Ky Yen festival at Di An communal house: National Intangible Cultural Heritage is meaningful

On February 2, "Ky Yen festival at Di An communal house” in Di An city’s Di An ward was inscribed on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List under to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Decision No. 150/QD. This is also the 5th national intangible cultural heritage of Binh Duong province.

Efforts to let the festival be recognized

After a long time of collecting documents from concerned units and localities to make scientific documents to advise provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on submitting them to competent authorities for consideration, "Ky Yen festival at Di An communal house" was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage finally. Le Van Phuoc, Director of provincial Museum said that this result was obtained from the efforts by the whole collective. From 2021, provincial Museum organized the tasks of advising on the development of a scientific dossier on "Ky Yen festival at Di An communal house" and submitting it to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for bringing to the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritages. During the implementation process, provincial Museum always received the close attention and direction of leaders of provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the coordination and support of Di An city’s Culture and Information Department, Di An ward’s People's Committee and Di An communal house relic site’s management group.

Rituals in "Ky Yen Festival at Di An communal house"

In addition, in order to build a quality scientific dossier under the provisions of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Circular No. 04/2010/TT-BVHTTDL dated June 30, 2010, all staff of provincial Museum had a process of investing in research, investigation and survey at "Ky Yen festival at Di An communal house" to draw out the typical historical, cultural and scientific values ​​of the festival.

Mr. Phuoc said that although a plan to implement the scientific dossier of "Ky Yen festival at Di An communal house" was set out in 2021, Di An communal house organized its “Ky Yen” festival in the last days of 2020. At that time, officials and employees of provincial Museum coordinated with a film crew to make a documentary film that fully reflected typical rituals imbued with the traditional cultural identities of a communal house in the Southern region. On the other hand, the time to implement the scientific dossier took place in the context of the complicated development of the Covid-19 epidemic, which greatly affected the process of making the dossier for the festival. However, with their efforts, all staff of provincial Museum advised to complete the scientific dossier and submit it to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Preserving and upholding values

Each cultural heritage contains its own unique values, being meaningful in the life of the community. “Ky Yen festival at Di An communal house” – a National Intangible Cultural Heritage has just been recognized as a traditional festival with large scale, lasting, containing many typical values and playing an important role in the life of the community. In terms of historical value, according to Mr. Phuoc, "Ky Yen festival at Di An communal house" deeply reflects the ethnic origin, the process of Vietnamese settlement in the Southern land. It is the process of settlement, land opening; the process of setting up hamlets and villages, building temples, communal houses... Regarding cultural value, "Ky Yen festival at Di An communal house" is a form of cultural activities - folk beliefs in order to satisfy the needs of culture, belief and entertainment, enriching the local cultural life …

The festival also contains the value of community cohesion because this is a collective activity of the whole community (the center is the residents of Di An ward and surrounding areas). Before, during and after the festival, the communal house’s Ritual Board and people teach each other how to organize the festival. This is also an opportunity for predecessors to give knowledge and experience for younger generations. "Ky Yen festival at Di An communal house" also reflects cultural exchange and convergence, which is the most appropriate proof for acculturation and exchange of this land. The customs and practices of the Northern people, the rituals of the Central people, the personality and cultural characteristics of the Southern people, the cultural features of the Chinese and Cham people... all show an exchange and convergence on the land where many ethnic groups have settled.

In order to preserve and uphold this cultural heritage value, Mr. Phuoc said provincial Museum will coordinate with relevant units to organize the announcement ceremony to express the deep gratitude of today's generation for the merits of the ancestors, generations of local artisans who have made great contributions to the practice, creation and transmission of intangible cultural values at Di An communal house while affirming the efforts by the Party Committee, authorities and people of Di An city’s Di An ward in preserving and upholding cultural heritage values. This announcement also contributes to raising the sense of responsibility, encouraging the community to voluntarily participate in heritage protection activities while promoting the creativity of subjects holding and practicing intangible cultural heritages; propagandizes and promotes the festival on the mass media while commending individuals and collectives who have made great contributions in preserving and upholding the festival.  

Reported by Hong Thuan-Translated by Kim Tin