INTRODUCTION
Vietnam is a country with 54 ethnic groups, each of whom has atreasure trove of heritage both tangible and intangible, abundant in formsand genres, diverse in values, rich in untapped potential. The existing
policy on international integration from the 90s of the 20th century,
Vietnam has developed various national dossiers on cultural heritage forsubmission to UNESCO to be registered in the list of World Heritage andHeritage of Humanity, in accordance with the Convention for thePreservation of World Natural and Cultural Heritage, adopted by theUNESCO General Assembly in November 1972, as well as theConvention for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted
by the same Assembly in November 2003.
In the field of intangible cultural heritage, at the time of writing,Vietnam has had 13 intangible cultural heritages honored by UNESCO as
intangible cultural heritages representative of humanity and 2 intangible
cultural heritages deemed in need of urgent preservation.
As part of my work responsibilities, since 2003, I and colleagues
at VICAS have developed built national dossiers to submit to UNESCO
for submission to UNESCO to be registered as intangible cultural heritage
representative of humanity. Among them are: The Space of Gong in theCentral Highland of Vietnam; Quan ho Bac Ninh Folk Songs; Giong
Festival of Phu Dong and Soc Temples; Worship of Hung Kings in Phu
Tho; Vi and Giam folk songs of Nghe Tinh; Practices related to the Vietbeliefs in the Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms; The Tug ofWar (as a multinational heritage).
Furthermore, I was entrusted by the Ministry of Culture andInformation, formerly the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports, to leadresearch on the collection and preservation of the intangible culturalheritage of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, in the national target program onculture.
Therefore, over the past years, I have presented a fair number ofessays on the intangible cultural heritage of different ethnic groups inVietnam at many international scientific conferences, as well as publishedin various specialized academic journals in Vietnam and overseas.
In review of released scientific works, I publish the book entitled
A Study on Vietnamese Intangible Cultural Heritage with 17 selected
projects, concentrating on the 3 following issues:
Intangible cultural heritage of ethnic groups,
such as: Gong culture in the Central Highlands, Quan ho Bac
Ninh Folk Songs, Giong Festival of Phu Dong and Soc
Temples, Chinese cuisine arts in the South, the role ofCommunity in Water worship practices and eco-tourism, etc.
Marine cultural heritage in Vietnam
The preservation and promotion ofintangible cultural heritage in Vietnam
Throughout the research process, I fortunately received continuous
encouragement from Vietnamese social scientists in the Vietnamese National
Cultural Heritage Council, whose chairman is Professor, Doctor of Science,Luu Tran Tieu, scientists-colleagues at the Institute of Culture & Arts(Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), Associate Professor Nguyen Ngoc
Tho (National University at Ho Chi Minh City), as well as international social
scientists such as Professor, Dr. Tokumaru (Japan), Associate Professor
Satomi (Japan), Professor, Dr. Park Yeon Kwan (South Korea), Professor
Zheng Xiao Yun (China), Professor, Dr. Hy Van Luong (Canada), AssociateProfessor Lauren Meeker (USA)… In this joyous occasion of publication, I
hereby express my deepest gratitude.
Research on the intangible cultural heritage of Vietnamese ethnic
groups is a major scientific field, and my own projects are but a drop in
this ocean, the personal musings of an individual that certainly welcomesreaders’ feedback, commentary, and advice.
Hanoi, Vietnam, August 2023.
Ben Chi Nguyen