(HBO) – With their strong enthusiasm and passion, Hoa Binh folk singers have worked hard to preserve and promote the value of folk melodies and popularise it in the contemporary life with a hope that the national cultural tradition will live forever.
Artisan Ha Thi Bich in Xam Pa hamlet, Na Phon commune of Mai Chau district,
teaching her grandson to sing folk songs.
Bach Thi Dao, a veteran artisan in Beo hamlet,
Xuan Thuy commune of Kim Boi district, inherited the love for Muong folk
singing from her parents. She has used melodies for communications work.
Meanwhile, Quach Thi Lon from Khanh hamlet of An
Nghia commune represents the young generation of Muong folk singers. She is one
of the youngest Muong folk singers and performers of Lac Son district.
Prompted by the desire to preserve and
popularise the beauty of Muong folk songs to people of other ethnic groups
throughout the country, she and Emeritus Artisan Bui Huy Vong have worked with
each other to develop a YouTube channel called Quach Lon. by now, the channel
has been operating for more than two years, attracting over 14,000 subscribers,
with 1,100 videos of Muong folk songs performed by her that draw a great number
of views.
With more than 50 years of popularising folk
songs to younger generations, artisan Ha Thi Bac is considered a "living
archives" of Thai folk songs as she can sing hundreds of songs as well as
deeply understand the meaning of the lyrics.
In 1998, Bich released an album containing 15
Thai folk songs that she loved most. Operating for more than three years, the
Thai folk song club in Xam Pa hamlet, established by artisan Ha Thi Bich, has
attracted nearly 20 members who are children, teenagers and women who gather
two or three times each month.
Along with regular singing, performing and
exchanging activities and maintaining the club's operations, she has also taught
Thai folk songs to the younger generations with a hope of preventing the risk
of the disappearance of the national cultural identity.
Ha Yen Nhi, a young member of the club for over
one year, said that so far she has learnt to sing 15 Thai folk songs. With the
support of Bich, Nhi’s love and passion for the melodies have been nurtured and
developed, along with her sense of responsibility to maintain and develop Thai
folk songs.
Dao, Lon and Bich are three among the many
artisans who are exerting efforts to maintain the traditional culture and
transfer it to the youth./.
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 most prominent and defining feature in the prehistoric era of Hoa Binh is the Hoa Binh Culture. The Culture was first discovered in Hoa Binh. The significant prehistoric culture represents not only Vietnam but also Southeast Asia and southern China. Through excavations of cave sites in the limestone regions of Hoa Binh, French archaeologist M. Colani introduced the world to a "Stone Age in Hoa Binh province – Northern Vietnam" in 1927. On January 30, 1932, the First Congress of Far Eastern Prehistorians, held in Hanoi, officially recognised the Hoa Binh Culture.
Known as the "Land of Epic History”, Hoa Binh province, the gateway to Vietnam’s northwest, boasts a strategic location and a unique cultural tapestry woven by its ethnic minority communities.
The People's Committee of Luong Son District recently held a ceremony to receive the certificate recognizing Sau Communal House in Thanh Cao Commune as a provincial-level historical and cultural site.
Recognising the importance of cultural heritage preservation in protecting and promoting the value system of Vietnamese culture, and serving socio-economic development in the new period, Party committees and local administrations in Hoa Binh province have identified it as a key task in the cultural development strategy. The province has been making efforts in mobilising resources, creating consensus among people and engaging ethnic communities in preserving and promoting cultural identity.
Hoa Binh province has captured growing attention both domestically and internationally for its distinctive cultural heritage and rich history. Most notably, it has been renowned for its famous Hoa Binh culture, considered the cradle of ancient Vietnamese civilisation. Looking ahead to significant milestones in 2025 and the 140th anniversary of province establishment in 2026, Hoa Binh Newspaper presents a comprehensive overview of the province's development across economic, social, cultural, tourism, and security domains.