National intangible cultural heritage in the Holy Land countryside

View of Saint Nguyen Temple (Tien Thang Commune, Gia Vien District). Photo: Minh Quang

March in the homeland of Saint Nguyen

In the hometown of Zen Master Nguyen Minh Khong (formerly Dam Xa village, Dai Hoang district, now Tien Thang commune, Gia Vien district), through many historical ups and downs, the local people's deep affection and gratitude for the Zen Master's contributions are always respected and remembered by generations.

Duc Thanh Nguyen Temple was built on the foundation of an ancient pagoda named Vien Quang Tu, founded by Nguyen Minh Khong in 1121. In particular, the Duc Thanh Nguyen Temple Festival takes place from the 8th to the 10th of the third lunar month every year, which is an opportunity for local people to show their gratitude to Duc Thanh Nguyen.

"Who are the descendants of Diem village?

Do business and live far and near

Remember the Saint's Day of our village

"Go to the festival passed down by our ancestors"

Mr. Tran Van Pho, a resident of Tien Thang commune, shared: Every March, our local people eagerly prepare to participate in both the ceremonial and festive activities of our hometown's traditional festival.

Every time the Nguyen Temple Festival comes around, we, the people, get to review the historical traditions of the temple as well as the life, career and legend of Zen master Nguyen Minh Khong - a man who has made great contributions to his homeland and country, one of the very few real historical figures who have been canonized by the people, and has a special position in Vietnamese culture.

The contest "Learning about the royal decree of Saint Nguyen Temple" was held in March 2025 at the National Architectural and Artistic Monument of Saint Nguyen Temple. Photo: Minh Quang

At the space of the National Architectural and Artistic Relic of the Nguyen Temple - an ancient temple located on the banks of the Hoang Long River, these days of March, many practical and meaningful activities have been organized by Gia Vien district to honor and promote the value of the heritage, raising the sense of responsibility of all classes of people in participating in preserving, promoting and exploiting the value of local cultural heritage.

Before the festival, many activities were held in the temple area such as: drawing contest of Saint Nguyen temple motifs, writing contest of Saint Nguyen temple decree in national language, "Herbal vegetarian cuisine", "Herbal costume performance", "We are tour guides", "4th time nurturing tour guide talent"...

Teacher Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh, Vice Principal of Gia Lap Secondary School, said: The school always pays attention to educating students about traditions through specific activities such as: participating in the "Finding the Roots" tour of Gia Vien district, learning and experiencing directly at local heritages and relics... Looking forward to this year's Nguyen Temple Festival, the school hopes that through experiencing rich and diverse activities imbued with national cultural identity and high educational value, it will contribute to promoting and educating students about the traditions of their homeland and country and the responsibility to protect heritage.

Associate Professor, Doctor Nguyen Khac Su (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) commented: Zen Master Nguyen Minh Khong (born in 1065, died in 1141) was from Dam Xa village, Dai Huu commune, Truong Yen district (now Tien Thang commune, Gia Vien district). Surrounding the life and career of Zen Master Nguyen Minh Khong is a cultural space imbued with history and legend. In localities across the country, there are more than 570 places to worship him, of which Dam Xa is the main place of worship. The temple of Saint Nguyen has long been famous as one of the sacred temples in Gia Vien land, praised as one of the "Hoa Lu Tu Tran".

The traditional festival of Saint Nguyen Temple is imbued with historical and cultural festival associated with the life, career and legend of Zen Master Nguyen Minh Khong, playing a particularly important role in the cultural and spiritual life of the community, and is a creative product that demonstrates community cohesion. The cultural identity of the Saint Nguyen Temple festival has been maintained, practiced and passed down from generation to generation by the community, with a strong influence on the spiritual and cultural life of the people of Gia Vien district and visitors from all over the world.

Local people participate in traditional rituals at the 2024 Saint Nguyen Temple Festival. Photo: Minh Quang

Enhance the scale, content and space of the festival

In recent years, due to the need for spiritual and cultural life, the people's respect for the Saint; with the efforts and determination to preserve relics, preserve unique cultural features to serve tourism development, the promotion of traditional historical values ​​has created a driving force, orienting the socio-economic development strategy of Gia Vien district. The Nguyen Saint Temple Festival has been held regularly every year and has been upgraded in scale, content and organization space.

