Promoting Hoa Binh cultural heritage values: Part 3

Promoting Hoa Binh cultural heritage values: Part 3 - Reviving traditional values

3/23/2025 - 11:34:30 AM

Hoa Binh province has carried out multiple programmes and initiatives to revive its cultural heritage which has gradually fallen into oblivion through the ebbs and flows of history.

The Keng Loong performing art of the Thai ethnic group in Mai Chau district was recognised as a national intangible cultural heritage element, helping preserve and promote this heritage's values.

Between 2022 and 2024, several of Hoa Binh's cultural assets gained national recognition, with the folk knowledge of bamboo calendar, the Khai Ha festival of the Muong people, and the Keng Loong performing art of the Thai ethnic group in Mai Chau district inscribed as national intangible cultural heritage. The archaeological sites of the Trai hamlet cave and the Vanh village stone shelter in Lac Son district were classified as special national relics. Previously, two other cultural heritage elements, the Muong gong art and Mo Muong, had already been added to the national intangible cultural heritage list.

The province is now home to 45 cultural practitioners bestowed with the People’s Artisan and Meritorious Artisan titles, with ethnic minority artisans accounting for 94% of them.

Hoa Binh province has particularly focused on the project to conserve and promote the Mo Muong cultural heritage for 2019–2025 and beyond, especially since the Prime Minister ordered a dossier be built to seek UNESCO recognition of Mo Muong as part of the intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. Meanwhile, it has also accelerated efforts to collect and document intangible cultural heritage.Currently, it has submitted two dossiers to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, proposing "thuong dang" and "bo meng" singing of the Muong people and the Muong skirt waistband weaving techniques to be added to the list of the national intangible cultural heritage.

Furthermore, the province has worked to raise public awareness of local historical sites. For the archaeological sites of the Trai hamlet cave and the Vanh village stone shelter, it has directed planning and implemented conservation measures while popularising the archaeological values of the world-renowned Stone-Age Hoa Binh Civilisation. Steps are also being taken to nominate the Tien Pagoda historical - cultural relics and landscape complex in Phu Nghia commune, Lac Thuy district, as a special national relic site.

With efforts to restore and preserve cultural identity, many traditional festivals have been revitalised, with the Muong people's Khai Ha (going down to the field) festival and the Tien Pagoda festival in Lac Thuy organised at the provincial level. Besides, more than 70 festivals are held annually, primarily folk celebrations of ethnic minority groups.

The province currently has 1,482 village-level musical teams that contribute to teaching, preserving, and bringing into play local cultural heritage.

The conversation efforts have been intensified with the groundbreaking of the Mo Muong cultural heritage conservation space connected with tourism services in Hop Phong commune, Cao Phong district, in January. Besides, the province has directed relevant sectors and localities to develop the Muong ethnic cultural space conservation and tourism development project in Phong Phu commune, Tan Lac district, along with a restoration project for the Trai hamlet cave and the Vanh village stone shelter. The locality is also planning renovation for many historical and revolutionary sites.

Building a cultural conservation area for Muong ethnic group in Luy Ai hamlet

Phong Phu commune, Tan Lac district of Hoa Binh province, is widely regarded as the cultural heartland of the Muong ethnic group. Among its many traditional communities, Luy Ai hamlet (formerly Ai hamlet) stands out as a rare location where the customs and way of life of the Muong Bi people remain largely intact.

Truong Kha temple festival celebrates Muong cultural heritage

The Truong Kha temple festival, a distinctive cultural event held every three years in Vu Ban township, Lac Son district, returned recently with vibrant rituals and folk traditions of the Muong people. Located next to the Buoi River in the Muong Trao fields, the Truong Kha Temple is dedicated to the three Kun Dol deities, revered for teaching farming techniques, irrigation, weaving, and protecting the harvest.

Hoa Binh city residents enjoy upgraded cultural houses

The demand for spaces serving community activities of residents in various areas across Hoa Binh city has been satisfied as local cultural houses now feature modern, spacious facilities thanks to the effective implementation of Resolution No. 49/NQ-HDND issued on December 28, 2021 by the city People's Council, which approved the plan for reorganising, converting, and allocating land for the construction, repair, and expansion of cultural houses in Hoa Binh’s villages and residential areas until 2025.

Enhancing cultural and spiritual life in remote and ethnic minority areas

At the end of May, the Hoa Binh Provincial Ethnic Arts Troupe organized a series of performances for residents in Region 2 and Region 3 communes across the province. Bringing art to ethnic communities in remote, isolated, and especially disadvantaged areas has become a meaningful activity. These are not merely artistic performances but also journeys to disseminate cultural values, enrich spiritual life, and contribute to preserving the cultural identity of ethnic minorities.

Preserving the traditional brocade weaving craft of the H’Mong people in Pa Co commune

In recent years, alongside the development of a tourism-oriented economy, the traditional brocade weaving craft of the Mong people in Pa Co Commune, Mai Chau district has been gradually preserved and promoted. It has become a unique indigenous cultural feature, contributing to improving the livelihoods of the ethnic minority community.

Hop Tien commune preserves and promotes the cultural identity of the Muong ethnic group

Hop Tien commune, Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh province is home to nearly 1,260 households with a population of over 5,700 people, 98% of whom are of the Muong ethnic group. Besides economic development, the commune places special emphasis on preserving and promoting the cultural identity of the Muong people.