Preserving the cultural soul of the highlands

BAC NINH - Ethnic minorities in Bac Giang province, formerly Bac Ninh province, live in mountainous communes and highlands in the districts of Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Luc Nam, and Yen The (old). Along with economic and social development, each ethnic group has its own characteristics expressed through traditional costumes, speech, songs, and dances, creating a colorful cultural picture. Over the years, the preservation and promotion of the traditional culture of ethnic minorities has been of interest to all levels, sectors, and local people.

Passing on embroidery and language

In the mountainous commune of Son Dong, many elderly people who understand customs and traditions are voluntarily passing on their ethnic culture to their children and grandchildren. This year, Mrs. Ban Thi Duyen (76 years old), Dao ethnic, in Mau village, but her eyes are still sharp, her hands skillful in embroidery. Every Saturday and Sunday, on the porch of her house, she teaches embroidery for free to her children and grandchildren. The class usually has 5-7 girls in the area, whoever she teaches is sure to be proficient, in just a short time she will be proficient in every needle and thread.

Harvest festival of ethnic minorities.

She confided: “The costumes of the Dao people have many elaborate motifs that require the person making the product to embroider meticulously by hand, taking hours to days without the use of machines. Therefore, each completed product is a testament to the ingenuity and diligence, creating the charm of ethnic women that young men in the village come to ask for marriage. Since 2011, I have participated in a project to support the teaching of ethnic costume embroidery. After the project ended, I have maintained it until now so that my children and grandchildren can understand, appreciate, be proud of, and know how to preserve traditional culture.”

In addition, in ethnic minority areas, there are many people who are considered living archives of language and folk songs, such as Meritorious Artist Lam Minh Sap, 70 years old, San Chi ethnic group, in Cong village, Kien Lao commune. He has spent many years collecting, teaching and building the San Chi ethnic folk song movement. Many songs he composed and translated have simple lyrics about farmers' work in the fields, about the countryside river, the cool and peaceful stream; the wishes of ethnic minorities for a year of bountiful crops, a prosperous life, and a peaceful country. Or like village elder Ban Van Cuong, Thanh Chung village, Tay Yen Tu commune; Dam Van Tinh, Dong Bay village, An Lac commune, who have been collecting writing and teaching language to the younger generation for many years. That dedication, responsibility and passion have contributed to preserving and promoting the unique cultural identity of ethnic minorities.

Building a cultural region with strong identity

Bac Giang province (old) has about 260 thousand ethnic minorities including Tay, Nung, Dao, Cao Lan, San Chi, Hoa... living mainly in mountainous communes and highlands. Paying attention to the work of preserving and promoting the traditional culture of ethnic minorities, in recent years, all levels, sectors, authorities and local people in the province have carried out many activities.

Bac Giang province (old) has about 260 thousand ethnic minorities including Tay, Nung, Dao, Cao Lan, San Chi, Hoa... living mainly in mountainous communes and highlands.

According to the Provincial Museum and localities, in recent years, from the budget funds allocated under the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction and sponsored projects, in Bac Hoa village, Tan Son commune, the Nung ethnic people have renovated and preserved the rammed earth houses and established the Sloong hao singing club; the Tay ethnic people in An Lac commune have preserved the stilt houses and established the Then singing club to serve visitors and tourists . Many classes to teach folk culture; training and fostering knowledge of tourism development, communication skills are organized right in the community, attracting women, mothers, sisters and children to participate in learning. This helps everyone raise awareness and responsibility for preserving culture and customs.

In order to spread traditional culture in community activities, highland communes, where ethnic minorities are concentrated, have paid attention to including folk singing in performance programs during festivals, competitions, mass cultural and artistic performances or important local political events. At the same time, they have directed and guided localities to maintain and expand folk singing clubs, traditional costume embroidery clubs, etc., contributing to preserving the fine traditional cultural values of ethnic groups, becoming unique and attractive tourism products, attracting domestic and foreign tourists to visit and experience. In the education sector, many schools have proactively arranged and organized ethnic language lessons in the curriculum for some specific areas.

Ms. Tran Thu Ha, a businesswoman working in the tourism sector, shared: "I had the opportunity to visit and return, thereby clearly feeling the unique, pristine beauty of Na O village, An Lac commune; Bac Hoa village, Tan Son commune; Ven village, Xuan Luong commune; Mau village, Tay Yen Tu commune; Khe Nghe village, Luc Son commune... These places are gradually becoming destinations for many tourists inside and outside the province. However, to develop further, these places need to invest more in infrastructure; research and collect legends, suitable names for objects at tourist destinations; organize connections with more professional travel businesses".

From July 1, Bac Giang province merged with Bac Ninh province to form the new Bac Ninh province. In the new development space and the flow of modern society, the concern for inheriting, preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of the people is both meaningful in transmitting the quintessence of national culture, on the other hand, contributing to creating highlights in the cultural picture of the locality, building a solid foundation and being the driving force for the goal of economic and tourism development.

Comrade Le Duc Thang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tan Yen Tu commune, shared that the commune has great potential for tourism development. Currently, the Dao, Tay, and Nung ethnic groups account for nearly 30% of the population. The Tay Yen Tu spiritual and ecological tourism area and two community tourism sites of ethnic minorities are operating with many unique traditional festivals being restored and maintained such as: the Cap sac ceremony, the crop praying festival, songs, dances, etc. All converge in the space west of Yen Tu mountain range, creating a cultural area with a rich identity that not every place has.

To achieve the goal of building this place into a regional eco-cultural tourism center by 2030, the locality is calling on investors to focus resources on building infrastructure to synchronously connect restaurant, entertainment and recreation services; encouraging people to maintain embroidery, language, and folk singing. Together with localities, provincial departments and branches continue to pay attention, invest, and focus on supporting infrastructure construction, training human resources, organizing performances to serve tourists... so that the unique and typical features of ethnic minority culture can spread.

Mai Toan

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/giu-hon-van-hoa-noi-reo-cao-postid421175.bbg