Ky Yen festival of Di An communal house is recognized as national intangible cultural heritage

On August 2, at Di An communal house (Di An ward, Di An city), Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism collaborated with People's Committee of Di An City to organize a ceremony to announce the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List "Ky Yen Festival of Di An communal house". This is the fifth national intangible cultural heritage recognized of Binh Duong province. This recognition is not only the honor and pride of Di An City’s people in particular, but also the joy of the whole province and also sets out many things to pay attention to in order to preserve and further promote the values of this heritage in the near future.

Outstanding values

The announcement ceremony had the participation of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Nguyen Van Loc, Member of Provincial Party Standing Committee, Chairman of Provincial People's Council; Truong Thi Bich Hanh, Member of Provincial Party Standing Committee, Head of Provincial Party Propagation and Education Committee; Nguyen Thi My Hang, Chairwoman of Provincial Fatherland Front Committee; and leaders of departments, agencies, mass organizations of the province and Di An city.

Di An communal house is one of the communal houses with a long history, was formed around the 18th year of Minh Mang Dynasty (1837), associated with the formation and development of the land and people of Di An.  This is an ancient communal house with outstanding historical, cultural and architectural value and has been approved by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to be National Monument in 2019.

Nguyen Van Loc (right end), Member of Provincial Party Standing Committee, Chairman of Provincial People's Council; and representative of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism award certificate of Di An communal house’s Ky Yen festival as a national intangible cultural heritage to local leaders and Management Board of Di An communal house.

Trinh Van Xuan, Head of Management Board of Di An Communal House, said that every year, at Di An communal house many worshiping ceremonies take place, in which Ky Yen Festival is the most important one. The previous Ky Yen festival is an opportunity for local people to express their gratitude to the gods who have protected the village and ask the gods for blessings to be healthy, peaceful and lucky in life; after that, it is an opportunity for people to meet, exchange and share happy and sad stories in life. “Through the festival, local people show the spirit of solidarity and responsibility in the common work of the village, helping to strengthen community cohesion. At the same time, the festival is also an opportunity to educate the young generation about the love for the homeland, the tradition of drinking water, remembering the source, and the local traditional culture," said Mr. Xuan.

"Di An’s Ky Yen Festival" is considered one of the most complete and large-scale village worshiping ceremonies and one of the few village worship festivals in Binh Duong that still retains all of its traditional values. "Di An’s Ky Yen Festival" is held on the 15th and 16th of the 11th lunar month every year. The communal ceremony program will undergo 22 sacrifice rituals. These rituals are always performed by Board of Priests fully and properly, in accordance with the traditional nature, including these rites that are rarely seen in the worshiping ceremony.

The convergence of historical and cultural values in diverse ceremony objects, centered around the god Thanh Hoang and folklore activities mixed with royal colors has made the "Ky Yen Festival of Di An communal house” became an important traditional festival of local residents. With the typical historical and cultural values associated with this festival, on February 2, 2023, "Ky Yen Festival of Di An communal house" was approved by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, to be included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

“Nghinh sắc Thần - one of the most important rites of the Ky YenKy Yen Festival - was performed at the announcement ceremony.

Preserve and promote cultural heritage values

“Di An communal house’s Ky Yen festival” is included in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List, showing the State's recognition and respect for this festival. This is not only the pride of Di An ward and Di An city’s people in particular, but also the joy of the whole province. This recognition proves that "Di An communal house’s Ky Yen Festival" is very valuable, expresses the cultural identity of the locality, reflects the cultural diversity and creativity of people, which has been inherited through many generations.

The value of cultural heritage has been recognized, but the important thing after this announcement is what to do to preserve and promote those values further in the coming time. Speaking at the announcement ceremony, Nguyen Van Loc asked Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Party Committee and authorities of Di An city to enhance propagation and education to raise awareness and responsibility of the whole society, especially the young generation about preserving and promoting values of this festival in particular and intangible cultural heritage in the province in general; build up programs, special pages and columns to introduce and promote cultural heritage on the media of provinces, districts, towns and cities, diversify forms so that traditional cultural heritages reach majority people inside and outside the province.

Le Van Thai, Deputy Director of Provincial Department of Culture, Sports & Tourism, said that preserving and promoting cultural values is a task that always receives attention and is done by this branch. In the coming time, the department will continue to advise Provincial People's Committee to develop a plan to preserve and develop cultural heritages. The department will also coordinate with local authorities to strengthen information and propagation to help people, especially the younger generation, better understand the cultural heritages in the province, including the recognized intangible cultural heritages, so that we appreciate the cultural heritage values left by our forefathers, and work together to preserve and develop the values of cultural heritage of the community.

Di An communal house is one of the communal houses with a long history, was formed around the 18th year of Minh Mang Dynasty (1837), associated with the formation and development of the land and people of Di An.  This is an ancient communal house with outstanding historical, cultural and architectural value and has been approved by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to be a National Monument in 2019.

Reported by Hong Thuan - Translated by Ngoc Huynh