Old Quarter celebrates culture

Hanoi's Old Quarter is hosting a tea ceremony and an exhibition of
vintage timepieces until Nov. 27, as well as a discussion of traditional
culture in the capital city.

The tea ceremony will take place at
28 Hang Buom Street, while the collection of clocks will be displayed
at Dong Lac Temple, 38 Hang Dao Street.

The Vietnamese often
drink tea, chew betel or smoke a cigarette as a prelude to conversation,
reflecting the folk saying, "A quid of betel starts the ball rolling".

Tea
drinking is an integral part of many Vietnamese cultural rituals, from
holidays to wedding, and it brings friends and family together in
conversation and celebration.

"Brewing Vietnamese tea is a
sophisticated artform which takes a lot of time to master," said
researcher Hoang Anh Suong. "But it can also be enjoyed in a very simple
manner.

Simply boiled green tea leaves can bring people closer in an informal conversation."

At
the tea ceremony, Suong and other researchers will speak about the
history of tea culture, the manner of drinking, and the differences
among Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese tea drinking.

Meanwhile, at Dong Lac Temple, collector Nguyen Trung Dung will display over 50 historic clocks.

Clock-collecting
has been a popular pastime among intellectuals in the capital city
since the 19th century, Dung said, with collectors fascinated by the
different designs and decorations and the way in which the sound of the
ticking clocks reflects the passage of time and the value of every
moment of life.

Finally, the old house at 87 Ma May Street will
host a talk by researchers Giang Quan and Nguyen Vinh Phuc about Hanoi's
culture, helping visitors understand the way Hanoians live and receive
guests. The discussion, held to accord greater respect the value of
Hanoi's traditions, was organised as part of the celebrations of the
Vietnam Heritage Day on Nov. 23./.

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More evidence of Oc Eo culture found in Ben Tre

Recent archaeological studies have revealed more evidence of the
existence of the Oc Eo culture dating back 2,000-2,500 years in the
Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre.

First traces of the ancient
culture were discovered by French archaeologist Louis Malleret, who gave
it the name of Oc Eo. The Oc Eo culture is believed to have formed and
developed in the southern delta, largely in An Giang, from the first to
the sixth century AD.

In the mid-1990s, a farmer named Huynh
Van Be in Binh Thanh village, Binh Phu commune found several stone
graters and axes in his garden. In 2003, a working team from the Vietnam
Institute of Archaeology (VIA) and the Ben Tre provincial Museum
conducted an excavation in the area and discovered more stone tools and
over 13,000 pieces of ceramics of all types.

After three
excavations and two exploration digs on a total area of 484.5 sq.m, the
experts collected nearly 500,000 artefacts, with 99 percent being
ceramics, and over 250 kilogrammes of animal and human bones as well as
Linga and Yoni objects.

The excavations also revealed vestiges of
an ancient village, which scientists named Giong Noi, including a
ceremic-burning ground, several large kitchens and big houses. The
experts believe that Giong Noi people had their own religious beliefs
which might have links with the Brahmanism as seen in the worshipping of
stone, tortoise, and the sacred objects of Linga and Yoni.

The
findings at the Giong Noi site may be considered one of the most
important achievements of the Vietnamese archaeological sector in recent
years, said researcher Nguyen Kim Dung.

Recently, the VIA has
discovered for the first time vestiges of a big ancient architectural
work in An Phong village, A Thanh commune, Mo Cay Nam district, drawing
special attention of researchers and archaeologists.

According to
Dr. Ha Van Can from the VIA, ancient architectural materials in An
Phong are remarkably similar with those found in the Go Thanh relic in
Tien Giang province, which date from the 4th-8th centuries.

VIA
experts said the vestiges found in An Phong are an invaluable historical
data which reveal the development of the local culture and great
achievements made by ancient people here, contributing to the
establishment and development of the national culture./.

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Vietnamese culture delights German audiences

A colourful programme introducing Vietnamese culture was held on October
3 during a multi-cultural week in Leipzig, Germany.

The city’s Vietnamese community brought colourful folk dances and
songs to the festival, with the women wearing Vietnam’s traditional
long dress, the ao dai. The performance, which was opened by the mayor
of Leipzig, Andreas Muller, received a warm response from the
audience.

Pham Van Toan, First Secretary of the
Vietnamese Embassy in Germany, underlined the significance of the
event, which took place as both countries celebrate the 35th
anniversary of diplomatic ties.

He said it has helped
to portray Vietnam’s culture and its people to the German people,
preserve and promote the national cultural identity of the Vietnamese
community in Germany and strengthen solidarity and understanding
between Vietnamese and foreigners.

