Inadequacies in inventorying intangible cultural heritage in Nghe An

Positive results

From 2011 to present, Nghe An has conducted two rounds of inventorying intangible cultural heritage, thereby recording 463 heritages, with 4,075 inventory forms and cataloging. These heritages are distributed in 21 districts, cities and towns in the province.

The plains and midlands such as Yen Thanh, Do Luong, Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong, Hung Nguyen and Vinh city are home to many heritages in the form of unique festivals and folk performances, typically the Qua Son Temple Festival, the Hoang Muoi Temple Festival, performances of Vi Giam folk songs, Tuong, Ca Tru... Meanwhile, coastal districts and towns such as Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai town, Nghi Loc and Cua Lo town stand out with customs such as the whale worshiping custom, the whale welcoming ceremony, the fishing praying ceremony, the leaving and launching ceremony...

Meanwhile, mountainous districts such as Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Que Phong, Quy Hop, Quy Chau, Nghia Dan, Tan Ky, Anh Son... are cultural spaces of many unique intangible cultural heritages. Intangible cultural heritages in this region are rich in quantity and diverse in types. Among them, the most typical is the folk performing art form with many popular heritages, imbued with local cultural identity.

Typically, the Thai ethnic group has art forms such as gong performance, bamboo dance, carving, xoe dance, playing pi, xap, lam, nhuon. The Khmu ethnic group is famous for gongs, tom, phi tom, dao dao, leaf pipes, bamboo mouth pipes, bamboo gongs. The Mong ethnic group owns heritages such as be pipes, Mong flutes, lip pipes, cu xia singing. The Tho ethnic group is currently preserving traditional singing arts such as tap tinh tap tang, du du, gong performance, so ma pipes, traditional dances and melodies such as dien dien folk songs, da oi singing.

In addition, the highland localities also preserve many heritages in the form of customs and practices such as ancestor worship, wedding rituals, the custom of making and tying wrist strings, the custom of drinking rice wine... Along with that are heritages of folk knowledge such as herbal remedies, experience in practicing the profession of mo...

Ms. Phan Thi Anh - Head of Cultural Heritage Management Department (Department of Culture and Sports) shared: "It can be seen that Nghe An possesses a large number of intangible cultural heritages, diverse in types and unique in value, which are currently being preserved and passed on. The inventory process has helped local authorities at all levels clearly recognize the importance of this work and devote considerable attention and resources to its implementation."

Identify difficulties and shortcomings

However, a representative of the Department of Cultural Heritage Management said that the inventory of intangible cultural heritage in the area still faces many difficulties and shortcomings. As the force directly involved in the inventory, some cultural officers, especially at the commune level, are still limited in identifying intangible cultural heritage as well as understanding the content of the inventory.

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Before each inventory, the Department of Culture from the province to the district organizes training sessions for cultural officers at the commune level. However, during the implementation process, some cultural officers at the commune level still confuse tangible and intangible cultural heritage, such as confusing stone steles and royal decrees with intangible heritage. In addition, some traditional occupations that are no longer practiced or banned are still included in the list, such as lacquerware (wood exploitation), hunting, and handmade brick-making.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hien - officer of the Center for Culture - Sports and Communication of Con Cuong district.

Representatives of the Department of Culture and Information of mountainous districts said that the difficult economic life of ethnic minorities has also caused the preservation and promotion of intangible cultural heritage to not receive much attention. Some communities even practice heritage without realizing that it is heritage, such as the custom of worshipping ancestors, the custom of wife-stealing of the Mong people, the custom of burying whales of coastal residents, the grave-exhumation ceremony of the Tho people, the custom of making a fortune by tying threads on hands, or the thanksgiving ceremony for parents of the Thai people...

In addition, language differences in the inventory process also caused many difficulties. Some heritages were only recorded in local languages ​​without Vietnamese annotations, leading to difficulties in synthesizing information, for example: Hang Van, Xen Ban, Xen Muong, Ooc Cam, Ooc Kho, Booc May, Pam Tai...

Along with that, inventory work requires a lot of money and time to carry out activities such as fieldwork, interviews, recording, filming, taking photos, making maps... However, the funding source for this activity is not guaranteed, causing the time for research and collection in villages to be limited, affecting the quality and results of the inventory.

Furthermore, intangible cultural heritage is mainly passed down orally, from one person to another, without being recorded in writing, increasing the risk of loss. Meanwhile, documentation work has only been carried out for a few types of heritage, on a small scale, fragmented and lacking comprehensiveness.

Discussing the work of inventorying intangible cultural heritage, Ms. Tran Thi My Hanh - Director of the Department of Culture and Sports said that due to difficulties and limitations in inventorying and collecting documents on intangible cultural heritage, most districts have not yet proposed feasible protection measures, suitable to the nature and characteristics of each type of heritage. Meanwhile, intangible cultural heritage is not easy to form, but is very easy to be lost.

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In the coming time, in addition to continuing to promote inventory work, the Department of Culture and Sports will propose and advise on appropriate investment mechanisms and policies to protect and promote the value of intangible cultural heritage. At the same time, focus on training, fostering and improving professional qualifications and skills in inventory and documentation of cultural heritage for grassroots officials. In addition, research and implementation of information technology and digital transformation solutions will be promoted to effectively preserve and promote the value of cultural heritage, including both tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Ms. Tran Thi My Hanh - Director of Nghe An Department of Culture and Sports.