Without teaching, the Dao people will "lose their roots"
Since the 90s, Mr. Tan Van Sieu has been worried about the decline of his ethnic language and culture. He has been thinking and persuading the people, who are only concerned with making ends meet and not caring about preserving traditional culture.
“If we don’t pass it on, our descendants will lose more and more of their national culture. Without the ancient Dao Nom script, the Dao people will no longer be themselves. When we no longer preserve our culture, we will no longer have knowledge, and we will be controlled by foreign cultures like puppets, losing our nation, so I think about preserving it by teaching and going to various places to find documents. The more I teach my descendants, the more I feel my responsibility to preserve the Dao ethnic culture,” Mr. Sieu expressed.
A major event in his life when he was young caused him to lose an arm and an eye. After many years of "imprisoning" himself in a cramped house, he found himself unable to give up his dream of becoming a teacher. As someone who is passionate about preserving the ancient writings and customs of the Dao people, in 1992, he began opening a class to teach Nom Dao script to his children and students.
Mr. Sieu teaches his students.
Before that, since 1981, he had practiced writing textbooks and copying documents to teach Nom Dao script, and at the same time, he aimed to preserve them for his descendants. In that journey, he wrote many books. “Thong Sau” is a book about good and bad days, the content of the book contains a treasure trove of folk knowledge. In 1985, the book “Nghi le cap sac” recorded the rituals and taboos that he copied for use in the Dao community in Ta Chai village.
From the books he copied and the documents he collected and researched, before 2015, he opened a class at home to teach 452 male students, aged 6-35. Over the years, he has become "the teacher of many generations of students" among the Dao people in Sa Pa town and other localities.
In addition to opening classes to teach, he did not hesitate to travel to localities inside and outside the province such as Thanh Hoa, Hoa Binh, Phu Tho, Yen Bai, Son La, Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Bac Can, Bac Giang and Lai Chau to learn more about the customs, habits and identity of the Dao ethnic group to research and add to books and documents to teach good customs and habits.
The first classes were held in his small house, mainly for his children and grandchildren, then gradually the class attracted the villagers. Students contributed books, pens, ink, ate and slept with his family in the small house in Ta Phin commune, and learned ancient writing. The rumor spread far and wide, many people from other provinces and cities also came to Mr. Sieu's house to study.
Storing the written language is not enough, what he wants is for the Dao ethnic people to both preserve their ethnic cultural identity and eliminate backward customs. Therefore, he coordinated with the Provincial Ethnic Committee to organize meetings with shamans and prestigious people in Sa Pa town to propagate, mobilize, and modify outdated prayers and customs that are not in line with the guidelines, policies, and guidelines of the Party, State, and locality. In particular, he pays attention to and focuses on mobilizing shamans and prestigious people to change backward customs in weddings and funerals such as dowry, shaman fees, etc.
In 2016, he was invited by the Dao community in Thai Nguyen province to Mo Sat village, Hop Tien commune, Dong Hy district to open a class with 31 students who were Dao people's children, teaching for 30 days at Mr. Trieu Tien Phan's house.
After that, Mr. Sieu advised and helped Mr. Thuan continue to open 2 classes with 37 students, studying for 3 months. To improve the quality and effectiveness of teaching, he attended 2 seminars in Hanoi on preserving writing and teaching young people in Dao villages.
He was happy that his students were very excited to learn ancient Dao script.
The keeper of the Dao ethnic cultural soul
Mr. Tan Van Sieu was born into a family with a tradition of teaching and learning Nom Dao script. His father, Ly Sai Van, was a famous teacher in Ta Phin, Sa Pa from 1970 to 1995.
From the age of 7, he and his peers followed their father to study and recite by heart the Nom Dao script and prayer books. His father taught only once a year on the occasion of Lunar New Year, from the first day of the new year until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
During his time at school, he always studied hard, listened attentively to the lectures to recognize the letters, the strokes and the meaning of the words taught by the teacher. When he went to work in the fields or to the forest, he also brought books with him, and when he had free time, he took out the books to read and memorize the lessons taught by the teacher.
The Dao people have a tradition that when their boys are 6 years old or older, they will send them to a teacher's house to learn morality, learn Dao Nom script, and learn prayers such as worshiping ancestors, praying on the full moon, praying for luck, praying for crops...
He diligently studied letters and learned human ethics. By the age of 17, he had absorbed moral and religious thoughts, mastered books, and memorized prayers and folk songs. At this time, his father guided and taught him to practice some simple prayers such as ancestor worship, full moon worship... of the Dao people.
In addition, in daily life, he witnessed all the customs and practices related to the human life cycle such as weddings, festivals, beliefs, songs, dances and folk knowledge in production and house building experience. He thoroughly learned these customs from his father, teacher and elders who were knowledgeable about traditional ethnic culture in the region.
“I learn, accumulate and summarize valuable experiences with the aim of later passing on Nom Dao script, prayers, knowledge in farming and production… to my children, grandchildren in my family, clan and to the Dao community in the region as well as neighboring areas. Some have studied for more than 10 years, some have stayed to support me in continuing to teach the children,” Mr. Sieu’s eyes lit up with pride.
Mr. Sieu diligently went on field trips and collected documents.
