Preserving the cultural heritage of the Dao Tien people.

As a son of the Dao Tien ethnic group, even though he left his hometown to work in the province for several decades, he has always been deeply concerned about the potential loss of his people's cultural identity. After retiring and returning to his hometown, he dedicated his time and effort to preserving, conserving, and spreading the unique cultural characteristics of his ethnic group to many people and different regions. He is Ban Cong Hien from Yen Nguyen commune, Chiem Hoa district, Tuyen Quang province.

Mr. Ban Cong Hien with the books he collected and compiled.

Visiting Yen Nguyen in August, you will be able to admire the endless stretches of golden ripe rice fields, revealing a peaceful and prosperous scene. Hidden beneath this beautiful landscape is an underground stream of culture that flows endlessly day and night, exemplified by the cultural heritage of the Dao Tien people in this region.

The person who revived that unique Dao Tien cultural heritage is Mr. Ban Cong Hien, the son-in-law of the former Labor Hero Ban Hong Tien. After serving as Secretary of the Chiem Hoa District Party Committee and then Director of the Department of Justice, Mr. Hien retired and returned to his hometown of Yen Nguyen, continuing to contribute to the Tuyen Quang Provincial Association of Literature and Arts; the Vietnam Folk Arts Association; and the Association of Literature and Arts of Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam.

Yen Nguyen commune has 16 villages, of which 3 are mainly inhabited by the Dao ethnic group: Dong Vang, Cau Ma, and Cau Ca. Loving his homeland and the Dao people, Mr. Hien always had the thought of doing something to preserve the unique cultural identity of the Dao people. In 2014, he established the Dao Tien Village Performing Arts Team in Dong Vang with more than 10 members. He also applied to the commune to open a class to teach the Dao language to the members.

The early days were difficult. Farmers who spent their lives working in the fields now had to get used to Chinese characters, folk songs, and dances. The team had to collect every traditional costume, every bell, cymbal, gong, and horn...

In 2019, the Dong Vang Village Arts and Culture Team developed into the Dao Tien Ethnic Culture Preservation Club of Yen Nguyen Commune, with over 20 members. In 2021, due to his advanced age, Mr. Ban Cong Hien handed over the club to Mr. Ban Xuan Dong as its chairman, but he still participates regularly in club activities and serves as an advisor and the heart and soul of the club.

Every day, Mr. Ban Cong Hien diligently teaches the Dao ethnic culture to his children and grandchildren in his family and village.

Since its establishment, the Dao Tien Cultural Club of Dong Vang village has participated in many major exchanges, competitions, and performances at the district, provincial, and national levels, consistently winning top prizes. The club's success has greatly encouraged its members, making them even more enthusiastic about practicing. The club's greatest achievement was its nearly half-month tour in the Central Highlands in 2021, where the Dao Tien Cultural Club of Dong Vang village won first prize, bringing immense joy to its members. Following that, the number of members increased, and activities became more regular and frequent.

The club holds two meetings a week, on Saturday and Sunday evenings, at the village's Cultural Center. Members practice singing pao dung songs and performing traditional dances such as the harvest festival dance, the coming-of-age dance, and the bell dance. To improve the artistic quality of their performances, the club invited Meritorious Artist Le Cuong (former Acting Director of the Tuyen Quang Provincial Ethnic Arts Troupe) to train members in dance and music . As a result, the club's performances have become much more lively and artistic. In addition to the traditional performances "Celebrating Spring" and "Coming-of-Age Ceremony," the two new performances, the dances "The Joy of a Bountiful Harvest" and "The Bell Calling for the Golden Harvest," are the club's highlights...

The power supply flows continuously.

With a deep love for his ethnic group's traditional culture, Mr. Ban Cong Hien constantly pondered how to pass on as much of what he had learned to the younger generation as possible. Therefore, he actively traveled to many places within and outside the district to search for and collect ancient books, folk songs, and poetry to serve the Dao community. He compiled the research project "The Three-Lamp Initiation Ceremony of the Dao Ethnic Group in Tuyen Quang" and the research project "Pao Dung Love Songs of the Dao Tien Ethnic Group." Both projects were approved by the Vietnam Folk Arts Association. In addition, he participated with the District Department of Culture and Information in collecting, translating, and compiling the book "Some Pao Dung Songs of the Dao People in Chiem Hoa District"; and collected, compiled, and translated more than a dozen Dao poems into Vietnamese for dissemination and preservation in the areas where the Dao ethnic group lives...

The Dao Tien ethnic cultural club from Yen Nguyen commune participated in a performance at the ceremony to receive the National Monument ranking certificate for the Bao Ninh Sung Phuc pagoda archaeological site.

In 2023, the club organized two Dao language classes for students in the commune. The entire curriculum was compiled by Mr. Hien. According to Mr. Hien, the club initially planned to only organize one Dao language class, but after a few lessons, more children registered than expected, so the club organized another class. He was very happy to see the children enjoying learning about Dao ethnic culture, which further motivated him to collect and compile more programs to pass on the cultural identity of the Dao ethnic group to the community.

As we parted ways with Mr. Hien, we will always remember his words: "A Dao person who doesn't know how to speak the Dao language, doesn't know how to sing pao dung songs, and doesn't know Dao customs is considered to have lost their roots. Therefore, it is our responsibility to preserve, protect, and promote our ethnic group's traditional culture."

Giang Lam - Ban Thanh (Ethnic Groups and Development Newspaper)

Source: https://baophutho.vn/giu-mach-nguon-van-hoa-dao-tien-223733.htm