Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival is a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The traditional festival commemorating the 155th anniversary of the death of National Hero Nguyen Trung Truc (1868 - 2023) has been taking place in Rach Gia City, Kien Giang Province (from October 10 - 12).

This year, the event was held more solemnly when "Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival - Rach Gia, Kien Giang Province" received the National Intangible Cultural Heritage certificate.

Ceremony to receive the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Certificate "Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival - Rach Gia, Kien Giang Province".

Immortal monument of heroes

Almost everyone in the country in general and in Kien Giang in particular knows about AHDT Nguyen Trung Truc - a special figure in the history of fighting against French colonialism in the Southern region. In many provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta, people have built temples and every year on August 26 - 28 (lunar calendar), they organize festivals to commemorate this hero.

Nguyen Trung Truc was born in 1838, in Binh Nhut village, Cuu An district, Tan An prefecture (now Thanh Duc commune, Ben Luc district, Long An province). With a passionate patriotism, Nguyen Trung Truc joined Truong Dinh's army operating in the Go Cong area.

In 1861, Nguyen Trung Truc led the insurgents to a resounding victory, burning and sinking the French ship Espérance on the Nhut Tao River. On June 16, 1868, Nguyen Trung Truc organized a surprise attack and controlled Kien Giang fort for a week, annihilating all enemy troops and the provincial governor. This glorious victory stunned the French army.

Due to the huge difference in strength, after winning several other battles, the insurgents also lost. Nguyen Trung Truc was captured by the enemy. Before being executed by the enemy, Nguyen Trung Truc boldly said: "Only when the Westerners have uprooted all the grass in the South will there be no more Southerners fighting the Westerners." This statement further fueled the patriotism, the will to rise up and steadfastly fight against foreign invaders of the Vietnamese people!

After Nguyen Trung Truc sacrificed, people in many places built temples to worship him, the largest of which is Nguyen Trung Truc Temple on Nguyen Cong Tru Street, west of Rach Gia City center. The temple was recognized as a national historical and cultural relic by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on March 22, 1998.

The annual Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival always attracts a large number of participants. Photo: Tay Ho

Honored as national heritage

On February 2, 2023, Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival was listed as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

With that special meaning, this year Kien Giang province has organized a series of special events with many rich and large-scale activities. In addition to the ceremony organized according to traditional rituals (Incense lighting ceremony to mark the place where AHDT Nguyen Trung Truc was executed by the French in 1868, Incense offering ceremony at Nguyen Trung Truc Monument Park; along with annual traditional rituals...), the highlight is the art program to open the festival combined with the ceremony to receive the certificate of National Intangible Cultural Heritage on the evening of October 10.

Activities in the festival such as the art performance "Vietnam Ao Dai Night 2023", the photo exhibition "The 38th Mekong Delta Art Photography Festival, 2023 in Kien Giang province", organizing booths to introduce and promote the tourism image of Kien Giang and the provinces and cities of the Western Cluster of the Mekong Delta region associated with the program of surveying tourism products and services...; are opportunities to promote the beautiful image of Kien Giang in particular, a corner of the fertile alluvial Mekong Delta with great potential to attract domestic and international friends to this place.

The Nguyen Trung Truc AHDT Traditional Festival with many activities imbued with national cultural identity, actively contributes to preserving and promoting traditional cultural values ​​associated with socio-economic development, educating the tradition of patriotism against foreign invaders among all classes of people, especially the young generation.

The ceremony to receive the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Certificate "Nguyen Trung Truc Communal House Festival - Rach Gia, Kien Giang Province" also aims to attract investment, protect and promote intangible cultural values ​​associated with enhancing the promotion of the image of Kien Giang land and people in particular, and the Mekong Delta in general, to domestic and foreign tourists.

Thuy Nga (synthesis)

Source: https://baovinhphuc.com.vn/tin-tuc/Id/100736/Le-hoi-Dinh-than-Nguyen-Trung-Truc-la-Di-san-van-hoa-phi-vat-the-quoc-gia