From 2016 to present, he has actively promoted and mobilized people to send their children to classes and directly taught the ancient Nom Dao script, explaining customs, ethics, etc. with a positive spirit, enthusiasm, and dedication in teaching. Up to now, he has organized 12 classes (each class has from 25-65 students), bringing the total number of students he has taught to 738 people.
During the learning process, his students all learned quickly, remembered letters well and achieved excellent results, typically: Chao Van Sieu, Chao Van Nhan, Ly Quay Van in Ta Chai village, Ta Phin commune,...
With the wish to teach Nom Dao script to generations of students to preserve the Dao ethnic language, he did not take any teaching fees but also provided food and accommodation for his students with his family for 45 days.
“To be able to read and write fluently, a student must study for three consecutive years. In the first and second years, I teach them letters and how to recite them by heart, and to be aware of human morality. After two years of study, the students can read and write Nom Dao characters fluently. In the third year, the students are taught Dao ethnic songs and prayers, and how to organize rituals such as the coming-of-age ceremony, the New Year's Day ceremony, the full moon day ceremony, etc.
In addition to Dao ethnic youth in Sa Pa town, the students in the class also include Dao students from Van Ban, Bat Xat districts, and other provinces who have come to study with us," said Mr. Sieu.
Besides teaching, he also enthusiastically consults and helps other Chinese teachers, providing teaching materials, such as helping Mr. Ly Phu Tinh, Giang Ta Chai Dao village, Ta Van commune open 2 classes with a total of 29 students from the Red Dao community.
Artisan Tan Van Sieu received the title of People's Artisan in 2022.
Passing on to the younger generation of the Dao people
After nearly 20 years of teaching Dao language, Mr. Tan Van Sieu has completed the translation of the 85-page book “Catechism” from Nom Dao script into Vietnamese for the Center for Sustainable Development of Mountainous Areas and Preservation of Identity. The Center has used this book as a textbook for teaching Dao students in provinces where Dao ethnic people live.
Besides, he is also an active collaborator of the Department of Culture and Sports of Lao Cai province, regularly providing information on ancient books; customs and especially sharing experiences in opening terraced fields under the NaFosTed Project "Cultural behavior of Dao people with the environment".
He also diligently went on field trips, researching the lives and activities of the local people to gain more knowledge and information to restore and copy the ancient books left by his ancestors for the purpose of preserving them for future generations. Also from studying and understanding the ancient Nom Dao script, artisan Tan Van Sieu also grasped the knowledge of medicinal plants and traditional Vietnamese medicines of the Red Dao people, so he applied this knowledge to daily life to treat diseases for people with kidney stones, stomach ulcers, etc.
The Prime Minister presented Certificates of Merit to typical advanced examples. (Photo: VGP/NHAT BAC)
With his meaningful work, achievements and significant contributions to the preservation of ancient writings and customs of the Dao people over the years, he has been recognized and honored by the Party Committee, government and local people. All levels and sectors from the Central to the provincial level have awarded him many Certificates of Merit, titles and noble rewards.
In 2010, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee for his outstanding achievements in the emulation movement " Good farmers in production and business and hunger eradication and poverty reduction " for the 7th time, period 2006-2010.
In 2011, he was awarded the title "Folk Artist " by the Vietnam Folk Arts Association.
In 2012, he was certified by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee as "A person of outstanding prestige among ethnic minorities ".
In 2015, he was awarded the title of "Excellent Artisan" by the President for his outstanding contributions to preserving and developing the nation's cultural heritage,... and the Minister, Chairman of the Ethnic Committee awarded him the Commemorative Medal... "Dao Folk Artisan, Ta Chai village, Ta Phin commune, Sa Pa district, Lao Cai province" for his many contributions to the cause of building and developing the great solidarity bloc of Vietnamese ethnic groups.
In 2020, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Chairman of Lao Cai Provincial People's Committee for his outstanding achievements in the emulation movement " All people unite to build a cultural life " in Lao Cai province for the period 2000-2020.
In 2021, he was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Prime Minister for "outstanding achievements in studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style in the period 2016 - 2021".
In 2022, he was awarded the honorary title of People's Artisan by the President.
People's Artist Tan Van Sieu confided that what he has done is being continued by his daughter. What he hopes is that people with Dao ethnic blood will have the awareness to grow up to be good people, have the heart to remember their ancestors, raise awareness to preserve ethnic culture, and not be influenced by outside forces.
“We will grow old, if we do not encourage our children and students to continue to preserve and pass on our culture, we will lose our nation,” Mr. Sieu shared. Therefore, when he sees students eager to learn and open classes in their locality, a teacher like Mr. Sieu feels that his passion has been rewarded.
Artist Tan Van Sieu's class attracts many generations of highland children.
The tireless journey of People's Artisan Tan Van Sieu has been recognized by the State, honored as one of 75 typical advanced faces nationwide in 2023, and received a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister.
Sharing after receiving the Certificate of Merit, Mr. Tan Van Sieu said that in recent years, due to the impact of Covid-19, his fieldwork and collecting journeys have been interrupted. "This time, I will continue to return, trying to collect as much as possible to preserve the traditional culture of the Dao ethnic group for future generations," Mr. Sieu expressed his enthusiasm.
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