The cultural heritage of Ly Son island district in the central province
of Quang Ngai is being effectively preserved thanks to the combined
efforts of local people and governing authorities.
Ly Son district is 18 nautical miles off the Vietnamese coast and covers
an area of 10 square kilometres. It includes three communes: An Hai, An
Vinh and An Binh.
Archaeologists have found that
people from the Sa Huynh culture lived on Ly Son Island 3,000 years ago.
Then from the late 16th century, numerous clans from the mainland came
to the island and have inhabited it ever since.
Since Sa Huynh, Champa and Viet people lived alongside each other, the
culture on the islands is now very rich and diverse.
At present, there are 50 heritage sites and 23 old religious buildings
in the area. Some of the many pagodas, tombs and temples have been
recognised as sites of provincial or national heritage.
The islands also boasts a lot of intangible cultural heritage, such as
traditional boat races and the Hoang Sa Soldier Feast and Commemoration
Festival, which was recognised as national heritage in April this year.
Since their establishment in 1993, the managing
authorities of Ly Son island district have been well aware of the
importance of preserving and upholding cultural heritage, considering
this to be an important task in socio-economic development.
The district People’s Committee has ordered its culture and
information division to regularly survey heritage, restore cultural
buildings and artefacts that fall into a bad condition and revive fading
cultural forms so that they are not lost forever.
According to Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ly Son district Party
Committee Nguyen Tai Luan, 85 percent of the locality’s heritage sites
have been restored and their cultural and architectural value remains
intact.
In recent years, a number of activities
have been revived. The collection of folk songs, proverbs and poems has
been declared a great success.
Notably, up to 90 percent of resources for preservation have been contributed by local residents.
Many clans in the district have drawn up their own rules to keep
important documents safe. For example, the Dang clan carefully preserved
an official decree issued by King Minh Mang nearly 180 years ago on
sending soldiers from Ly Son to the Hoang Sa archipelago to erect
sovereignty marks.
In April 2009, the clan presented
this document to the Quang Ngai provincial People’s Committee, who in
turn handed it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be used as legal
evidence of Vietnam ’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa
archipelagos.
This willingness for the islanders to
work together with provincial and national authorities to protect their
culture has been met with a positive response.
Luan
has commented that district authorities will now continue improving
local people’s awareness of how to preserve the values of cultural
heritage and encourage them to contribute personally to restoration
efforts. Some will also be trained so that they can work in the cultural
and tourism sector.
He emphasised that it is
necessary to consult experts and elderly people who are knowledgeable
about the local culture in order to ensure that successful preservation
efforts continue.-VNA