The keeper of Thai ethnic culture
(Baonghean.vn) - With the desire to preserve and promote the cultural values and quintessence of the Thai people, and to educate the younger generation about traditions, father and son Vi Van Phuc - Vi Van Son in Con Cuong have quietly collected more than 800 tangible cultural artifacts of the Thai people...
Miniature cultural museum
Stepping into Mr. Vi Van Phuc's stilt house in Con Cuong Town feels like being lost in a "miniature museum" with more than 800 tangible cultural artifacts of the Thai people displayed in very rich and vivid groups. These are simple items mainly made from bamboo, wood... closely associated with the daily life of the Thai people in the Western region of Nghe An for many generations such as: spinning la, cotton gin, cotton seed filter, spinning loom, silkworm raising tools, fiber soaking... (embroidery group); plows, harrows, hoes, shovels, water wheels for farming... (production tools group); hunting guns, crossbows, spears, machetes, arrows, quivers, trowels, pings for scooping fish and shrimp... (hunting and fishing group); wooden troughs for feeding pigs, bran cookers, vegetable racks, cutting knives... (livestock group). The most abundant is the group of household utensils with items such as: rattan chairs, pots, jars, pestles, mortars for pounding flour, pretty rattan baskets, crowbars for women returning to their husband's house, baskets for holding betel and areca nuts, wine jars of all sizes, buffalo horns for drinking rice wine...
Mr. Vi Van Phuc introduced to the journalist the collected souvenirs.
Those hundreds of artifacts are very ordinary, but there are also things that are no longer seen today, the most sacred "property" that Mr. Phuc has searched for and preserved for more than 40 years. The old bamboo water wheel that his family has kept since they lived in the Mon Son, Luc Da area.
The loom and the spinning wheel that his mother and later his wife used to spin and weave cloth. Or more familiarly, the bamboo fishing rod and the bamboo basket, which he used to wade into the stream at the beginning of the village to catch fish. Or the crowbar that looked like a chest from the lowlands, woven from rattan, was the "dowry" that his mother kept from the day she first came to her husband's house. Holding each of those familiar items in his hands, he recalled: "At that time, the Thai people in the Mon Son area were still very poor, their lives were self-sufficient, mainly dependent on nature, so every house had to have a knife, a bamboo basket, a basket, a crossbow, a spear to catch fish and hunt animals in the forest. Now life is better, but I still keep those items, not because of their material value but to remind my children and grandchildren of the traditions of my people..."
Because of his passion for collecting, Mr. Phuc realized many differences in the activities of the Thai ethnic group and the Kinh ethnic group. For example, although they are all made of bamboo, the products of the Thai people are often more abundant than the Kinh people. The Thai people are also very good at hunting and gathering, so the product set for this activity alone has dozens of different types. The tools of the Thai people are made of simple materials taken from the forest, but most of them are carefully soaked before being made, and dried on the stove for many years, so they are more durable and sturdy. Mr. Phuc also has a very special passion for jewelry, costumes and coins of the Thai people, and he considers them the most precious artifacts in the collection, only those who are familiar and very special are allowed to admire them.
In the large rattan basket, colorful brocade dresses, scarves, bags, eye-catching intricate patterns, bracelets, necklaces, chains and even fingernails and toenails of animals... made us really surprised by the diversity, intricacy and color of Thai costumes in the past. Also looking at that collection, I felt sad when I realized that Thai culture today has faded a lot. Mr. Phuc said that to have this collection was a painstaking process because only wealthy families from a long time ago, shamans still kept these special costumes. There were times, just because he was in love with a beautiful set of clothes, he and his father had to follow a shaman for several days to beg him to buy it. Currently, Mr. Phuc still keeps many silver bars, some of which date from the reign of King Gia Long, he considers them "souvenirs" so that he and his descendants, every time they open them, will remember the glorious time of their family.
Artifacts belonging to the familiar folk game group used in holidays and Tet; tools serving worshiping activities belonging to the spiritual culture group or artifacts belonging to the musical instrument group such as panpipes, drums... and 5 sets of gongs are family heirlooms, of which one set was donated to Nam Son village, Mon Son commune, his hometown on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of receiving the title of Cultural Village, helped us understand more about the spiritual and cultural life of the Thai people.
