President Nguyen Xuan Phuc: Strongly promoting Ho Xuan Huong's cultural values ​​in the new period

- Dear leaders of the Party, State, former leaders of the Party, State, and the Vietnam Fatherland Front!

- Dear leaders of Nghe An province through the ages!

- Dear international guests, delegates and all compatriots and comrades!

Today, we are here, with all our respect and admiration, to solemnly celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth and 200th anniversary of the death of Ms. Ho Xuan Huong, a great poet and cultural figure of the Vietnamese people honored by UNESCO. On behalf of the Party and State leaders, I warmly welcome all delegates, distinguished guests, and all compatriots and comrades to attend this event of special significance.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Phuc - Politburo member, President delivered a speech at the ceremony to honor and commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth (1772-2022) and 200th anniversary of the death (1822-2022) of Poet Ho Xuan Huong. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Dear delegates, compatriots and comrades!

Ho Xuan Huong (1772 - 1822) was from Quynh Doi village, Quynh Luu district, Nghe An province. Quynh village - her hometown is the birthplace of famous scholars and mandarins. Thang Long - where she was born and raised, is the ancient capital of many dynasties, the place where the quintessence of all directions converges. It is these things that have fostered in her special qualities, and the layers of cultural alluvium are continuously deposited.

She grew up in a turbulent historical context of the country, the change of dynasties, the hardships, civil wars and wars against foreign invaders that had a strong impact on all social classes, changing the fate of many people, including her. At that time, women had little access to education, mainly focusing on "housekeeping" with "three obediences and four virtues". But we see a completely different Ho Xuan Huong. Coming from a family of Confucian scholars, she was well-educated, and followed her own path, daring to stand up against the injustices in society that others accepted.

Nearly a century ago, inBrief history of Vietnamese literature,Researcher Duong Quang Ham determined: She was a talented and emotional female poet, but because of her unfortunate fate and difficult life, in her poetry collection (Xuan Huong Poetry Collection) Each poem is full of love, describing the scene, describing the feelings, using words, rhyming very skillfully, truly a poet writing pure Nom poetry, completely free from the influence of Chinese poetry. And Luu Trong Lu commented: Ho Xuan Huong has expressed something very profound, very strong, very bold, very Vietnamese, a Vietnamese quality that is timeless, does not distinguish between men or women.

Up to now, researchers have unanimously affirmed that, among the talented female poets of the Middle Ages such as Le Ngoc Han, Doan Thi Diem, Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, ..., Ho Xuan Huong is still the most attractive and appealing case. It is the uniqueness and sharpness that help her poetry have a lasting vitality, spread widely and have strong resonance. It is not by chance that poet Xuan Dieu called Ho Xuan Huong with the title "Queen of Nom poetry", because of her resilient vitality and the influence of her poetic works, her anecdotes and her special position.

Ho Xuan Huong is a talented female poet, a unique phenomenon of Vietnamese medieval literature. Her poetry contains many profound, complex, groundbreaking and very new issues; both full of romance and strong spirit of resistance, expressing a humanistic, humane ideology with a profound humanity, with the core being the struggle for the right to live, the right to love, and happiness for people, first and foremost for women.

The people in her poems are people with all the worldly needs, the legitimate existential needs. It can be said that the most resounding voice in Ho Xuan Huong's poetry is the voice of the fight for women's rights: the right to equality, the right to love, happiness, the right to be openly present in life with all that nature has given to women and to humans.

Mr. Christian Manhart - Chief Representative of UNESCO in Vietnam presented Resolution No. 41C/15 of UNESCO honoring and participating in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth (1772-1822) of Vietnamese poetess Ho Xuan Huong to the leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nghe An province. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Ho Xuan Huong dared to fight directly for women's rights, fiercely protested and shared the unfortunate fates of women in the old society. The uniqueness of Ho Xuan Huong's poetry is also shown through her very different way of addressing, which is both a bit inviting and a bit mischievous and challenging... Sometimes she calls herself "em", sometimes "chi", sometimes "thiep": "The snake is crushed by the hands of the potter, but I still keep my heart pure.The poem "Vinh banh troi nuoc" (The Floating Cake) contains the spirit and bravery of a person, all the ups and downs, all the black and white of life cannot change a pure heart. Her poetic message is eternal, with that spirit of life, which is the life of people in all ages.

Along with the miraculous awakening and evocative voice that is difficult for anyone to do, there is a voice that strongly criticizes the forces that have created unreasonable constraints on people, caused gender inequality, and created bad habits and customs that hinder the progress of society."If I could change my fate to become a man/Then my heroism would be so great", that is the cry of a person who wants to change the feudal society with corruption, deceit, deception of all kinds of people, shamelessness in society. But in that cry in particular and in her poetry in general, hidden inside is the gentleness, dignity, sophistication, but strength and resilience of traditional Vietnamese women.

Ho Xuan Huong is a special cultural phenomenon. Recognizing such a Ho Xuan Huong is a process of serious and elaborate study and research, not only domestically but also regionally and internationally. For UNESCO, the most important reference data is that the cultural value created by a certain character must have human significance and be widely recognized internationally.

