Promoting the value of Han – Nom heritage in Lang Son: Contributing to preserving traditional culture

Lang Son is a land with a long cultural history, in the process of building and development, ancestors have left many valuable cultural heritages, including Han – Nom heritage. In order for this heritage to be effective, over the years, the cultural sector of the province and related levels and sectors have had many solutions, gradually preserve, preserve and exploit values for scientific research and learning about the local history and culture.

Treasures of Han – Nom heritage are diverse and precious

The Han-Nom heritage is bibliographies and documents written in Chinese and Nom characters, which are extremely rich written cultural treasures. These heritages are an important part of the precious cultural heritage system of the nation, they are the link between the past and the present, an important source of documents to help present and future generations have the opportunity to learn about the historical and cultural origins of the nation in general and the locality in particular. The Han – Nom heritages are mainly expressed through ordinations, epitaphs, parallel sentences, poems carved on stone, divine miracles, ancient books … in relics and handed down in folklore.

Provincial Museum officials introduce Woodblock documents of Nguyen Dynasty in the exhibition “Lang Son – 190 years of formation and development” at the Provincial Museum

Dr. Hoang Van Pao, Chairman of the Provincial Cultural Heritage Association, said: Along with the system of other cultural heritages, the Han – Nom heritage is a valuable asset, contributing to helping future generations understand the local history and cultural traditions. It is also a very important source of material for scientific research on geography, history, culture, literature, language, economy, religion, belief, customs, and local customs of a bygone era. In Lang Son province, a huge amount of Han Nom heritage is kept, including the stele “Thuy Mon Dinh” which has been recognized as a national treasure.

As one of the typical relics of the province, Vang Khac communal house, Thong Nhat commune, Loc Binh district is keeping 6 ancient ordinations, including the 28th Canh Hung year 1767; ordination under the reigns of Kings Tu Duc, Duy Tan and Khai Dinh in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These are Han-Nom heritages and important written documents that help determine the value of the relics to the history and culture of the province.

Each ordination includes the following contents: address to worship the god; the name of the god; the reason the god was ordained or upgraded in rank; God’s responsibility towards the local people; the responsibility of the people towards the gods; date of the decree issued.

Mr. Dinh Van Hoa, keeper from Vang Khac communal house said: These ordinations have special meaning for our villagers, like treasures of the village. Therefore, we have carefully preserved these religious documents, put them in a plastic tube made in 1979, and kept them at home. Only when festivals or important occasions are needed, we bring them to the family to perform traditional rituals and then store them away.

At the Nhi – Tam Thanh relic site, according to our records, there are 26 ghost steles carved directly on the stone, of which 10 are intact. This is an important Han – Nom heritage block, which is the autographs and poems of ancient celebrities left when they came to Lang Son, reflecting the important role and position of Xu Lang through historical periods. The preservation of the system of these epitaphs has been paid much attention and attention by the City People’s Committee over the past time. Accordingly, every year, the City People’s Committee directs the relevant units to clean the surface of the stele twice, use glass cleaner to treat the layers of moss on the stele, at the same time, install lights in some epitaphs to create convenient lighting for visitors and researchers to easily learn and look up.

Efforts to preserve and preserve

In order to promote the value of Han – Nom heritage of the province, on the part of state management agencies, over the years, relevant levels and sectors have had many specific solutions. Mr. Nguyen Phuc Ha, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said: Over the years, we have actively advised the Provincial People’s Committee to develop programs, plans, schemes and implement practical activities to promote cultural heritage, pay special attention to preserving, protecting and promoting the value of intangible cultural heritages, including Han Nom heritages in the area with many practical solutions such as collecting, inventorying, researching, translating, publishing books and digitizing Han Nom heritage; promoting the propaganda and promotion of this heritage block…

Provincial Museum staff preserved Woodblock documents of Nguyen Dynasty in Chinese – Nom characters engraved on paper

Accordingly, from 2017 up to now, the sector has conducted a total inventory of cultural heritage in 11/11 districts and city, classified and cataloged 353 intangible cultural heritages (in which there are nearly 100 inventory sheets of cultural heritages written in Han and Nom such as ordination paintings, bibliographies, and Han Nom documents found in the families, communal houses, pagodas, shrines, etc.) be photographed, scanned by the functional unit to keep the original; At the same time, the sector classified, translated, and printed copies to serve the storage and study of the cultural and historical values of Lang Son.  Simultaneously, in 2021, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism advised the Provincial People’s Committee to develop and issue Decision No. 855/QD-UBND approving Project on preserving, embellishing and promoting the value of the system of historical – cultural relics and scenic spots in Lang Son province in the period of 2021 – 2030, including the Han – Nom heritage system.

Notably, the contribution in bringing the Han – Nom heritage to the community must include the role of the Provincial Museum in carrying out the task of researching, collecting and preserving the value of this unique heritage. Mr. Nong Duc Kien, Director of the Provincial Museum said: The provincial museum currently holds nearly 300 documents, along with many original artifacts and restoration artifacts of Han-Nom heritages such as epitaphs, couplets, books, documents…In which, there are 26 Han – Nom artifacts and documents being displayed for tourists to visit and learn, for example: Thuy Mon Dinh stele, Woodblock documents of Nguyen Dynasty, books of worshiping witch-doctor, stone stele inscribed with the year of making Ky Cung bridge… In order to promote the value of these precious Han-Nom artifacts and documents, over the past time, we have directed specialized departments to strengthen the work of collecting, preserving, and at the same time, displaying and introducing to a large number of visitors about the value of these artifacts and documents.

Accordingly, from 2017 to now, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has directed the Provincial Museum to organize more than 20 exhibitions and exhibitions on cultural heritage, including exhibitions displaying documents and artifacts related to ancient Han – Nom characters such as Exhibition of 190 years of establishment of Lang Son province and Lang Son through historical periods; Lang Son exhibition through the system of ancient bibliographies… Along with that, 100% of Han – Nom artifacts and documents being kept at the Provincial Museum have been put into the management system by the software “Management of information in artifacts” on cyberspace and posted an introduction on the museum’s website in the section “library of artifacts” for long-term research and exploitation. Thereby, cadres, party members and the people have been able to approach, research and learn, thereby becoming more aware of the importance, meaning and necessity of preserving and promoting the value of the Han – Nom heritage system.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chien, a veteran of Dai Thang block, Chi Lang ward said: In October 2022, I had the opportunity to visit the thematic exhibition “Lang Son – 190 years of establishment and development, here, I had access to some Han – Nom woodblock documents of the Nguyen Dynasty about Lang Son province. Through these documents, it has helped Lang Son people like me understand more about the history of their homeland, thereby becoming more proud of the land where I live.

The province’s Han-Nom heritage plays an important role in researching and learning about the formation, history, and cultural values of the land and the people of Lang Son. With positive and specific solutions of the cultural sector and related levels and sectors, the province’s Han – Nom heritage is being preserved and promoted effectively. However, the problem is that the Han – Nom heritages are still very much handed down in folklore, especially ancient books of ethnic groups, therefore, in the coming time, the cultural sector will continue to direct the Provincial Museum to research, collect and copy bibliographies, Han-Nom documents related to Lang Son province from various sources such as Han-Nom Research Institute of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences; the National Archives Centers; National Historical Museum; Private collectors… At the same time, the sector strengthens the work of preserving, digitizing, promoting the value of Han – Nom heritage resources to a large number of people inside and outside the province.