Part 1: Keeping village traditions and soul

In the process of strong urbanization, the implementation of the criteria for new rural construction, including cultural criteria, has helped the cultural characteristics of the countryside through the process of preserving thousands of years of history not only not fade in modern life but also create motivation and a favorable environment for recovery and development.

Preserving traditional festivals - the beauty of village culture.

With its geographical location, terrain, and population, Thai Binh is a place where cultural and civilized nuances of the Northern Delta converge and spread. The precious traditional beauty in ancient and modern culture has become an important factor, creating endogenous strength and great spiritual motivation in the emulation movement to join hands to build advanced new rural areas and model new rural areas in the period of 2021 - 2025.

Pass on the message left by our ancestors

Tam Duong village, Tien Duc commune (Hung Ha) today is a sacred land, from ancient times known as Tinh Cuong Huong, Thai Duong ward. In the year Thanh Thai Thap Nhi, it was divided into 3 villages: Thai Duong, Phu Duong, Ngoc Duong. After the August Revolution in 1945, it was merged and named Tam Duong village until today. As a type 1 administrative unit of Tien Duc commune - an advanced NTM commune in 2021, Tam Duong village has strengthened education, promoted traditions through relic management and festival organization to contribute to building cultural and spiritual life for the people, meeting the requirements of building advanced NTM, model NTM.

Mr. Le Van Vu, Party Cell Secretary, Head of the Village Front Work Committee, informed: With a long history, cadres and people in the village always have a sense of responsibility to preserve, maintain and promote the historical and cultural values that exist on this land. In addition to participating in the Tran Temple Festival, a national intangible cultural heritage, people in the village also preserve the traditional Giao Cha festival that is over 700 years old. The construction of cultural life in residential areas is associated with spiritual and cultural activities as a driving force to implement cultural criteria.

Preserving the art of Cheo associated with traditional village festivals.

Together reaching the advanced NTM finish line in 2021, inheriting and promoting the tradition of the revolutionary countryside, the Party Committee, government and people of An Khe commune (Quynh Phu) strive to overcome difficulties, join hands to build the homeland more and more prosperous. In particular, historical relics and folk games associated with village festivals are jointly preserved by all classes of people.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Son, Head of An Quy village, An Khe commune shared: An Quy communal house is a place to worship 3 deities, including the Holy Mother Que Hoa princess, Hung Dao Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan and Cam Quan Cong Vu Sung Khe - the person who took the initiative to restore and renovate An Quy communal house. As far as we know, many historical events took place at the communal house such as the place to distribute food to the hungry people; the place where people from all villages gathered under the red flag with yellow star; the place to send off the children of the homeland to join the resistance war... The evidence of these historical milestones is still preserved at the communal house today. Thanks to the joint efforts of the people, in 2016 - 2017, An Quy communal house was restored and renovated with 5 main worshiping rooms. The communal house is not only a place for spiritual and cultural activities but also a common house for the villagers.

In November 2023, with its historical and cultural values, An Quy communal house is one of 10 relics honored to receive a provincial-level relic ranking certificate.

Mr. Pham Hong Thai, Vice Chairman of Quynh Phu District People's Committee shared: The district currently has 19 national relics and more than 90 provincial relics. In the process of building a new rural area, every person is proud of the village culture, showing the process of preserving and promoting the heritage value of all classes of people. After An Quy communal house was ranked as a provincial relic, the locality focused on managing and promoting the value of the relic. With activities in traditional festivals taking place every year, people are always the creative subjects, enjoying cultural values, thereby contributing to enhancing the spirit of solidarity in residential areas, promoting the movement of the whole people uniting to build a cultural life and protect relics in a sustainable way.

Creation from traditional cultural values

With a rich history and culture, tangible and intangible cultural heritages in the province are important elements of the cultural heritage treasure, carrying messages from the past passed down from previous generations to the next. On the basis of that tradition, generations continue and create new cultural values.

Young generation joins hands to preserve homeland culture in traditional festivals.

In 2023, for the first time, the contest for writing scripts for stage skits and cheo songs was organized by the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attracting hundreds of works from authors inside and outside the province. Among them, there were authors who participated in many works in both stage skits and songs, showing their love, pride and desire to contribute to promoting the cultural identity of their homeland. Many works have value in content and art, praising the historical, cultural, revolutionary traditions and achievements in the innovation of the Party Committee and people of Thai Binh.

Winning third prize in the Cheo stage play script category with the work “My Village Festival”, author Nguyen Hong Van said: The passion and love for Cheo has permeated the blood and flesh, so participating in the contest, there are authors over 70, 80 years old who are still tirelessly attached to grassroots culture, composing and participating in mobile propaganda teams. Traditional art troupes, especially in villages and hamlets, are in great need of Cheo works that breathe contemporary life to widely propagate the Party's policies and guidelines, the State's policies and laws to all classes of people. In the process of building the new rural areas, many Cheo songs and skits about familiar and practical stories have been composed and staged, from enjoying traditional Cheo art, people have actively responded to the emulation movement.

After the success of the competition, more than 30 award-winning works in various categories were edited, published, staged, and performed in all localities, contributing to promoting the image of Thai Binh land and people in the renovation process, while creating a space to spread traditional arts. The activities of preserving and promoting tangible and intangible cultural heritages in the province not only preserve the beauty of the countryside but also contribute to successfully implementing the criteria of inheriting and effectively promoting traditional cultural values in building advanced new rural areas.