Artisan Nguyen Duc Hien: "Cultural Ambassador" Bringing Vietnamese Folk Beliefs Across Borders

Since childhood, the image of Vietnamese saints in the 'Mother Goddess religion' has been imprinted in the mind of artisan Nguyen Duc Hien, and after more than 30 years of living sublimely with the brilliant colors of the community, scarves, and flower ceremonies, he confidently brought the beauty of spiritual culture to foreign countries, like a diligent "messenger" bringing beauty around the world . Folk culture is the reason for living Born in Ngoc Ha flower village, Hanoi, medium Nguyen Duc Hien grew up in a family with a tradition of practicing the ritual of performing the spirit medium. Since childhood, he had the opportunity to follow his mother and grandmother to watch the mediums of other mediums, sometimes the mediums of his grandmother or mother. That family tradition naturally nurtured in him the affinity for spirit mediumship and the Mother Goddess worship belief, as if it were a predestined fate. When he entered university, the young man Nguyen Duc Hien began practicing the spirit mediumship ritual. But he did not want to stop at just practicing the belief, he still wanted to learn and research seriously and systematically about beliefs and religions in general, especially in an international environment. Therefore, after graduating from 2 majors in English and Economics - Law in Vietnam, medium Nguyen Duc Hien decided to spend 2 more years studying for a Master's degree, majoring in Culture and Education at Dalarna University, Sweden. He then went on to complete his PhD in Educational Management, and most recently, in 2022, he was awarded the title of Associate Professor in Educational Management.

Recently, Artist Nguyen Duc Hien received an Associate Professor degree inEducational Management.

