Extending the traditional thread

Born and raised with the thousand-year-old cultural beauty of the nation, the children of the village understand better than anyone the precious value left by their ancestors. Throughout the ethnic minority villages in Lao Cai, the younger generation, with their practical work, is "reviving" the traditional culture that is gradually fading away and in danger of fading. Meritorious Artisan Tan Khai Cuong, Muong Khuong commune, is one of those people.

Po Ho village, Muong Khuong commune is a residential area of ​​the Dao Tuyen people. The village lies along both sides of National Highway 4D, more or less influenced by modern life, but Po Ho still retains many ancient cultural features. When reaching the entrance of the village, it is easy to see the Dao Tuyen women always holding indigo cloth, painting on it colorful embroidery lines. When seeing strangers coming to the village, the women all stop to ask questions.

When asked about Meritorious Artisan Tan Khai Cuong, everyone mentioned it with affection. Ms. Ly Thi Leng said: Artisan Cuong taught us a lot about ancient culture. He taught people love songs, practiced folk dances, and played folk games. In particular, he also opened a "0 dong" class to teach Nom Dao script to men in the commune and neighboring communes.

Curious about the “zero-dong” class that Ms. Leng mentioned, I followed the Dao women through several rows of houses and across several rice fields to the village cultural house. In the level 4 house, the space seemed to sink deep and slowly flow past the heads of old and young people, tilting their heads to grind ink and carefully writing each stroke. Each stroke written was filled with love for Dao ethnic culture. Teacher Cuong, wearing a traditional indigo outfit, diligently went to each desk to teach his students. There were nearly ten people in the class, all eager to learn, listening to every word Mr. Cuong taught.

Phan Khai Minh, one of the students in the class, shared: Dao people must know Dao script. Therefore, I followed the teacher to learn the script. Nom Dao script is quite difficult to learn because it does not have rhymes, but mainly strokes. Students need to persevere in remembering the sets of marks, writing rules and word meanings, and especially must have a love for the traditional culture left by their ancestors to be successful.

Just like Minh, the students who study with Mr. Cuong not only want to learn the language of the nation, they also want to contribute a small part to preserving the ancient culture. With such respect and love, all the students are diligent and hard-working in their studies.

Outside of class, students also come to the teacher's house to ask him to explain more about things they do not understand. Whether in class or at home, wherever they go, whatever they do, for students, books are always an inseparable object. As always, teacher Cuong is always enthusiastic and happy with the learning spirit of the younger generations. With teacher Cuong holding their hands to guide each stroke of the letter, and correcting each pronunciation, students who study with teacher Cuong can read and write Nom Dao script fluently.

Meritorious Artisan Tan Khai Cuong shared: Many young people love ethnic culture, but do not know where to start, who to learn from? Wishing to preserve ancient cultural values, in recent years, I have actively collected ancient Nom Dao books, collected ancient songs and recorded them, and at the same time taught them to the local Dao community. Many ancient melodies that were difficult to sing and seemed to have been forgotten have now "revived" and are welcomed by everyone.

Ethnic culture is like a source that permeates deeply into the artisans of the village. Teacher Cuong teaches Nom Dao script without asking for any remuneration, but when accepting students, he requires them to be people who truly love, persevere and respect the written language of the ethnic group. Because Nom Dao script is a treasure left by our ancestors for thousands of years. Students must have these qualities to be able to learn ancient script.

Talking about promoting ethnic cultural identity in the area, Mr. Giang Seo Van - Secretary of the Muong Khuong Commune Party Committee said: Muong Khuong Commune has a large population of ethnic minorities. To preserve and promote the unique cultural identity of the ethnic groups, we have proposed many solutions, including promoting the role of artisans, using villagers to teach villagers so that the teaching content is effective and practical. At that time, culture will be like a source that permeates deeply into the community, contributing to creating a land rich in cultural colors, improving the material and spiritual life of the people.

Because of the dedication of Meritorious Artisan Tan Khai Cuong to the national culture, the Dao community in Muong Khuong commune often mentions him with pride and gratitude. Notably, in September 2022, Artisan Tan Khai Cuong was awarded the title of Meritorious Artisan by the President . This is a worthy reward for the work he has pursued for more than ten years, which is to become the present to extend the traditional cultural thread to the future.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/noi-dai-soi-day-truyen-thong-post883151.html