Preserving the heritage of Van Tien Poetry

Performing Van Tien Poetry on stage.

The genre of Van Tien Poetry is associated with the name and content of the famous Nom poem by poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Luc Van Tien, composed around the early 1850s. Since the end of 2022, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ben Tre (old) has planned and organized a comprehensive survey to learn about the possibility of existence, maintenance, and vitality of heritage in the local community in order to continue promoting the heritage value of patriotic poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu. At the same time, restore and preserve the folk performing art form of Van Tien Poetry, which was born in the ancient land of Ba Tri.

Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vinh Long province, Tran Thi Kieu Ton, said: Through the process of researching, surveying the current status, identifying and determining the value of heritage, it is shown that, Speaking Van Tien poetry is a very effective folk method to spread and popularize the Nom poem Luc Van Tien by Mr. Do Chieu to the general public at that time, especially the working people who did not have the conditions to read books. The form of "speaking" or "telling" the story from the poem Luc Van Tien was formed soon after and possibly in the period before the national language publications of the poem Luc Van Tien were published in the 80s of the 19th century.

According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vinh Long province, the scope of distribution of the folk performing art of Van Tien Poetry is not only in the spiritual life of the residents of Ba Tri land but also spreads throughout the Southern region.

In addition, the space for this unique folk performance form to exist is also very natural and diverse: Sometimes it is when lulling children to sleep, sometimes on the tea table or at a wine party; and even reciting poetry at family gatherings, when resting while working in the fields or integrating the form of reciting poetry into other contemporary folk art forms. It is because of its simplicity, closeness and high educational value that Van Tien Poetry has become a part of the daily life of the people of Ben Tre in the past.

Since 2022, the Cultural Heritage Association of Ben Tre province (old) has established the Van Tien Poetry Club at Hai Van Farm - Vam Ho Bird Sanctuary (Tan My commune, Ba Tri district, old Ben Tre province, now My Chanh Hoa commune, Vinh Long province) to promote this unique art to the people and students.

Vice President of the club Le Thi Be Nhung said: Up to now, the club has 30 members with the core being teachers in schools, union officials in units, playing an important role in preserving and promoting the folk performing culture of Van Tien Poetry. Hai Van Farm - Vam Ho Bird Sanctuary has included the art form of Van Tien Poetry into the tour to perform for students and tourists to experience. From there, it has contributed to arousing and strongly spreading this art form to young people, teachers, union officials in the locality, domestic and international tourists when visiting and experiencing at the farm.

In the coming time, Van Tien Poetry Club will propose key development directions towards thematic experience programs "Learning and performing Van Tien Poetry" at Hai Van Farm - Vam Ho Bird Sanctuary. These include activities such as: Enjoying the performance of Van Tien Poetry by artists, practicing performance under the guidance of artists and club members. At the same time, combining this experience with moral education, personality, language skills for students and learning how to compose six-eight poetry based on the work Luc Van Tien by patriotic poet Nguyen Dinh Chieu.

Vice Chairwoman of Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thi Quyen Thanh said: Currently, Vinh Long province has 19 national intangible cultural heritages, of which "Van Tien Folk Poetry Performing Art of Ben Tre Province" was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritages by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in June 2025. This is the common joy of all the people of Vinh Long province, and is also proof that a cultural heritage of the homeland has been preserved and promoted.

In the coming time, the local government will focus on strengthening information and propaganda work in many forms and with rich content to raise awareness of all levels, sectors and people about the meaning and importance of cultural heritage values in general, and "Van Tien Folk Poetry Performing Art of Ben Tre Province" in particular.

The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vinh Long province is researching and developing a project to preserve and promote the value of "Van Tien folk poetry performance art of Ben Tre province" associated with the province's cultural activities; building unique cultural tourism products, helping visitors discover, experience and spread the heritage values and unique cultural features of the locality.

At the same time, research and organize training classes to pass on the Van Tien folk poetry performance to the younger generation; collect and systematize related documents and artifacts; select and propose to award honorary titles to artisans who have made many contributions in the process of practicing and passing on the heritage. In addition, coordinate with the Department of Education and Training to organize teaching for students, incorporate new content into extracurricular activities to develop language thinking, moral education, and personality for the younger generation.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/gin-giu-di-san-noi-tho-van-tien-post907213.html