As a son of the Tien Dao people, although he has left his hometown to work in the province for decades, he is still deeply troubled by the fact that his ethnic cultural identity is at risk of being lost. After retiring and returning to his hometown, he has devoted his time and passion to preserving, conserving, and spreading the unique cultural features of his ethnic group to many people and many different regions. He is Ban Cong Hien in Yen Nguyen commune, Chiem Hoa district, Tuyen Quang province.
Mr. Ban Cong Hien with the books he collected and compiled
Coming to Yen Nguyen in August, we will admire the golden rice fields stretching far and wide, revealing a peaceful and prosperous scene. Hidden deep under that beautiful scene is an underground cultural stream that flows endlessly day and night, typically the cultural flow of the Dao Tien people in this land.
The person who revived the unique Dao Tien cultural source was Mr. Ban Cong Hien, the son-in-law of the former Labor Hero Ban Hong Tien. After Mr. Hien became the Secretary of the Chiem Hoa District Party Committee, then Director of the Department of Justice, he retired and returned to his hometown Yen Nguyen, continuing to contribute to the Tuyen Quang Province Literature and Arts Association; the Vietnam Folk Literature and Arts Association; and the Literature and Arts Association of Vietnam Ethnic Minorities.
Yen Nguyen Commune has 16 villages, of which 3 are mainly inhabited by Dao people: Dong Vang, Cau Ma and Cau Ca. Loving his homeland and the Dao people, Mr. Hien always has the thought of doing something to preserve the unique cultural identity of the Dao people. In 2014, he founded the Dao Tien Dong Vang Village Art Team with more than 10 members. He also submitted an application to the commune to open a Dao language class for the members.
The early days were difficult. Farmers who had to work hard all year round had to get used to Chinese characters, pao dung verses, and dances. The team had to collect every traditional costume, every bell, cymbal, gong, trumpet, and...
In 2019, the Dong Vang Village Arts Team developed into the Dao Tien Ethnic Culture Preservation Club of Yen Nguyen Commune, with more than 20 members. In 2021, due to his old age, Mr. Ban Cong Hien handed over the Club to Mr. Ban Xuan Dong as Chairman, but he still participates in Club activities regularly and is also an advisor and the soul of the Club.
Every day, Mr. Ban Cong Hien still diligently teaches Dao ethnic culture to his children and grandchildren in his family and in his village.
Since its establishment, the Dao Tien Cultural Club of Dong Vang village has participated in exchanges, competitions, and performances of many major programs of the district, province, and country and has won high prizes. The success of the club has greatly encouraged its members, making them more enthusiastic about practicing. The peak of the club was the tour in the Central Highlands for nearly half a month in 2021, the Dao Tien Cultural Club of Dong Vang village won the A prize, making the members of the club proud. After that time, the number of people participating in the club increased and the activities were more regular and frequent.
The club maintains activities twice a week, on Saturday and Sunday evenings at the Village Cultural House. Members practice singing pao dung and dancing traditional dances such as praying for harvest, cap sac dance, and bell dance. To improve the artistic quality of the performances, the club invited Meritorious Artist Le Cuong (former Acting Director of the Tuyen Quang Province Ethnic Arts Troupe) to train members in dance and music. Thanks to that, the club's performances are more lively and artistic. In addition to the traditional performances "Celebrating Spring", "Cap sac celebrating children's growth", two new dance performances "Joy of the harvest" and "The bell calling the golden season" are the club's signature performances...
The source flows forever
With his love for the traditional culture of his people, Mr. Ban Cong Hien always thought about how to teach what he learned to the younger generation. Therefore, he actively traveled to many places inside and outside the district to research and collect ancient books, folk songs, and poems to serve the Dao community. He compiled the topic "Cap sac 3 den of the Dao ethnic group in Tuyen Quang" and the topic "Hat pao dung giao duyen of the Dao Tien ethnic group". Both topics were accepted by the Vietnam Folk Arts Association. In addition, he also participated with the district's Department of Culture and Information to collect, translate and compile the book "Some pao dung songs of the Dao people in Chiem Hoa district"; collected, compiled, and translated more than a dozen Dao poems into Vietnamese to disseminate and circulate in the areas where the Dao ethnic group lives...
Dao Tien ethnic cultural club, Yen Nguyen commune participated in the performance at the ceremony to receive the National Monument ranking certificate for the archaeological site of Bao Ninh Sung Phuc pagoda.
In 2023, the Club organized 2 Dao language classes for students in the commune. The entire teaching program was compiled by Mr. Hien. According to Mr. Hien, the Club initially planned to organize only one Dao language class, but after a few classes, more children registered than expected, so the Club organized another class. He was very happy that the children were interested in learning about Dao ethnic culture, which motivated him to try to collect and compile more programs to convey the cultural identity of the Dao ethnic group to the community.
Saying goodbye to Mr. Hien, we always remembered his words: “A Dao person who cannot speak the Dao language, sing pao dung, or know the Dao customs is considered to have lost his roots. Therefore, our responsibility is to preserve, maintain, and promote our ethnic traditional culture.”
Giang Lam - Ban Thanh (Ethnic and Development Newspaper)
Source: https://baophutho.vn/giu-mach-nguon-van-hoa-dao-tien-223733.htm
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