The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Jan. 22 launched anational action plan to preserve and develop the value of the Giongfestival, which has been recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritageof Humanity by the UNESCO.
The plan was announced at a ceremony held in Phu Dong commune, Gia Lamdistrict of Hanoi to receive the certificate of recognition of theUNESCO title.
At the ceremony, UNESCO Chief Representative inHanoi Katherine Muller-Marin stressed that the Giong festival has beendeeply impressed in the life of residents in the Red river delta as apart of their characteristics, passing from generations to generations.The recognition of the festival as an intangible cultural heritage ofhumanity is expected to accelerate humans’ creativeness and dialoguesbetween cultures.
The ceremony was held in an open air of anorthern countryside with an incense offering to Saint Giong at thebeginning and then, the performances of ceremonies of the festival.
UNESCOofficially honoured Vietnam’s Giong festival as an Intangible CulturalHeritage of Humanity at a meeting of its Inter-Governmental Committee inNairobi, Kenya, on November 16, 2010.
The festival was Hanoi’s third heritage honour presented by the UNESCO in 2010.
The other sites include 82 steles engraved with names of doctorateholders for centuries in the Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam, Vietnam’s firstuniversity, which have been recognised as Documentary Heritage of theMemory of the World programme. The central site of the Thang Long RoyalCitadel has won the title “World Cultural Heritage”.
TheGiong festival is held annually in several parts of northern Vietnam,most typically in the Phu Dong and Soc Temples in Hanoi, to commemorateSaint Giong, one of the immortal quartets in the Vietnamese legends.
Legend has it that under the sixth King Hung’s reign (around 500 BC)Vietnam was threatened by the Kingdom of Yin, to the north of Vietnam.
A little boy, who was unable to crawl, roll over and say a single wordat the age of three, had surprisingly grown up to a giant man in justseveral days after getting news on the foreign invasion. He used localbushes of bamboo to defeat aggressors and flew into the sky with hisiron horse after the final victory.
In order to show their gratitude to the hero of Giong village, people proclaimed him Saint Giong.
The festival meets all qualifications for an intangible culturalheritage of humanity as it has been conserved by the community as partof the national cultural identity, handed down from generations togenerations, holds creativeness of humanity and represents aspirationfor prosperity by every family and peace for the nation and the world./.
The plan was announced at a ceremony held in Phu Dong commune, Gia Lamdistrict of Hanoi to receive the certificate of recognition of theUNESCO title.
At the ceremony, UNESCO Chief Representative inHanoi Katherine Muller-Marin stressed that the Giong festival has beendeeply impressed in the life of residents in the Red river delta as apart of their characteristics, passing from generations to generations.The recognition of the festival as an intangible cultural heritage ofhumanity is expected to accelerate humans’ creativeness and dialoguesbetween cultures.
The ceremony was held in an open air of anorthern countryside with an incense offering to Saint Giong at thebeginning and then, the performances of ceremonies of the festival.
UNESCOofficially honoured Vietnam’s Giong festival as an Intangible CulturalHeritage of Humanity at a meeting of its Inter-Governmental Committee inNairobi, Kenya, on November 16, 2010.
The festival was Hanoi’s third heritage honour presented by the UNESCO in 2010.
The other sites include 82 steles engraved with names of doctorateholders for centuries in the Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam, Vietnam’s firstuniversity, which have been recognised as Documentary Heritage of theMemory of the World programme. The central site of the Thang Long RoyalCitadel has won the title “World Cultural Heritage”.
TheGiong festival is held annually in several parts of northern Vietnam,most typically in the Phu Dong and Soc Temples in Hanoi, to commemorateSaint Giong, one of the immortal quartets in the Vietnamese legends.
Legend has it that under the sixth King Hung’s reign (around 500 BC)Vietnam was threatened by the Kingdom of Yin, to the north of Vietnam.
A little boy, who was unable to crawl, roll over and say a single wordat the age of three, had surprisingly grown up to a giant man in justseveral days after getting news on the foreign invasion. He used localbushes of bamboo to defeat aggressors and flew into the sky with hisiron horse after the final victory.
In order to show their gratitude to the hero of Giong village, people proclaimed him Saint Giong.
The festival meets all qualifications for an intangible culturalheritage of humanity as it has been conserved by the community as partof the national cultural identity, handed down from generations togenerations, holds creativeness of humanity and represents aspirationfor prosperity by every family and peace for the nation and the world./.
