Lang Son, located at the Northern gateway of the country, is a typical locality in the Northeast cultural region of Vietnam. Through historical ups and downs, Lang Son now possesses a diverse and rich cultural treasure, containing many unique features. In recent years, Lang Son province has implemented many important solutions in preserving and promoting cultural values, developing culture in parallel with socio-economic development.
Palanquin procession at the Ky Cung Temple Ta Phu Temple Festival in 2024 (National Intangible Cultural Heritage)
Each ethnic group and region formed in Vietnam has its own cultural nuances with its own values, capable of complementing each other to enrich Vietnamese culture. With a heroic history and a diverse and valuable culture, Lang Son culture bears both the characteristics of national culture and its own unique characteristics, creating a difference in the general flow of Northeast culture in particular and Vietnamese culture in general.
Diverse and unique cultural resources
First of all, to mention Lang Son culture is to mention the culture of the ethnic groups currently living here with 7 main ethnic groups including Nung, Tay, Kinh, Dao, Hoa, San Chay, and Hmong. Each ethnic group is concentrated in certain areas, creating their own cultural identities, expressed through customs, practices, folk songs and dances... Among them, the Tay and Nung communities are indigenous groups, playing a key role in preserving and promoting the value of Lang Son's cultural heritage.
Professor, Dr. Le Hong Ly, former Director of the Institute of Cultural Studies (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences), President of the Vietnam Folk Arts Association, said: “Speaking of the Tay and Nung, they are not only in Lang Son but also common in Cao Bang, Thai Nguyen, Bac Kan, Tuyen Quang... but the cultural practices and folk arts activities of the Tay and Nung in Lang Son are bolder, richer and more prominent. Because when it comes to sli and luon singings, everyone immediately thinks of the Tay and Nung people of Lang Son.”
With a special geographical location, serving the gateway of the country, holding an important strategic position in politics, economy, culture, national defense, security and foreign affairs, all wars to defend the country have left their mark here. These places are both historical relics and imbued with culture with the education of patriotism, reminding future generations of the nation's history of struggle to defend the country such as Ai Chi Lang Pass, Bac Son Uprising relic site...
Additional, Lang Son also possesses a diverse system of landscapes and spiritual relics such as Mau Son Mountain, Tam Thanh Pagoda, Mac Dynasty Citadel, Thanh Pagoda, Ky Cung Temple, Bac Le Temple... Currently, the province has 335 relics in the provincial inventory, including 112 historical relics, 163 architectural and artistic relics, 37 archaeological relics, and 23 scenic relics.
Lang Son currently has 9 heritages that have been included in the list of national intangible cultural heritages by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) (most of which are heritages of ethnic minority communities); two representative intangible cultural heritages of humanity.
Black Hmong people in Cao Minh commune, Trang Dinh district teaching traditional embroidery
Gradual exploitation and effective promotion
Based on the identification of comparative advantages, Lang Son province has made many efforts to preserve and promote the value of cultural heritage associated with economic and tourism development, ensuring harmony between the preservation of historical and cultural relics and the requirements of economic development; creating momentum in the socio-economic development of the province.
Mr. Nguyen Dang An, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the province, said: “In recent years, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has advised the Provincial People's Committee to develop programs, plans, projects and implement activities to promote the value of cultural heritage. Moreover, it also guides districts and Lang Son city to strengthen education and widely disseminate legal documents such as the Law on Cultural Heritage of Vietnam, resolutions on preserving and promoting cultural heritage of the province and many other relevant documents to the community so that people clearly understand their roles and responsibilities towards preserving cultural heritage.”
Accordingly, from 2016 up to now, agencies at all levels in the province have been implementing nearly 20 projects and plans to preserve and promote the value of intangible cultural heritage forms, typically: festivals, social customs, folk performing arts, traditional folk songs... Specifically, in 2019, the Provincial People's Committee issued Plan No. 117 on implementing the Project "Preserving and promoting traditional costumes of ethnic minorities of Vietnam in the current period" in the province with a total estimated cost of about 35.3 billion VND. In 2021, it issued Decision No. 741 on approving the project "Preserving and promoting the value of lion dance of the Tay and Nung ethnic groups in Lang Son province in the period 2021 - 2030". In 2022, it issued Plan No. 42 on implementing the Project "Preserving and promoting the value of folk songs, dances and music of ethnic minorities associated with tourism development in the period 2021 - 2030" with a total cost of more than 80 billion VND...
Intangible cultural heritage forms are regularly preserved, taught and promoted. As a result, up to now, Lang Son province has 9 heritages that have been included in the list of national intangible cultural heritages by the MCST (most of which are heritages of ethnic minority communities in the province); 2 representative intangible cultural heritages of humanity (Then practice of the Tay and Nung people and the worship of Mother Goddess of the Three Palaces of the Vietnamese people).
Connected with intangible cultural heritage forms are tangible cultural heritage forms that have been preserved and promoted by agencies at all levels. In the period 2003 - 2023, more than 250 relics were preserved, repaired and restored with a total cost of nearly 300 billion VND. Many historical and cultural relics and scenic spots have received great attention, scientifically documented and ranked at the national and special national levels. Up to now, the whole province has 2 special national relic sites, 31 national relic sites and 108 provincial relic sites.
The preservation ethnic cultural heritage has contributed significantly to creating unique and separate tourism products, attracting tourists to Lang Son. These include many cultural, sports and tourism activities regularly organized annually in the province. From 2016 to now, a series of cultural tourism events and major festivals have been organized, attracting a large number of tourists such as cultural - tourism week, peach blossom festival, Ky Cung - Ta Phu temple festival; Chi Lang district ethnic culture festival; Lang Son city ethnic culture festival; Bac Son golden season festival…
Besides, in recent years, agencies at all levels in the province have actively implemented the Project on establishing, building and developing Lang Son Geopark in the period 2021-2025. With many efforts, on September 8, 2024, Lang Son Geopark was evaluated and voted by the Global Geoparks Council to be recognized as a UNESCO Global Geopark. This is considered an important event contributing to promoting tourism development and socio-economy of the province.
The preservation and promotion of cultural heritage values has contributed to achievements in tourism development and socio-economy, contributing to the overall development of the province. The material and spiritual life of the people of all ethnic groups in the province, especially those in the highlands and border areas, has been increasingly improved.
Tuyet Mai - Hoang Hieu