Thuong Tin is a district with a long cultural tradition. The whole district has 462 religious and belief works, including 123 classified monuments (61 national monuments, 62 city-level monuments), including 25 pagodas, 16 temples, 63 communal houses, 9 churches, 1 school, 1 memorial house, 1 shrine, 1 wharf, 2 stone mausoleums and 1 literature). For many years, Thuong Tin district has paid great attention to preserving and promoting the value of relics.
Van Tu Thuong Phuc was built to promote the traditional values of academics, the tradition of studiousness in the old Thuong Phuc district (now Thuong Tin district). Photo: Xuan Tien
To raise awareness and sense of responsibility for officials and people in preserving and promoting the values of relics, the district has attached great importance to the role of propaganda. Every year, the district organizes a professional training conference on cultural heritage management for managers. At the same time, they propagandize and educate the people on the knowledge of the Law on Cultural Heritage for people through the loudspeakers system, integrating in meetings, conferences, union activities, through many activities to celebrate Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day… In addition, the district has effectively implemented the decentralization of comprehensive management of the relic to the locality. Thereby, it gradually improves the responsibility of local authorities in the management of relics, and at the same time create favorable conditions for the socialization of the management and protection of relics.
Phap Van Pagoda – National historical and cultural relic – destination of many tourists near and far. Photo: Thuy Huong
The restoration and embellishment of relics in the district is carried out in accordance with regulations. Along with the allocated funding, the district has mobilized socialized capital with the active participation of organizations and individuals in the area. As a result, hundreds of relics are protected, repaired and embellished; many relics and antiques have been collected, registered and preserved; many intangible cultural heritages including special festivals, traditional arts and folklore are collected and documented.
Along with material cultural values such as the system of vestiges of communal houses, pagodas, temples, shops, shrines, famous churches… Thuong Tin district also has unique intangible cultural heritages such as: Treasures proverbs, folk songs, festival activities, folk tales with bold humanity: building fire to cook rice contest, traditional martial arts contests, singing military drums, tuong, cheo, chau van… The district has built a cultural brand at the place where intangible cultural heritages are announced, contributing to the transformation in terms of awareness, creating community appreciation for cultural heritage, meeting the needs of people’s cultural enjoyment; synchronously implementing the conservation and promotion of historical – cultural relics and scenic spots through research, collection and systematization of materials to assess the value of each historical – cultural relic and scenic spot. On that basis, it proposes solutions to preserve and exploit the appropriate value and achieve practical efficiency, serving the traditional education of the local people.
Associated with the monuments are the festivals. In the district, there are 7 large-scale festivals, and 26 festivals are held regularly. There are typical festivals, such as: Chu Dong Tu – Tien Dung Festival (Tu Nhien commune); Tu Van village festival (Le Loi commune), Mui Pagoda festival (To Hieu), Dau Pagoda festival (Nguyen Trai commune), Bo Dau temple festival (Thong Nhat)… Annually, the management and organization of the festival has been effectively directed and implemented by the Party Committees, governments at all levels and sectors. Festival activities in the area have gone into order and stability, creating a joyful and healthy atmosphere. The ceremony is organized neatly and in a dignified and economical manner; the contents of the sacrifice and procession rituals follow the fine traditional ritual of the nation, thereby raising the sense of responsibility of the people for preserving and promoting the cultural values of the nation. The festival includes cultural, artistic, physical training and sports activities that create a joyful and exciting atmosphere for visitors and the people attending the festival.
In the coming time, in order to improve the quality of preservation and promotion of heritage values, Thuong Tin district will continue to strengthen propaganda on the conservation of cultural heritage for the people; well perform the inventory and scientific records of intangible cultural heritage in order to identify and determine the level of existence, value and vitality of each type of intangible cultural heritage in the community, on the basis of which to propose an effective conservation and promotion plan, performing well the socialization work for the conservation and embellishment of relics…
Thu Van