420 years of defining a land rich in identity

A corner of Duy Xuyen space.

Mr. Phan Xuan Canh - Chairman of Duy Xuyen District People's Committee: Culture is the foundation for both present and future development.

The year 2024 officially marks the 420th anniversary (1604-2024) of the birth of the name and development of Duy Xuyen land. On the journey of founding Quang Nam, Duy Xuyen land has created historical and cultural values, contributing greatly to the development process of Quang Nam history and national history, becoming a land rich in historical traditions, revolutionary heroes and also the homeland of many famous patriots, intellectuals and writers.

Mr. Phan Xuan Canh - Chairman of Duy Xuyen District People's Committee.

Duy Xuyen is also a sacred land, containing a unique system of cultural, religious and belief sediments with the imprint of My Son - Tra Kieu as two holy sites, a rare thing in Vietnam.

The system of relics, traces of Sa Huynh, ancient Cham sculptures in My Son - Tra Kieu not only has value in terms of art, architecture, history, culture but also is a history book written in bricks and stones, honestly reflecting the formation and development of culture, art, life of residents, Champa society and the development of Duy Xuyen land.

In the coming time, Duy Xuyen is determined to continue promoting historical and cultural values, considering this as the foundation and driving force for sustainable development both now and in the future.

At the same time, plan solutions on mechanisms, policies, financial resources, science and technology, human resources... to serve the development of the tourism industry. Focus on reviewing, adjusting and supplementing the tourism development project until 2030 with the types of entertainment - resort - cultural - ecological tourism, associated with increasing investment attraction to create a streak of rural community ecotourism...

In particular, continue to arouse and strongly promote the spirit of diligence, hard work, kindness, patriotism, resilience, and aspiration to rise of the land and people here, especially the spirit of dynamism, innovation, and creativity, contributing to building Duy Xuyen into a town by 2030 and the following years.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Dang - University of Science, Hue University: Duy Xuyen is a place where noble families gather.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Van Dang - University of Science, Hue University

Duy Xuyen is a famous land of learning in Quang Nam. Under the Nguyen Dynasty alone, the number of people passing the Confucian exams ranked second among the 6 districts of the province, after Dien Phuoc district. Duy Xuyen had 60 bachelors, 7 doctors, and associate doctors.

After 1471 until the beginning of the Nguyen Lords (16th century) was the time when ancient villages were formed in Duy Xuyen. In addition to 7 villages of unknown origin, Duy Xuyen district has 7 ancient villages including Bon Khuc (or Thu Bon), Minh Chau (or Thanh Chau), Chiem Son, Lang Chau, Van Quat, Ban Thach, Mac Xuyen (My Xuyen)...

From the overview of the ancient villages of Duy Xuyen, we learned about some famous families of the villages in this land. In particular, three noble families, which played a big role not only in the villages but also in the whole Duy Xuyen district and Quang Nam province, were the Doan family of Doan Quy Phi in Dong Yen village (Duy Trinh commune), the Nguyen Truong family of Mac Canh Huong in Tra Kieu/Ngu Xa village (Duy Son commune), and the Vo Van - Vo Duc family of Ban Thach village (Duy Vinh commune).

The founder of the land, Doan Cong Huyen, followed King Le Thanh Tong to the south and then asked to stay, gathered people to establish villages, reclaimed land and established a commune called Dong Yen Chau, Ha Dong district, Quang Nam province.

Thu Bon River. Photo: PHUONG THAO

The descendants of the Doan clan continued to reclaim the land. Around 1560-1570, the Ancestor went to the South to call on people to reclaim the land, creating more than 500 acres of public and private land and naming the village. Tra Kieu village was formed 553 years ago, since the time when the 13 Ancestors left the Thanh - Nghe - Tinh region and other places in the North to follow King Le Thanh Tong to reclaim the land in 1471. Ngu Xa Tra Kieu land had heroes who fought in battles, supporting the King to reclaim the land.

Many large clans in Dang Ngoai chose to settle down and continue the work of expanding the territory and establishing a career on Duy Xuyen land. The clans made important contributions to reclaiming land, expanding fields, establishing villages, and developing the economy.

Clans and clan culture create unique characteristics of the land. In that aspect, it can be said that clans in Duy Xuyen contribute to creating the cultural identity of Quang Nam: a loyal and devoted lifestyle, a spirit of righteousness, filial piety to the clan - loyalty to the nation, love of learning, and studiousness.

Dr. Le Thi Thu Hien - Da Nang University of Education: Exploiting the value of Thu Bon River to develop tourism

Dr. Le Thi Thu Hien - Danang University of Education.

Thu Bon Mother River carries many traditional cultural values ​​of Quang Nam in general and Duy Xuyen district in particular.
The Thu River fertilizes the Duy Xuyen alluvial plain with fertile soil, forming the main livelihood of the people, which is agriculture.

On the other hand, the Thu River is the source of myths, legends, folk beliefs, containing historical and cultural sediments and many famous craft villages along the river...

From those potentials and advantages, I think Duy Xuyen district authorities need to have a clear and methodical plan for developing river tourism, a plan to develop destinations and service products on the route, and issue a set of professional standards in serving tourists.

There needs to be a policy combining exploitation with the preservation of traditional river cultural values, focusing on restoring relics, upgrading the scale of traditional festivals such as Ba Thu Bon, Ba Chiem Son, and restoring and developing traditional craft villages.

Another important issue is that the cultural values ​​created by the Thu River can only exist and be effective when the Thu Bon River remains intact. Therefore, Duy Xuyen district needs to have solutions to prevent erosion and landslides through the implementation of structural and non-structural measures.

Duy Xuyen needs to promote the connection with other localities along the Thu Bon River such as Nong Son, Dai Loc, Dien Ban, Hoi An to design diverse destinations in the tour program, helping tourists have new and attractive travel experiences. Establishing connection and consensus among parties in tourism development based on the cultural values ​​of rivers: government - travel companies - local communities cooperate on the principle of sharing benefits.

Along with the process of settlement, reclamation, village establishment, agricultural and commercial development, handicraft industries in Duy Xuyen were born quite early, showing the characteristics of the land and people, contributing effectively to the uniqueness of Quang Nam handicrafts.

The unique feature of Duy Xuyen handicraft industry is the acceptance and harmony between Vietnamese, Cham, Chinese and Westerners. With a favorable geographical location, under the influence of Quang Nam citadel, Quang Nam headquarters, Hoi An commercial port, Da Nang port city, French consulate, the influence of Southeast Asian and world trade flows has promoted Duy Xuyen handicraft industry to develop in a diverse and rich way that is rarely found anywhere else.

(Dr. Nguyen Minh Phuong - Danang University of Education)

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/420-nam-dinh-danh-vung-dat-giau-ban-sac-3138970.html