Arousing pride and promoting the value of the cultural heritage of the Fatherland

In the thousand-year cultural flow of the nation, Phu Tho is the origin land of the whole country. In particular, after the period of merger and administrative boundary adjustment, Phu Tho's cultural space has been further expanded, embracing diverse and rich heritage values from the regions. With its long history and special cultural depth, Phu Tho has been making constant efforts to arouse pride, awareness of preserving and promoting the value of national cultural heritage, turning heritage into a strong endogenous resource for sustainable development.

The Muong ethnic group's Opening Ceremony is a National Intangible Cultural Heritage that is being preserved and its value is being promoted.

The solid foundation of the identity of the Homeland

Phu Tho is currently one of the few provinces that owns two representative intangible cultural heritages of humanity recognized by UNESCO, namely the Hung King Worship and Phu Tho Xoan Singing. This is the solid foundation, the most vivid evidence for the cultural identity of the Ancestral Land. The Hung King Worship was recognized by UNESCO in 2012. The province has invested in renovating the Hung Temple historical relic site, expanding the festival space and organizing the Hung King's Commemoration Day - Hung Temple Festival annually on a national scale. The festival not only attracts millions of visitors but also becomes one of the exemplary festivals in the country. Preserving the Hung King Worship is to protect a priceless spiritual asset, a testament to the formation and development of the Vietnamese nation.

For Xoan singing in Phu Tho, the journey of preservation is a miracle. From being recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent protection in 2011, thanks to persistent efforts in restoration and teaching, Xoan singing was transferred to the list of representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2017. This is a major turning point, affirming the effectiveness of heritage conservation work. Phu Tho province has had many policies to support original Xoan guilds, opening teaching classes, restoring traditional performance spaces such as village communal houses and organizing Xoan singing competitions in the community.

With a long history and special geographical location, the merged land has become a "living museum" of national history and culture. According to statistics, by July 2025, Phu Tho has 2,778 relics, of which 979 are ranked (6 special national relics, 176 national level, 797 provincial level), 6 national treasures, and thousands of relics and antiquities are kept at the Hung Vuong Museum, private museums and historical and cultural relics of the province. Regarding intangible cultural heritage, the province has nearly 2,000 heritages, of which, in addition to 2 heritages recognized by UNESCO, Phu Tho also owns 41 typical intangible cultural heritages that have been included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List. This diversity comes from the coexistence of many ethnic groups. Preserving and promoting heritage values cannot be separated from the role of the community, where each person is a cultural subject.

In recent years, localities have focused on preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage according to regulations. Currently, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism is actively advising the Provincial People's Committee and the Provincial People's Council to issue specific mechanisms and policies in the field of cultural heritage to continue to better implement the work of preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage in Phu Tho province.

Spreading pride - turning heritage into a resource for the future

A typical example of the spirit of preserving national identity is the story of the Muong people. Ms. Bui Thi Hoa - a daughter of Muong Bi commune, expressed her deep pride in the fine traditional cultural values of the Muong people, including the Muong Khai Ha Festival, which was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2022. Ms. Hoa shared: Khai Ha Festival, also known as Khuong Mua Festival, is the largest agricultural festival of the Muong people. The festival is held at the beginning of the new year to thank the gods and pray for a bountiful harvest and a prosperous life. Khai Ha Festival takes place in 4 large Muong regions: Bi, Vang, Thang, Dong, including both the ceremony and the festival with unique traditional rituals such as worshiping, water procession, palanquin procession and folk games. This is an occasion for people to express their gratitude to their ancestors and gods, and is also a place to preserve unique traditional rituals, contributing to preserving and spreading Muong cultural identity to friends inside and outside the province.

In order to further promote the cultural values of ethnic minorities, Phu Tho actively completed the dossier, coordinated with relevant units of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to submit the Mo Muong dossier to UNESCO to request for recognition as an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent protection. In heritage promotion activities, the province focused on performing Muong gongs alongside Xoan singing.

Along with the restoration of tangible heritage (renovation and embellishment of hundreds of national and provincial historical and cultural relics), the work of inventorying, documenting and digitizing heritage has been promoted. The application of information technology in digitizing heritage documents and building data banks on traditional culture has effectively served education , tourism and research. Modern technology not only helps preserve cultural values but also spread heritage to the younger generation and international friends. These efforts contribute to raising public awareness, thereby raising awareness of the important role of protecting and promoting heritage values.

Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day, November 23, is held annually as an opportunity for Phu Tho to demonstrate its determination and results in heritage conservation work. Comrade Pham Nga Viet - Deputy Head of the Department of Cultural Heritage Management (Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism) said: "In response to Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day on November 23 this year, according to the plan, Phu Tho province focuses on 2 major activities to affirm its efforts to preserve and promote heritage: Organizing a conference to summarize 5 years of implementing the Project to preserve and promote the value of Phu Tho Xoan Singing Heritage in the period of 2020 - 2025. This is an important milestone to evaluate the results and set out the next tasks to strengthen the preservation and sustainable promotion of the value of Xoan Singing heritage. The province sent a delegation to participate in the Exhibition "Cultural heritage, scenic spots and traditional handicraft products of Vietnam" in Hai Phong city. This activity not only displays images and documents of heritage but also performs traditional arts and promotes typical OCOP products of the province, aiming to connect heritage with tourism and economic development, enhancing the image of Phu Tho on the heritage map - domestic and foreign tourism

Phu Tho has clearly recognized that cultural heritage is a valuable resource for tourism development, attracting tourists and enhancing the value of the cultural brand of the Ancestral Land on the Vietnamese tourism map. Protecting and promoting the value of cultural heritage is not only to maintain the most precious things of history but also to protect national identity. This is a common responsibility of the whole society, from the government, schools, to each citizen. With clear efforts and orientation, Phu Tho is continuing to brighten the brilliant golden pages of history of the Vietnamese people, towards a sustainable development future based on the cultural roots of the Ancestral Land.

Huong Lan

Source: https://baophutho.vn/khoi-day-niem-tu-hao-phat-huy-gia-tri-di-san-van-nbsp-hoa-nbsp-dat-to-243066.htm