Raising awareness of Vietnamese cultural values

In the current context, the impact of globalization and the power of information technology, the Internet of Things, multimedia communications, social networks... have been posing great challenges in creating and preserving identity, the meaning, role, and importance of building the cultural value system of the Vietnamese people.

Quan Ho Bac Ninh folk songs - an art form considered the core of the culture of the thousand-year-old Kinh Bac land - has been recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Photo: VNA

With the direction of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at the National Cultural Conference held in December 2021: "Building Vietnamese people in the period of innovation, development, and integration with appropriate standard values, associated with preserving and promoting Vietnamese family values, cultural values, and national values; skillfully combining traditional values with contemporary values: patriotism, solidarity, self-reliance, loyalty, honesty, responsibility, discipline, creativity...", the system of cultural values of Vietnamese people is recognized and increasingly raised in awareness.

Identify ethnic cultural values

According to Associate Professor, Doctor Pham Van Duong, Deputy Director of the Institute of Cultural Studies, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the system of Vietnamese human cultural values includes values created by the people of the 54 ethnic groups in the past and present (historical). Over time, the cultural values of Vietnamese people have crystallized into a system of cultural values, which are not only expressed in the material aspect of cultural heritages from the past, but also in cultural activities that breathe life today, and are an organic part of the lives of communities in each village and each family. Vietnamese human cultural values are elements that make up ethnic identity, including: Knowledge, beliefs, ethics, arts, laws, customs, activities, etc.; they are the manifestation of the nature of human capacity as a member of the social community.

The cultural values of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam include cultural forms associated with residential habits, house architecture, villages associated with the environment, folk knowledge about the environment and resources; customary laws regulating the lifestyle of the community; economic activities of each ethnic group, of ethnic communities at different levels in the process of ruralization, urbanization... The elements of the above cultural forms are very diverse, rich, rich in identity and are tangible and intangible assets and capital of the community, ethnic group and locality. This is also the resource for national development.

Regarding Vietnamese human culture, Associate Professor, Doctor Pham Van Duong believes that it is necessary to have a perspective of recognizing values in the direction of cultural integration. In the context of contemporary Vietnamese culture existing with the characteristics of traditional heritage and contemporary life intertwined, continuing and ongoing, we can identify groups of values such as: The ethnic culture itself; inheritance, adaptation in contemporary life; the imprint of place creating identity, symbolism for the region; creating living environment, ecology, human ecology; contemporary social culture; integration, development...

Therefore, identifying ethnic cultural values will help the community fully and comprehensively integrate the cultural picture of each ethnic group, which is the basis for simultaneously implementing the two goals of preserving and promoting cultural heritage for sustainable socio-economic development. If cultural heritage is separated from the values of contemporary life, it will be difficult to successfully achieve the goal of preserving ethnic culture.

Respect ethnic and regional identity

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Van Duong said that the unique values of the Vietnamese people carry the identity of ethnic groups, localities and regions. These unique values have helped each ethnic community express and affirm their own nature. That nature has been created over many generations, tempered by the process of survival, interaction with nature and with people, between ethnic groups; from there, creating unique cultural features, different but not different or contradictory. For example, the cultural value of the H'Mong people is their resilience and harmonious adaptation to the harsh environment of the arid rocky plateau.

Regarding cultural resources, Associate Professor, Doctor Pham Van Duong affirmed that human cultural resources are the cultural content in each person's behavior; expressed in qualities, attitudes, personalities, sense of responsibility... In addition to universal factors such as diligence, dexterity, adaptability, etc., the qualities of Vietnamese people need to focus on identifying unique values with local, regional and ethnic characteristics. From there, build a system of human cultural values with local, regional and ethnic characteristics in the overall system of Vietnamese cultural and human values.

Identifying the cultural values of Vietnamese people goes hand in hand with identifying bad habits based on regional, local and ethnic customs... which have been considered obstacles to development. This is a very sensitive issue and is still being discussed. Therefore, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Van Duong emphasized that this issue needs to be approached and researched from both scientific and cultural perspectives. From there, build educational and training strategies to honor the beautiful and positive, limit and eliminate the bad and negative in contemporary Vietnamese culture.

Vietnamese human culture has been identified and generalized into a system of Vietnamese human values with outstanding characteristics such as: patriotism, diligence, creativity in work, solidarity in fighting against natural disasters, enemies to adapt in work and integration... However, the above values are more universal, so they can be seen in every country and ethnic group in the world. However, the common, universal value system with national identity is still very necessary to identify and clarify Vietnamese characteristics. From there, concretize the value system in life with requirements on behavioral standards of each citizen with the responsibility of building the country, building the image of Vietnamese human culture.

Vietnamese citizen value system

To build Vietnamese human cultural values in the new context, Associate Professor, Doctor Pham Van Duong proposed that the Party and the State are the key and decisive factors in the formation and development of the Vietnamese human cultural value system, acting as a strong endogenous driving force for the implementation of the industrialization, modernization, rapid and sustainable development of the country.

Humans are the creative subject, the center, the decisive factor of the values created by humans themselves and humans are also the agents that destroy those values. Therefore, building Vietnamese human culture is a key, vital, and long-lasting factor in the strategy of building a prosperous and happy Vietnam. Building the Vietnamese human cultural value system must be based on the foundation of the common value system of the nation; filtering, inheriting, developing and increasingly perfecting the Vietnamese human cultural values that have been created, tested and affirmed over time. Building the Vietnamese human cultural value system must be the crystallization and blending of the common, universal cultural values of the nation and humanity with the unique cultural values of each community, ethnic group, and locality, in order to exploit and promote the strengths of each individual feature.

At the same time, the Vietnamese human cultural value system must be concretized into criteria and goals of each person, each community and ethnic group, becoming the pride, strength and ability to "resist and be immune" to the impacts of globalization. The Vietnamese human cultural value system must become the Vietnamese citizen value system in the new development context. Specifically, creating Vietnamese people with qualities, abilities and mettle... that can face and cope with challenges and difficulties in building, protecting and developing a prosperous country, standing shoulder to shoulder with the world's great powers.

According to VNA

Source