UNESCO considers dossier on Hung King worship

From December 3 to 7, the 7th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage will take place. As scheduled on December 5, the session will consider the list of nominations for outstanding intangible cultural heritage of humanity, including the Hung King worship records.

According to UNESCO experts, Vietnam has many reasons to expect good news of having another valuable and unique cultural heritage recognized by the world.

The dossier on Vietnam's Hung King worship submitted to UNESCO clearly states the value of the heritage as a demonstration of respect for ancestors.

The most notable work content in this session of the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention is the review of two lists of nominations for intangible cultural heritage. One is the list of heritages in need of urgent safeguarding (this year there are 7 nominations). The second list is the representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity, including 37 nominations, including the dossier on the worship of Hung Kings in Phu Tho, Vietnam. According to the schedule, on the evening of December 5 (Vietnam time), the Intergovernmental Committee will announce the results of the review of these two lists.
Ms. Cécile Duvelle, Head of the Convention's Secretariat, said that this time Vietnam's dossier was well prepared and highlighted achievements in preserving intangible cultural heritage.

“Vietnam has been very active for a long time and this year it is Vietnam’s turn to show the world what you have done, the overall efforts, the activities of the Committees, the conservation institutes. Clearly, Vietnam is a model that shows that it is not the richest country that can come up with the best conservation measures. The Hung Kings worship dossier has been done very well” - Ms. Cécile Duvelle said.

Ambassador Duong Van Quang, Head of the Vietnamese Delegation to UNESCO, said: “The interesting thing is that this is heritage, but sometimes we do not fully understand it, we cannot visualize it, especially intangible culture. For example, the worship of Hung King is a cultural heritage, not a relic.”
According to Ambassador Duong Van Quang, there are 5 important criteria that a dossier must meet in order to be recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Notably, the heritage must highlight a global value, and must encourage the common awareness of all nations in promoting that value.

The dossier of Hung Kings worship in Vietnam submitted to UNESCO clearly stated the value of the heritage as a demonstration of respect for ancestors, in the spirit of “When drinking water, remember its source”. The recognition of the dossier will help encourage awareness of gratitude to ancestors in many countries around the world as well as a general awareness of respect for cultural diversity in the community.

According to (QĐND)-LC