Live and dedicate to the profession

Researcher Cao Son Hai: Hoping to complete unfinished work

Born in 1935, in 2025, researcher Cao Son Hai will be exactly 90 years old. It seems that age does not scare him. Other officials and civil servants who retire are just enjoying their old age, letting go of their busy schedules, and spending time with their children and grandchildren. But for him, starting from that moment is to do what he wants. More than 15 research and study works were born and completed when he was in his 70s and 80s. In 2022, he was honored to be awarded the State Prize for Literature and Arts (VHNT) with a series of 3 works: "Wedding songs of Muong people in Thanh Hoa", "Pon Pong eng chang ceremony" (bilingual), and the poem "Nang Ut Lot - Dao Hoi Lieu" (bilingual)... That noble award is the "sweet fruit" of a Muong person like him's whole life devoted to Muong culture.

Talking about the 2025 plan, NNC Cao Son Hai said: The biggest hope is that in 2025, the Muong ethnic alphabet of Thanh Hoa province will be approved for implementation.

According to NNC Cao Son Hai: The Muong people in Thanh Hoa currently have about 400,000 people, the Muong language is still Vietnamese - Muong, and the Muong people do not have their own written language. Without a language, the Muong people still preserve tens of thousands of verses of ceremonial songs that we call mo tang le and folk songs, proverbs, jokes, fairy tales... The Muong language has created the Muong culture, first of all, it has created the Muong people in both body and soul.

A nation that has existed for thousands of years without a written language, unable to record the history of the nation's development, everything is only preserved through oral transmission from generation to generation, so the Muong language is "shrinking", Muong culture is gradually "fading". Understanding that, many years ago he prepared documents and from 2022, the Muong script was officially focused on by the group of authors. "The desire to preserve the language and have a written language to preserve the language and develop culture is a long-standing aspiration of the Muong community. That aspiration is in line with the Party and State's guidelines", NNC Cao Son Hai affirmed that it was the biggest advantage in the process of making the Muong script.

“I am a Muong, I have experience, roots, and knowledge, so it is my responsibility to get to the root of Muong folk culture. If I don’t commit, who will?” That concern makes him even more eager to see the Muong Thanh Hoa alphabet released soon, so that the Muong people can use it, preserve it, and spread the beautiful traditional cultural values ​​of their people.

People's Artist Hoang Hai: I have 3 big tasks in 2025

85 years of age and 67 years of artistic journey of People's Artist Hoang Hai is proof of his working capacity.

“My artistic journey has been accompanied by the changes of national history. Especially during the period of “chiseling down walls to open to the street for business”, art troupes across the country encountered great difficulties. Among them, the Thanh Hoa People's Song and Dance Troupe (now Lam Son Song and Dance Theater) that he led also had to change its “tactics and strategies” many times to suit the people's need for art enjoyment. After many ups and downs, thinking back, he concluded: “Up to now, I have two great joys. That is, I have witnessed with my own eyes the maturity of generations of artists in the province, many of whom were trained by me, the “red rice grains” of art. And, after major art programs such as the dance “Huong Dang” using Dong Anh folk songs and dances to compose; The program “Lam Kinh Horse Hoof” gathered 150 dancers performing all the way from Ba Dinh Square to Hanoi Opera House for 4 hours, using the unique, attractive, soulful features of Xuan Pha dance... many people have known Dong Anh lamp dance, Xuan Pha dance, thereby contributing to preserving the traditional cultural values ​​of Thanh land.

After being honored with the State Prize for Literature and Arts in 2022, People's Artist Hoang Hai is still working diligently. In 2024, as the Head of the Vietnam Dance Artists Association of Thanh Hoa Province, he conducted a survey of the folk dance movement in the province, organized and linked folk dance clubs, invested in staging performances into art works and organized the first Thanh Hoa Folk Dance Art Festival.

Talking about 2025, People's Artist Hoang Hai said: This is the year associated with the resounding Ham Rong victory of the army and people of Thanh Hoa. I really want to stage the dance work "Red Flower" about the heroic fight of the army and militia of Ham Rong - Nam Ngan; create a music and dance program about the Ham Rong victory. In addition, the Dance Artists Association continues to organize the 2nd Thanh Hoa Folk Dance Festival.

To be able to fully carry out all his plans, People's Artist Hoang Hai compares himself to a board, erasing one task after another, drawing up other topics and working hard. With a standard attitude, he is not only respected by his colleagues but also able to go long, hard, and long with art.

Writer Tu Nguyen Tinh: Writing is finding one's own name

2025 is a special year for writer Tu Nguyen Tinh. It is the 60th anniversary of his first day in the army, and the 60th anniversary of his literary journey.

War is a fear for many people. For writer Tu Nguyen Tinh, war was an opportunity for him to grow up. In the 4th Ham Rong Company, he wrote for newspapers, published his first article titled “I write for you” under the pen name Van Anh in the Thanh Hoa Cultural Friend magazine...; also in the army, on the day of the signing of the Paris Agreement on Vietnam, January 27, 1973, he was admitted to the Party. He said: “I am a soldier, a writer”. During his 10 years as a soldier, he was attached to the Ham Rong battlefield and the Thanh Hoa fire line. Going through the work of a gunner, artillery repairman, battery commander, then a historian, journalist... writing poetry, writing prose... Memories and the reality of life and fighting were so overwhelming that he could not help but pick up a pen. The grace of life “To survive is already lucky!” forced him to ponder and indulge in the subject of soldiers to find his own name.

His desire to write is to write about people, to express their feelings in this life. At the same time, writing is a liberation, a support for him to realize his youthful dreams, a contemplation of life.

The 18-year-old “country boy” who “started out” writing poetry has now accumulated a fortune of more than 30 collections of short stories, novels, memoirs and poems. Notably, he received the State Prize for Literature and Arts for the short story collection “The Blind Lung’s Love”. In 2025, he plans to publish a novel titled “The Card”. The theme is still post-war, but not about American soldiers returning to Vietnam, but about a young volunteer girl who went to America to find a father for her child.

Despite all the successes and experiences in life, they, the authors who won the State Prize for Literature and Arts, continue to devote themselves. The past years were filled with sweat and tears, but during this time, they can live for themselves, doing what they are most passionate about.

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/song-va-dan-than-voi-nghe-237953.htm