What is the cultural identity of Da Nang?

Former Director of the Da Nang Cham Sculpture Museum, Vo Van Thang, shared interesting insights on the conservation and promotion of heritage values ​​in shaping Da Nang's cultural identity.

On December 9th, the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism organized a consultation meeting to develop a resolution on the cultural development of Da Nang City for the period 2026-2030, with a vision to 2045.

At the workshop, researcher Vo Van Thang, former Director of the Da Nang Cham Sculpture Museum, stated that after the merger, the heritage system of Quang Nam - Da Nang has up to 595 tangible and intangible heritage sites.

Among them, there are 4 UNESCO-listed heritage sites: My Son Sanctuary, Hoi An Ancient Town ( World Heritage Site); Central Vietnamese Bài Chòi folk art (Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity); and the Marble Mountains of Ngu Hanh Son (Regional Documentary Heritage of Asia-Pacific). There are 4 special national monuments: the Truong Son - Ho Chi Minh Trail, Dong Duong Buddhist Monastery, Dien Hai Citadel, and the Ngu Hanh Son scenic area; and 26 national intangible cultural heritage sites…

According to Mr. Thang, Da Nang has a vast area, from the sea to the plains to the mountains, with heritage sites in every region. Few localities in the country possess all three cultural regions like this, with a unique convergence and intermingling of cultures.

Researcher Vo Van Thang speaks at the conference.

PHOTO: HOANG SON

Referring to the new identity of Da Nang City, Mr. Vo Van Thang said that cultural identity is a broad concept that, at first glance, seems to be "anything with a long tradition, anything old or outdated becomes an identity."

"As a result, some people misunderstand, thinking that festivals and hanging colorful flags at the communal house represent cultural identity. But cultural identity must have its criteria. The concept of cultural identity encompasses both tradition and creation, meaning there are things we must build new, not just keeping things unchanged for a thousand years and calling them cultural identity. There are things that didn't exist before, and now we create them; or we select from what already exists," Mr. Thang said.

Dig into the ground to find tradition, soar into the sky to create uniqueness.

Mr. Thang recounted that more than 20 years ago, when Da Nang City was newly separated (from Quang Nam - Da Nang province), many people working in cultural affairs said to each other, "Looking around, we see that Da Nang has no distinctive features, no identity." Meanwhile, people said Hoi An has an identity, Hanoi has an identity, Hue has an identity, but Da Nang... it's hard to say where its identity is.

"I just said this: if we don't have a tradition, we have to build one. If we don't have a distinctive feature, we have to create one. Identity is what we build. For example, fireworks – if you keep doing them continuously for almost 20 years, it becomes an identity. Or when I excavated the Phong Le Cham Tower, I pushed Da Nang's cultural history back more than a thousand years. That means digging into the ground to find tradition, and soaring into the sky to create a distinctive feature. One side is archaeology, the other is fireworks soaring into the sky – both create identity," Mr. Thang analyzed.

Mr. Thang assessed that the merger of Quang Nam and Da Nang has given the city a huge treasure trove of heritage, from the plains to the mountains, with rich cultural colors, lacking no fundamental elements. What is needed now is not to find more, but to select, concentrate, and shape it. If left unchecked, a clear identity will not be formed.

Based on these characteristics, Mr. Thang proposed a set of regional cultural values ​​consisting of the phrases: ancient and fascinating, harmonious in diversity, dynamic and creative.

The consultative workshop attracted many experts and cultural researchers from the central region.

PHOTO: HOANG SON

Mr. Vo Van Thang believes that the proposed set of values ​​is formed from the outstanding characteristics of the region. "Ancient" because the area possesses a continuous history of at least 2,000 years; "attractive" because it is a region of cultural convergence and exchange, where Da Nang and Hoi An have served as gateways for cultural exchange for millennia.

The concept of "harmony in diversity" is clearly evident in Hoi An or the Co Tu mountainous region, where many cultural nuances coexist peacefully. Mr. Thang cited the example of cuisine, such as Quang noodles, as evidence of the convergence of influences from the sea, plains, and mountains.

Ultimately, "dynamism and creativity" are the qualities that have shaped the character of the people of Quang Nam - Da Nang, who are accustomed to adapting and living by creativity in both their professions and culture.

According to him, these elements can be seen as a "package of identity" to refer to in the process of shaping regional cultural values.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ban-sac-van-hoa-cua-da-nang-la-gi-185251209114626857.htm