Coming to the Nguyen Temple Festival this year, each local and tourist will learn about the unique architecture of the Later Le Dynasty and especially enjoy and immerse themselves in a unique spiritual and cultural space of 13 traditional rituals showing respect to Saint Nguyen Minh Khong; and participate in experiencing the unique and attractive festival content.

These are precious intangible cultural features imbued with national cultural identity and highly educational, worthy of the role and position of the ancestors in the historical process that have been restored, inherited and developed by Gia Vien district.

With the status of an Intangible Cultural Heritage, both the ceremony and festival activities are organized to highlight the cultural values, unique and typical features of the heritage, and the traces left by time... so that people and tourists can share a sense of pride in the Holy Land.

Comrade Vu Thi Duoc, Vice Chairman of Gia Vien District People's Committee said: The traditional festival of Saint Nguyen Temple was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage, which is the pride of the people in the district, having gone through many stages to achieve. In recent years, Gia Vien district has effectively promoted the exploitation of intangible cultural heritage values ​​in general, and cultural heritage related to Zen Master Nguyen Minh Khong in particular, to serve tourism activities in the district.

Party committees, authorities at all levels, and the relic management board have stepped up propaganda work to raise awareness among people and tourists about the value of cultural heritages related to Zen Master Nguyen Minh Khong and the role of tourism in socio-economic development.

Strengthen promotional activities on historical and cultural values, potentials and strengths of Gia Vien historical and cultural relics on media, major tourism fairs and exhibitions in the province, region and nationwide.

Focus on attracting resources from the socialization of tourism activities to invest in and exploit the potentials and advantages of cultural heritages related to Zen Master Nguyen Minh Khong to serve tourism in the district and province.

Strengthen promotion of tourism products with local cultural characteristics; annually develop detailed and specific plans to organize festivals to ensure safety, preserve and honor traditional cultural values.

In 2024, at the space of the National Architectural and Artistic Relic of Saint Nguyen Temple, many meaningful activities were organized by Gia Vien district such as: the bronze casting ceremony of "Holy Medicine Cauldron", the ceremony of offering the work "Holy Flower Lamp", enjoying tea at "Herbal Garden", a discussion on the merits of Saint Nguyen to the founder of bronze casting and Vietnamese medicine on the occasion of Vietnam Heritage Day, November 23...

Performing the bronze casting ceremony of "Holy Medicine Cauldron" at Saint Nguyen Temple in 2024. Photo: Minh Quang

Comrade Tran Trung Nguyen, Vice Chairman of Tien Thang Commune People's Committee shared: The local government and people are very proud that the Nguyen Temple Festival was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage. Along with promoting propaganda to the people, especially the young generation, about the significance and historical and cultural values ​​of the heritage, Tien Thang commune also focuses on doing a good job of State management of the heritage, implementing a civilized festival lifestyle, environmental sanitation, and plans to ensure security and order...

The commune has also focused on solutions to contribute to preserving and promoting the value of the Heritage such as: together with the district's departments and branches, Sinh Duoc Cooperative expanded the medicinal herb garden in the Temple area; propagated and mobilized people to participate in preserving the traditional cultural features of the festival; attracted resources to invest in tourism development...

The organization of the annual traditional festival of Saint Nguyen Temple demonstrates the efforts and determination to preserve the relic, preserve the unique cultural features and traditional historical values ​​of the Heritage. It demonstrates the respect of the Party Committee, government and people of Gia Vien district for the great contributions of National Master Nguyen Minh Khong - Saint Nguyen.

The Nguyen Temple Festival - a national intangible cultural heritage has been maintained, continued, and passed down from generation to generation, with a strong influence on the spiritual and cultural life of the people of Gia Vien district and visitors from all over.

Source: https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia-o-vung-que-dat-thanh-145696.htm