Bac Ninh is the center of Mother Goddess worship in the Northern Delta, still preserving a system of historical and cultural relics associated with the unique Mother Goddess worship. In 2016, the practice of Mother Goddess worship of the Vietnamese people was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Bac Ninh has paid attention and had many solutions to preserve and promote the value of this cultural heritage.
Preserving Mother Goddess worship relics
According to the inventory results, Bac Ninh has 720 Mother Goddess worshiping relics, of which 4 relics have houses and altars that are special national relics: Dau Pagoda, Phat Tich Pagoda, But Thap Pagoda and Do Temple; 86 national relics; 125 provincial relics. The relics are most concentrated in localities living along the Cau River and Duong River, some relics are in mountainous areas such as Phat Tich, Qua Cam, Thien Thai mountains... Typical are the Mother Goddesses of the First Heaven: Ba To Co (Phat Tich, Tien Du); Ba Dong Mau (Thi Cau, Bac Ninh city); Mother Goddess of the Three Palaces (Nguyet Ban, Gia Binh); Holy Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh (Mother Goddess of the World) are worshiped in temples, palaces or pagodas; The agricultural goddesses in the Dau region (Thanh Khuong, Thuan Thanh town) include the Holy Mother Man Nuong, Tu Phap (Phap Van, Phap Vu, Phap Loi, Phap Dien incarnated as Mrs. Dau, Mrs. Dau, Mrs. Dan, Mrs. Tuong)... The Mothers in Bac Ninh contain the spirit of patriotism, love of peace, fighting to protect good people, and eliminating evil.
Ba Chua Kho Temple is one of the typical relics in the Mother Goddess worship belief in Bac Ninh.
In order to preserve and promote Mother Goddess worship relics, the province has had many solutions, issued many decisions, programs, plans, and projects in the field of preserving and promoting the value of relics, typically: Decision No. 10/2021/QD-UBND dated May 6, 2021 of the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province on promulgating Regulations on the management of relics, relics, antiques, and national treasures in Bac Ninh province. Bac Ninh is also a leading locality in the country, attaching the responsibility of district and commune-level authorities in the direct management of relics, creating a change in awareness, not leaving the management of relics to the village. Currently, 100% of ranked relics have established a Local Relic Management Board, clearly defining the responsibilities and rights of members; land and relic management; festival organization... responsibilities and rights of relic caretakers; restoration and renovation of relics. The province and the cultural sector pay special attention to the restoration and embellishment of relics. Every year, dozens of relics are restored, some relics are invested in restoration with large budgets such as: Tam Phu Temple, Cao Duc Commune, Gia Binh District, with an investment of 10 billion VND from the support of the province and locality. The relics of Kinh Duong Vuong, Lac Long Quan and Au Co temples in A Lu area, Dai Dong Thanh Ward, Thuan Thanh Town, with an investment of 25 billion VND... The relics of Mother Goddess worship are inventoried and assessed for heritage value with documents and artifacts evaluated and recorded as a basis for preservation. Valuable relics are classified.
Promoting the practice of Mother Goddess worship
The Mother Goddess worship in Bac Ninh focuses on worship and ritual activities during festivals associated with the folk performance ritual of singing Chau Van depicting the lives and merits of the gods through the role-playing of the mediums with rich and colorful lyrics. Through traditional festivals such as Diem festival (Hoa Long ward, Bac Ninh city); Ba Chua Kho temple festival (Vu Ninh ward, Bac Ninh city); Dau region festival (Thuan Thanh town) ... help people move towards truth-goodness-beauty so that the community can live more unitedly and affectionately, knowing how to worship ancestors, being grateful to heroes, and those who have contributed to the country. The Mother Goddess worship in Bac Ninh has its own characteristics but still carries the common beauty of Vietnamese Mother Goddess worship culture, honoring the tradition of patriotism and looking back to the origin.
To continue preserving relics and promoting the practice of Mother Goddess worship, Bac Ninh has promoted propaganda and promotion on mass media and social networking sites to bring heritage to domestic and foreign tourists. In particular, focusing on promotion on social networking platforms, tourism promotion program activities; investing in restoration and prevention of degradation of Mother Goddess worship relics; linking the preservation of Mother Goddess worship relics with tourism development; organizing scientific seminars on the value of cultural heritage of Mother Goddess worship and orientation of management work in contemporary life; honoring artisans in the practice of Mother Goddess worship; encouraging artisans to open classes to teach the use of musical instruments in the art of singing Chau Van; organizing inventory and collecting documents of temples, shrines, temples, pagodas, etc. with Mother Goddess worship in the province.
Mr. Nguyen Van Luyen, Deputy Director of the Provincial Center for Monuments Conservation and Tourism Promotion, said: The historical and cultural relics of Mother Goddess worship in Bac Ninh and the relics with Mother Goddess temples account for nearly 50% of the number of relics in the province. In order for the relics to promote their value, in the coming time, the Center will continue to propose solutions such as: Strengthening the promotion of the Mother Goddess worship heritage in Bac Ninh province; carrying out inventory and assessment of the value of Mother Goddess worship relics, focusing on studying some valuable shrines in private homes for consideration to include in the list of relics of the province; inspecting and supervising the implementation of Mother Goddess worship activities. In which, it is strictly forbidden to perform and practice spirit possession in the wrong place; preventing the propaganda of superstition, violations in practice, taking advantage of beliefs for profit; promoting the role of artisans of Mother Goddess worship, etc.
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