Earlier, the
Vietnamese community in Leipzig had worked with the local
authorities to put an exhibition of photos taken by Vietnamese and
German photographers, from September 20-Oct. 2./.

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Vietnamese urban culture interests Russia

The State Museum of Oriental Arts of Russia on October 5 held a
seminar focusing on traditional and modern features in Vietnamese urban
culture on the occasion of the 1,000 anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

At the seminar, Le Thanh Van, political counsellor of the Vietnamese
Embassy, delivered a speech on several aspects of cultural cooperation
between Vietnam and Russia , underlining the significance of the
cooperation between the two countries and their museums.

The seminar was well oriented, matching benefits of the two nations’
people in expanding and boosting traditional friendship and strategic
partnership between the two countries, Van said.

He
pointed out three measures to strengthen bilateral ties in culture:
increasing the exchange of delegations and cultural experts; organising
art, cultural exhibitions and seminars; and encouraging students to
research culture in each country.

Ten speeches were
presented by Russian experts from the State Museum of Oriental Arts,
the Institute of Oriental Studies , and the Institute of
Asian-African Studies , focused on the development of Vietnamese
contemporary culture, Dong Son civilisation, Vietnam ’s city
architecture and Southeast Asian culture.

Notably,
first proofs on the construction of the One-Pillar Pagoda, languages in
advertising boards in Hanoi and the capital city’s culture during
1964-1965 were discussed at the seminar.

Advertising
is a strong element of culture, said Irina Samarina, a lecturer of the
Russian State University for the Humanities and an expert of the
Language Institute under the Russian Academy of Science, who showed
images and advertising language she collected in Hanoi to express
her love for the city./.

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Japanese TV highlights VN’s ancient Oc Eo culture

The Japanese TV channel BS, is filming a documentary on the ancient Oc
Eo culture in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang to highlight its
unique cultural characteristics, according to the Ministry of Culture,
Sports and Tourism (MoCST).

As part of the project, from September 19-29, the film group will shoot
scenes in Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Nam and An Giang provinces where the
Oc Eo culture is found. The Japanese funded film will be approved by the
MoCST before it is shown in Japan.

Discovered by a
French scholar Louis Malleret and made public in 1944, the Oc Eo culture
grew and developed in the southern delta, largely in An Giang, from the
first to the sixth century AD.

In addition to An
Giang, the scientists have discovered over 100 sites belonging to Oc Eo
culture across the Mekong Delta provinces and parts of the south-eastern
region with more than 50,000 artefacts made from various materials such
as terra-cotta, stone, agate and metal.

The most common is ceramics, reflecting the cultural identity and origin of the culture.

Vietnam is currently proposing UNESCO recognise the ancient Oc Eo culture as a cultural heritage./.

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Ethnic Culture-Tourism Village makes debut

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked Hanoi and other localities
in the nation to build the Culture-Tourism Village of Vietnamese ethnic
groups in Son Tay district of Hanoi into an attractive destination for
foreign and domestic tourists.

Addressing the
opening ceremony of the village in Hanoi on Sept. 19, PM Dung said
that the village has helped enrich the nation’s culture.

Culture is the society’s spiritual foundation, said PM Dung, noting
that the Party and the State always pay attention to preserving and
promoting cultural identity.

Together with the
State’s investment, all economic sectors should be encouraged to invest
in cultural activities to help boost national development, said the PM.

The opening ceremony was attended by Party General
Secretary Nong Duc Manh, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung,
Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Huynh Dam,
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) Hoang Tuan Anh,
Minister and Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Giang
Seo Phu, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen The Thao,
cultural researchers and village patriarchs from across the country.

Located on a 1,544-ha area in Dong Mo
, Son Tay district, the village is a complex of traditional
Vietnamese architectures, highlighting unique characteristics of the
national culture.

The Vietnamese Ethnic
Culture-Tourism Village project, approved by the Prime
Minister in 2008, aims to honour and preserve the cultural value of
Vietnam ’s 54 ethnic minority groups and promote Vietnam ’s
images to the world. It is also expected to become the nation’s culture,
sports, and tourism centre featuring Vietnamese cultural heritage and
meet the public’s demands for recreation.

On the
threshold of the Thang Long – Hanoi millennial anniversary, the
opening of the village is a politically, culturally, and socially
significant event to meet the public’s demand for preserving the
nation’s cultural value.

On the same day, there
were a variety of activities including a ceremony to honour the crafts
villages of 54 ethnic minority groups, an exhibition showcasing products
of the ethnic groups, and cultural exchanges between ethnic groups./.

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