian-nan-duong-lan-toa-di-san-post800043.html
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