Lesson 1: “The precious gem” in the Thai cultural treasure
The Thai people are one of the very few ethnic minorities in our province that have their own written language. Thai documents have been passed down in handwritten history books, epic poems, long narrative poems, folk songs, proverbs, customary laws... like precious gems, but unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer dedicated people who can read and write Thai fluently to preserve and promote its value.
(Baonghean) -The Thai people are one of the very few ethnic minorities in our province that have their own written language. Thai documents have been passed down in handwritten history books, epic poems, long narrative poems, folk songs, proverbs, customary laws... like precious gems, but unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer dedicated people who can read and write Thai fluently to preserve and promote its value.
In Nghe An, among the ethnic minorities living in the western mountainous districts such as Mong, O Du, Tho, Thai..., only the Thai ethnic group has its own writing system, the rest either do not have their own writing system or use the same Latin script. According to Thai calligraphy artist - Sam Van Binh (who has nearly 20 years of experience teaching and researching Thai script), in Nghe An there are 3 Thai script systems: Lai Tay (of the Thai people in the areas of Quy Chau, Quy Hop, Que Phong, Nghia Dan, Con Cuong), Lai Thanh (of the Thai people in Con Cuong, Tuong Duong, influenced by the Thai people from Thanh Hoa province) and Lai Pao (Thai people mixed with Lao people in Tuong Duong, Ky Son). Lai Thanh and Lai Pao scripts are written horizontally, while Lai Tay scripts are written vertically.
This is a tool used to record and reflect the thoughts, feelings, and souls of the Thai people and preserve information from ancient times through works of art such as poems, songs, proverbs, stories, prayers, land contracts... Typical examples include the poem Lai Cun Chuong (more than 2000 verses long) about the struggle between Muong Dat Muong Troi, about the formation of heaven and earth; stories about clans, people with feats in building villages, bravely fighting and sacrificing; xuoi songs, nhuon songs... Documents written in Thai in Nghe An are currently being kept in some clan temples and some families but are increasingly being lost due to lack of understanding and care for preservation. The number of people who can read and write Thai fluently to exploit these types of documents is also decreasing, can only be counted on the fingers such as: Vi Ngoc Chau (Quy Chau), Lo Khanh Xuyen, Lu Thanh Ha, Lang Manh Hung (Que Phong), Kha Van Hoi, Ngan Van Toan, Vi Kham Mun, Lo Kham Phi (Tuong Duong) and Sam Van Binh (Quy Hop)... these people mostly self-studied to know Thai.
In fact, in recent years, the Provincial Ethnic Minorities Committee has coordinated with localities to open Thai writing classes in Quy Hop, Quy Chau, Con Cuong districts..., but these classes mainly teach the Lai Tay script, the lecturers are self-taught people who know Thai and are invited to teach, the students participating in the courses mostly just learn the characters. Mr. Dau Ngoc Tuan - Deputy Head of the Culture Department of Quy Hop district, said: Quy Hop is a cultural district, in the project to build a cultural district, there is also mention of preserving Thai script. Up to now, the district has opened 8 classes with over 300 students, but the people participating in learning Thai script are mainly the elderly and young students, while very few young people participate.
Artisan Sam Van Binh introduces an ancient book in Thai script.
To have the Thai language as it is today, Artisan Sam Van Binh had to learn each word and each sentence by himself. Every time he went to a death anniversary or attended a wedding, he asked the shaman and artisans in the villages to gain more knowledge. From that knowledge, he participated in teaching many Thai language classes. In many places such as Dong Lum village, Diem village (Chau Quang-Quy Hop), people waded through streams to come to class to learn Thai, and in many places, commune officials also enthusiastically participated in learning. But there is a huge obstacle in teaching Thai today: there are very few people who know Thai thoroughly and have the pedagogical skills to teach, and teaching materials have not been unified. To read and write Thai fluently, it is necessary to maintain regular study, while the young generation considers Thai as an unpopular foreign language, so they have little interest and attention in learning it. According to Mr. Binh, the most worrying thing today is that there are fewer and fewer people dedicated to researching and learning Thai.
Mr. Lang Manh Hung - an officer of the Propaganda Department of Que Phong District Party Committee, said: In 2012, Que Phong district organized 4 Thai language classes (including 2 classes opened at the district's Continuing Education Center and 2 classes in Chau Kim and Tri Le communes) with a total of 164 students participating, including commune and district officials; police officers, border guards in the area. At the end of the class, the students knew how to read, write, and exploit the treasure trove of Thai ethnic literature from ancient Thai books, especially the medicinal recipes, procedures, wedding customs, funerals, love songs, etc. of the Thai people. However, these classes only partially met the people's wishes and the students also needed to take a few more classes to improve their skills.
It is thought that the research and teaching of Thai script is aimed at preserving and promoting the unique cultural treasure of the Thai people in the Western region of Nghe An and enriching the Vietnamese cultural treasure. Therefore, relevant departments, branches and localities need to organize research, surveys and objectively and accurately evaluate the results achieved in the process of opening Thai language classes, thereby finding out the difficulties, problems and problems in teaching and learning to build a suitable plan to preserve Thai script. Along with that, mass organizations need to mobilize all classes of people to correctly and clearly understand the benefits and importance of the policy of teaching and learning Thai script; pedagogical schools also need to pay attention to training and fostering the team of teachers of ethnic minority languages and scripts... so that there will be more and more "fire-bearers" - teaching Thai script in the villages.
On January 14, 2011, the Government issued Decree No. 05/2011/ND-CP on Ethnic Affairs, which affirmed one of the basic principles of ethnic affairs as: "Ensuring the preservation of language, writing, national identity, promoting good customs, practices, traditions and culture of each ethnic group"; "Languages, writing and good cultural traditions of ethnic groups are included in the curriculum of general schools, ethnic boarding schools, semi-boarding schools, continuing education centers, community learning centers, vocational schools, professional secondary schools, colleges and universities suitable to ethnic areas". Regarding the policy of preserving and developing culture, Decree 05/2011/ND-CP also emphasized: "Support the preservation and development of the written languages of ethnic groups. Ethnic minorities are responsible for preserving the good traditional culture, language and writing of their ethnic groups in accordance with the provisions of law"... |
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