Creative preservation of cultural heritage

In recent years, with passion and creativity, many young people have contributed to reviving traditional cultural forms of ethnic minorities in the province. This is not only a continuation of the heritage, but also a way for the younger generation to demonstrate their responsibility in preserving and promoting the cultural values of their ancestors.

Tac Xinh Dance - a dance imbued with the culture of the San Chay people - was recreated by young people in the Bac Kan Culture - Tourism Week program in 2025 (held at the end of April 2025).

Continuation and preservation

Although only in his early 20s, Mr. Hoang Van Quan, from Na Ri commune, has a special love for lullabies - a national intangible cultural heritage of Thai Nguyen province. When the locality organized a class to teach Tay ethnic lullabies, Mr. Quan and the youth union members of Na Ri commune actively participated. Previously, lullabies were mainly passed down orally through generations, so they were easily lost. Realizing that, Mr. Quan took the initiative to record and carefully edit the melodies and print them into documents to share and spread to many young people to learn and preserve.

Young people become the core of folk art teams, contributing to reviving cultural identity to serve tourism development.

Anh Quan shared: In modern life, with many forms of culture and art that attract young people, some folk songs, including lullabies, are gradually fading away, even at risk of disappearing. Many young mothers have forgotten lullabies - a unique way of conveying emotions, imbued with the identity of Tay women. Therefore, even though I am a young man, I still want to master this tune to pass it on to other young people.

Today’s young generation is the one who directly inherits and preserves traditional cultural values. No longer passive recipients, many young people have actively participated in heritage conservation activities such as: participating in traditional festivals, learning about historical sites, craft villages, participating in projects to preserve national culture. They also actively attend heritage teaching classes, attend seminars and seek information themselves to better understand the cultural identity of their ancestors.

Students of Cho Moi Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities, Cho Moi Commune, participate in activities to learn about and experience traditional culture.

Participating in extracurricular activities of the school to introduce the cultural heritage of Vietnamese ethnic groups, Trieu Thi Le Sen, a 9th grade student at Cho Moi Ethnic Boarding Secondary School, Cho Moi Commune, said: I often learn about the beauty of traditional costumes, folk games and learn folk songs and dances. My school has a rule to wear traditional costumes on the first day of the week. In addition, we also include Then singing and Bowl dancing in the school's art program.

Mr. Ban Duc Bao, a Dao ethnic, in Quan Chu commune, is a prestigious person in the ethnic minority area: In order to prevent the Dao culture from being lost, for the past few years, I have opened a free Dao language class for the people. Anyone who wants to learn, I accept, my house becomes a classroom. My students are of all ages, from old to young, to make it easier for students to absorb, I divide them according to each person's level to teach different content...

In recent times, many schools in the province have established folk art clubs and teams; organized to teach and pass on traditional cultural heritage to the younger generation. Many students have become active members, both talented in art and passionate about learning and performing folk songs. Each member of the club is a person who teaches dances and folk songs to their classmates during their participation in school art festivals...

Create and spread

In Ban Ca, Nghia Ta commune, many young Dao Tien people are being taught the traditional embroidery and beeswax printing of their people.

Student Luu Hoang Van Khanh, member of the folk art club of Ngan Son Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, Ngan Son commune : "When joining the club, I learned how to dance with bowls, sing Then on Tinh lute, sing Luon... For us, it is not only a source of pride but also a responsibility of the young generation in preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of our ancestors"...

Today’s young generation not only plays a role in preserving cultural heritage but also becomes a creative force, spreading cultural values in the digital age. Through activities to preserve and introduce heritage to the community and create content on digital platforms, they contribute to bringing traditional culture closer to the public.

As a member of the Con Poong village art troupe, Nam Cuong commune, Ms. Dao Thi Mai has exploited the benefits of social networking platforms such as TikTok, Youtube, Facebook to introduce many tourist attractions in the highlands, traditional culture, unique dishes as well as art performances to serve tourists when traveling to Ba Be Lake. The combination of traditional culture with modern promotion methods that Ms. Mai created has attracted the attention of many people to traditional values.

In addition to then songs, tinh lute, and luon nang oi, Ms. Mai and the club members have collected and staged dance performances that are typical of the local ethnic cultures such as bowl dance, Dao dance, and conical hat dance of the Nung people, etc. to serve tourists. Ms. Mai added: In order to increasingly improve the quality and uniqueness of performances for tourists, the club members have also proactively collected and restored many fading melodies and rituals, while creating new content that is suitable for modern tourism trends while still preserving the traditional spirit. The performances are increasingly invested in a more professional and systematic manner, helping tourists feel the traditional cultural soul of the local ethnic groups when traveling.

Photo cut from the video of the group of authors who won the Special Prize in the contest to promote Thai Nguyen tourism through the AI application "Thai Nguyen AImazing".

Most recently, the contest "Promoting Thai Nguyen tourism - a creative destination with the power of AI" organized by the Department of Education and Training has shown the role of young people in promoting and spreading the cultural values, land and people of Thai Nguyen to domestic and foreign tourists. Nearly 300 works sent by students from schools in the province to the contest have shown a youthful and modern perspective on Thai Nguyen culture and tourism through products applying artificial intelligence, thereby bringing cultural heritage closer to everyone. With the strength of accessing and learning quickly, students have exploited digital technology to the maximum and effectively promote cultural heritage, connecting people with the past and present, creating interest and love for the province's heritage.

Currently, Thai Nguyen province has 45 intangible cultural heritages recognized at the national level. This is a valuable human resource, creating a foundation for developing cultural tourism - a type that is increasingly popular. In the trend of integration and digital transformation, the young generation with the advantage of quick access to technology is becoming the core force to bring traditional culture closer to the community at home and abroad. With a spirit of creativity and responsibility, they are "breathing modern life" into national cultural values, contributing to reviving heritage and promoting local socio-economic development.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-hoa/202508/sang-tao-gin-giu-di-san-van-hoa-8612830/