With his endless love for folk culture, along with his profound understanding of the Mother Goddess worship and the ritual of spirit mediumship, cultural artist Nguyen Duc Hien has been invited many times by large and small universities in Vietnam to teach classes and subjects related to folk beliefs. He has also been invited by many TV channels to talk and share about the cultural field. Each occasion is an opportunity for him to get closer to young people, helping them understand more about the beauty of their homeland's culture. Not only teaching and performing in Vietnam, artist Nguyen Duc Hien is one of the mediums who has performed the most abroad, carrying the mission of spreading the core values ​​of the Mother Goddess worship far beyond the border. “The purpose and profound value of the Mother Goddess worship and the spirit medium ritual is to turn to the ancestors and roots, to show gratitude to the Vietnamese saints as well as the heroes who have contributed to building the country in folk culture. For the community to understand and appreciate this, the burden will first fall on those who are practicing the Mother Goddess worship like me” – cultural artist Duc Hien shared. He said that he has traveled abroad many times to perform for overseas Vietnamese groups, creating opportunities for them to interact with and learn about Vietnamese folk culture. “Since 2016, when the Vietnamese Mother Goddess worship of the Three Palaces and Four Palaces was officially recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, cross-border spirit mediumship trips have brought me a completely different feeling. Performing for friends abroad is already a source of pride, but traveling as a representative of Vietnam to convey the beauty of ancient culture is an honor and great joy,” artisan Nguyen Duc Hien confided. With a Master's degree in Culture and Education awarded in Sweden, Mr. Hien is currently a member of the Scientific Council of the Vietnam Institute for Cultural and Religious Studies (under the Association for Scientific Research on Southeast Asia - Vietnam). He is also known as a "cultural ambassador" introducing Hau Dong on the international television channel CNN, the first person to bring Hau Dong costumes to the contemporary fashion stage, a typical face in the community of propagating Mother Goddess worship, regularly accepting invitations to participate in international cultural and friendship events such as the performance exchange program at the 29 ASEAN countries' Cultural Festival in Nanning, China (2016), cultural exchange and performance in several cities in Japan (2017), Vietnam-India Cultural Exchange Workshop (2018), exchange with dance training schools in Singapore and many other international cultural exchange programs. Cultural artist Nguyen Duc Hien was also invited by many Vietnamese consuls general and embassies in the United States, France, Singapore, South Korea, etc. to perform and talk about culture. What makes him happiest is that international friends always warmly welcome and have great affection for the delegation. Even more special is that in 2018, the American television channel CNN came to Vietnam to produce the program "Destination Hanoi" (a travel and cultural discovery program). The report introduced this folk belief. Along with the play "Tu Phu" by director Viet Tu, fellow teacher Nguyen Duc Hien and his Tien Huong temple in Quoc Oai, Hanoi were chosen to be broadcast. It is a sacred and rare memory that he always remembers and is proud of. Sharing about Phu Tien Huong in Quoc Oai, Hanoi, artisan Duc Hien confided that this is the temple he built himself, both as a place to store and exchange international culture, and to help people with karma to be presented to mediums without having to pay expenses beyond their means and without having to depend on other temple owners. "I want people coming to the temple to feel like they are coming home, immersed in a life close to nature, returning to their true selves, not a space of ghosts and superstitions." After the outstanding and resounding events in the Mother Goddess worship propagation community, in 2019, Master Nguyen Duc Hien continued to make his mark when he became the first person to bring the royal scarf and ao dai in the spirit medium ritual to the stage of the program "International Fashion and Beauty Week in Vietnam". For him, living with folk culture, no matter where, at any event, he always "burns himself out" and devotes himself to that performance. Loving beauty, "nurturing" the love of culture for young people Famous for his role as an in-depth researcher on the Mother Goddess worship, the person who brought Vietnamese Mother Goddess religion to the international community, artisan Nguyen Duc Hien also studies Buddhism. He is a doctoral candidate in Buddhist studies at Tran Nhan Tong Institute, Hanoi National University; he is also known as a speaker and lecturer invited by many universities to share with students the core values ​​of Buddhism, helping to cultivate their souls, ethics, and positive lifestyles. The cultural beauty of Buddhism or Mother Goddess religion, which has an academic orientation, has been skillfully conveyed by cultural artisan Duc Hien into his lectures, making young people absorb it very naturally. “We convey through stories, things that are close to the children. For example, when teaching about not killing animals, I show the image of a stork spreading its wings freely in a rice field, the image of a mother bird feeding her baby bird, a dog playing with its baby. Those are images of their peaceful life. And, the children will see that they cannot bear to destroy or take away that peaceful and loving life. When teaching about not lying, I tell a story about a student who lied to his parents and encountered unexpected events that his parents did not know about and could not come to help in time, and could not protect him. Lying makes others lose trust, like the classic story of the shepherd boy...” – artist Duc Hien said. “The five taboos of Buddha have been expanded a lot. I have created about 20 topics on familiar issues such as “Finding happiness in the world,” “How to overcome the storms of life?,” “What is happiness?,” “What is true love?”... and integrated Buddhist philosophy. We also organize meditation courses and yoga classes so that students can calm down and feel life better,” he added, even telling stories about his own life, stories he knows, for students to discuss. “When I went to lecture at VinUni University about Buddhism, the five precepts, precepts, concentration and wisdom, I saw that the students sat very quietly, I felt like they didn't want to listen. But after a few quiet moments, they asked a lot of questions. At the end of the session, some students came to see me, sharing that they were very moved, very grateful to me for speaking about the things they were worried about” – artist Nguyen Duc Hien confided. In the near future, besides the performances that are his life, artist Duc Hien will also devote more effort to teaching. He shared that he wants to expand the teaching content for younger people about mindfulness, precepts, concentration and wisdom, and the Noble Eightfold Path. Besides lectures for students, he also develops lectures for adults and has given speeches at many businesses and localities such as Dien Bien, Thai Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City, Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, etc. For artisan Nguyen Duc Hien, the journey of being a "cultural ambassador" to convey the beauty of Buddhist culture, especially spiritual culture and Mother Goddess worship, is still very long. He said that he always wants to set foot in more provinces and countries, to bring his love and wisdom to understand Vietnamese folk culture further, so that young people as well as all people can understand more about Vietnamese culture, appreciate and preserve that beauty for generations to come.

PV ( according to Nguoinoitieng.net)