Priceless cultural treasure

Intangible cultural heritage is considered the “soul” of the community, connecting the past, present and future. Today, these same heritages are invaluable treasures for developing cultural life, and “resources” that provide opportunities for socio-economic development.

For ethnic minorities, cultural values ​​with distinctive colors, bearing the breath of epics and ancient stories, are even more attractive and need to be passed down, continued, and associated with the task of community and social development.

Ms. Pham Thi Luu, a Chut ethnic group member, preserves the melodies of her people's traditional pipe instrument. Photo: Khanh Trinh

In Quang Tri , the ethnic minorities, mainly Chut, Ta Oi and Bru-Van Kieu, have up to now passed down and preserved their unique intangible cultural heritages. With folk performing arts, while the Chut have the Ca tom ta lenh (the buffalo plowing) melody, which is a rustic melody, with improvised lyrics, both sung in response and sing-along when going to the fields, in wedding festivals, or lulling children to sleep; the Bru-Van Kieu are famous for the Cha Chap folk song, rich in lyricism, sung during work or dating, reflecting the desire for love and life. For the Ta Oi, the tang tung da da dance, with the echoing sound of drums and gongs, is an expression of community joy in festivals. These lyrics and songs are still preserved in everyday life, and especially in local clubs and training classes.

Mr. Tran Quoc Hoi, Deputy Head of the Department of Cultural Management, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Tri province, said that preserving the language, music and folk improvisation helps reflect the people's souls, connect with nature and labor, and at the same time create vitality for festivals of ethnic minorities.

Bru-Van Kieu people in Truong Son commune perform rituals in the rice planting festival

Cultural festivals of ethnic minorities associated with nature, the earth and sky and beliefs in labor production also contribute to telling part of the story of the ethnic groups. The Chut people have a ceremony to worship Giang Son, praying for favorable weather, for the gods to bless good crops, heavy rice plants and especially for everyone in the village to be healthy and safe. The Bru-Van Kieu people organize a rice planting festival or a new rice celebration, praying for a bountiful harvest, full granaries...

In general, the intangible cultural heritages of ethnic minorities in Quang Tri province are the unique “marks” of each ethnic group, contributing to preserving the language, speech, behavior, world view and historical memory as well as strengthening village solidarity. Furthermore, they are a treasure for socio-economic development and cultural life of the whole community.

Building folk culture clubs

In order to preserve and promote the value of folk songs, performances, festivals, traditional crafts, etc. of ethnic minorities in the area, the cultural sector of Quang Tri province has spent many years accompanying people to build folk culture clubs.

Bru-Van Kieu people together perform and restore traditional art performances

Meritorious Artist Vo Thanh Nhan, Deputy Director of the Quang Tri Province Culture and Cinema Center, said that unlike tangible cultural heritage, the methods of transmitting and teaching intangible cultural heritage are all through memory, word of mouth, craft, practice through language and behavior of specific people. Therefore, meeting, participating in activities and transmitting intangible cultural values ​​within the framework of clubs is necessary to preserve and multiply the value of this "treasure".

Training courses from the Quang Tri cultural sector have helped people gradually build and maintain clubs, including collecting and inventorying heritage, restoring and practicing performances, and promoting the precious cultural assets of the people.

Among the many cultural clubs in Quang Tri, the Kim Thuy folk culture club with performances by the Bru-Van Kieu people is noteworthy. The club was established in 2023 with more than 80 members who are residents of 10/12 villages and hamlets of the old Kim Thuy commune, now Kim Ngan commune. Due to the difficult terrain and the busy people making a living, gathering the club for activities and practice is difficult. However, thanks to the consensus and joint efforts, the club still maintains regular activities to preserve and promote the cultural values ​​of its people. Thanks to that, on important local anniversaries, the club can bring its own color and make its mark on the stage.

Cultural activities will be preserved by generations of ethnic minorities and through the support of technological equipment

To continue creating cultural living spaces, contributing to preserving the priceless "treasure" of intangible cultural heritage, the local cultural sector wishes to continue to upgrade synchronously both facilities and equipment; strengthen the team of specialized staff; develop many practical and useful activities for ethnic minorities, meet the needs of the people and improve the quality of club activities.

Source: https://www.vietnam.vn/