From this perspective, what do people see about the contributions of female poet Ho Xuan Huong? People see Ho Xuan Huong as “a woman, surprising with her free and unorthodox personality”. All of these have created a strong vitality, creating a continuous flow, being circulated and spread deeply in the minds of readers both domestically and internationally for the past several hundred years and will certainly continue to do so in the future. Ho Xuan Huong deserves to become a cultural celebrity, a great author of Vietnam and the world.

On November 23, 2021, the UNESCO General Conference officially adopted ResolutionHonor and participate in the anniversary of birth/deathof a number of world-class cultural figures, including two famous Vietnamese figures: female poet Ho Xuan Huong and poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu. Of the six Vietnamese talents honored by UNESCO (1980: Nguyen Trai; 1990: Ho Chi Minh; 2015: Nguyen Du; 2019: Chu Van An; 2021: Ho Xuan Huong and Nguyen Dinh Chieu), only Ho Xuan Huong is a woman.

And now, a conviction has emerged: Ho Xuan Huong - a female poet, an outstanding and erudite daughter of the nation, originating from Nghe An, a unique cultural phenomenon, is the "Queen of Nom poetry". Moreover, Ho Xuan Huong - aCultural celebrityof human stature, is a poet of a staturePoetUNESCO has shown great trust in giving the poetess Ho Xuan Huong a glorious mission: the mission of inspiring and spreading positive influence to every person on Earth.

Leaders and former leaders of the Party, State, ministries and central branches attended the ceremony. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Dear delegates, distinguished guests, fellow countrymen and comrades!

Drinking water, remembering its source, respecting talented people has always been a precious tradition of our nation. With Poet Ho Xuan Huong, we have carried out many meaningful tasks such as collecting and researching her works, life story, career, translating her works into foreign languages ​​to introduce and promote them to international friends, erecting statues and memorial stele in her hometown Quynh village, organizing the Ho Xuan Huong Prize for Literature and Arts, building a national dossier to submit to UNESCO for honor, commemorating the 250th anniversary of her birth and 200th anniversary of her death, organizing the International Scientific Conference "Poet Ho Xuan Huong - Cultural Celebrity and Heritage Value", her name is given to many cultural, educational and street works in our country.

Today, returning to the hometown of Poet Ho Xuan Huong, the hometown of beloved Uncle Ho, a heroic Nghe An, rich in cultural and revolutionary traditions, we are happy to see the remarkable changes and developments in economy and society. Especially recently, the Party Committee has made many efforts, overcoming difficulties to mobilize many resources for investment and development. Many works and projects are being invested in, contributing to the common achievements of the whole country.

That result is a testament to the mettle, intelligence, and aspiration of the Party Committee, Government, and People of the province, opening up a new and promising period of development, building Nghe An homeland is not only"quite well"but is"good province"of the whole country, is the center of finance, trade, tourism, education - training, science - technology, health, culture, sports, high-tech industry of the North Central region.

Today, we come together to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth and 200th anniversary of the death of Poet Ho Xuan Huong to express our pride and honor her great contributions to Vietnamese culture and human culture, but also to find in her legacy valuable experiences and lessons for the future development of the locality and the country. "Reviewing the past to learn the new" is a way to continue and promote the national cultural and historical traditions, learn from the cultural heritage of our predecessors and also follow the spirit of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and the National Cultural Conference chaired by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in November 2021.

I propose that the central ministries, departments, branches, the Party Committee and the People of Nghe An province, researchers and scientists continue to study and clarify the ideological height and artistic value of Ho Xuan Huong's works, study her life and career more deeply, continue to introduce and promote the works of the Queen of Nom poetry to a wide audience at home and abroad, promote the cultural values ​​of Ho Xuan Huong in the new period, focus on applying achievements of information technology to research, teaching, promoting works, cultural and artistic creations and digitizing heritage related to the person and career of Ho Xuan Huong.

Leaders of the Party, State, ministries, central and local sectors attended the ceremony. Photo: Thanh Cuong

On behalf of the Party and State leaders, I would like to respectfully acknowledge and thank UNESCO for passing the resolution and jointly organizing the honoring of Cultural Celebrity Ho Xuan Huong. This is an honor and pride for the entire Vietnamese nation. We honor Poet Ho Xuan Huong to honor the virtues and intelligence of Vietnamese women, and at the same time we also recognize the efforts and struggles of our Party and State for the rights and equality of women through promoting the great contributions of Vietnamese women in the struggle for independence and freedom for the country as well as the important positions of the country's leaders, agencies and organizations of all generations.

UNESCO's recognition and honoring of the noble and eternal human values ​​and meanings in Ho Xuan Huong's thoughts and personality is also honoring the beauty in the soul, intelligence, humanity and charity of the Vietnamese people. This once again affirms that the good values ​​in the character of the Vietnamese people and Vietnamese culture have been and are blending into the flow of human culture, as well as enriching and diversifying world culture.

Finally, I wish all delegates, distinguished guests, and all compatriots and comrades good health, happiness, and success. I hope that Nghe An province and localities related to Poet Ho Xuan Huong will closely connect to optimize advantages, promote the values ​​and cultural heritage that she left behind, and develop together.

Thanks a lot!

(Title by Nghe An Newspaper!)