What made him happiest was that almost every member of the family knew how to play musical instruments. Taking us to the porch where the family's precious gong set was hung, he proudly said: "All my grandchildren love this gong set. On holidays and Tet, even if there are high tables full of food, without the sound of gongs, the sound of gongs is meaningless." And without making us wait long, he took the drumstick stored nearby and "performed" right away... The sounds of pong pong pui pong pui... resounded, echoing like the call of spring...
And lovetraditional culture
In fact, for the people of Con Cuong, the name Vi Van Phuc is no longer strange, because he had been Deputy Secretary, District Chairman, and then Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment of the province for many years. A person who has been an "official" for many years like him, has traveled to many regions, and has been exposed to many cultures, why is he still so attached to Thai culture? That question, sometimes even he himself cannot answer.
Born and raised in Mon Son - Muong Qua land rich in cultural traditions and revolutionary spirit, from a young age he was educated by his great-grandfather, who was the deputy head of the two communes of Mon Son - Luc Da, and then his father, about the national traditions. Perhaps that is why, from a young age, Mr. Vi Van Phuc had a strange passion for the cultural identity of his hometown's Thai ethnic group. He had quietly kept his family's belongings for many years, but the intention of collecting and preserving artifacts related to the Thai people only formed after 1992 when the family moved to live in Con Cuong Town.
He recalled: "I thought that going to the district, being a "wife", living in a high-rise building would make my wife happy. Who would have thought that after moving out for nearly a month, my wife could not sleep at night, tossing and turning. When I asked, I found out that it was because she missed the stilt house and the smell of kitchen smoke in the countryside that she had trouble sleeping. At that time, I did not know whether it was because I wanted to please my wife or because of the "restlessness" in my heart, so I immediately returned to the countryside, found the owner of the house I had sold the old house to and asked to buy it back. After much pleading, I had no choice but to buy another house. When I had really lost the old house, I suddenly felt sorry, what if in the future our people's culture also disappeared, who else would I find to buy it from. I started collecting "professionally" from then on..."
Being so diligent and dedicated to his homeland and people, many people who knew him and heard of him came to give away their family's old belongings. He collected more than 800 objects, although their material value is not great, but he cherished and treasured them very much. He said: "They are not only the cultural quintessence of our nation but also messengers who have, are, and will carry historical, cultural, and educational messages for future generations...". That is why, visitors to the house can see the collection, but even if they want to, they cannot buy anything because the owner never sells. That passion has also been passed on to his children, especially his eldest son, Vi Van Son. "He is even more passionate and active than his father in preserving artifacts related to the tangible and intangible culture of the Thai people. Wherever he goes, he sees something interesting, no matter how hard or difficult it is, he will bring it back..." - Mr. Phuc proudly showed us.
With the thought that people must have their origins, and that fallen leaves must return to their roots, he not only preserves and conserves material culture, but also reminds his descendants to always be conscious of appreciating and preserving the language, customs, and traditions of the nation, and the family traditions. The old stilt house that he painstakingly brought back to build in town is now not only a place to store collected relics but also a place for community cultural activities and familiar meetings. He also reserved the only bed in the stilt house to receive guests and relatives from the commune whenever the family and clan had to go to town to discuss children's education, weddings, funerals, and longevity celebrations for the elderly... He also paid special attention to preserving the national language.
Therefore, no matter how high his position, his descendants still talk to each other in Thai when they come home and wear Thai ethnic clothes. On Tet holiday, his family is the place where the children of the clan gather, everyone will come together, play gongs, slaughter pigs to make offerings, drink rice wine, play stone carving at home. Even the kitchen is divided into two spaces, one modern and convenient and one space with a strong Thai mark with rattan trays, rattan chairs, wine jars from dried gourds hung in the kitchen, steamers for sticky rice, copper pots for cooking banh chung, copper basins... bundles of dried seeds hanging on the wall, corn flowers hung in the kitchen... Although he has left his hometown for the town for many years and has held many positions, his demeanor, speech, and voice are still the same as when he was in Mon Son.
Saying goodbye to him, saying goodbye to the "Thai ethnic museum", we still seem to have the image of a diligent person passionate about old relics, still forever attached to the traditional values that with his strange passion Mr. Phuc has painstakingly searched for and preserved for many years.
Khanh Ly - My Ha
