TN17C_ CULTURE 2_LINH NGUYEN_21/8/2010

Viet Nam museum of ethnology is not only a scientific centre but also a cultural centre which is very social. With the visit on 8th August 2010, I had a chance to know and understand much more about here. Due to this visit, I knew clearer about functions and roles of the museum. It doesn’t use only for researching, storing, collecting items but also expressing, training, particularly educating historical and cultural values to internal and foreign friends.
Being founded on 24th October 1995 according to government’s decision, but till 12th November 1997, the museum was formally opened. It was located on Nguyen Van Hue street, Cau Giay district. This building was designed by architect Ha Duc Linh, who is from Tay and works for Public building and Home construction company. Its interior was decorated by Ms Véronique Dollfus , a French architect.
There are two main areas in the museum. The first place includes exhibition house, office, library, the system of technology and so on. All parts of the house are linked together in 2480 meters of total areas. The second place is outdoor exhibition where exhibits many items which were built by people who are representative of each people group. The third place called “The kite house”, which will introduce to foreign culture_ especially southeast Asia culture, is building. I think this will not be only a greatly cultural building but also a wonderful link between cultural countries privately and friendship of countries generally. May be it is a good policy in diplomacy.
Nowadays, Viet Nam museum of ethnology has still stored more 15000 items, 42000 films and colour photographs , 2190 original films, 273 interview recording, 375 videos and 25 CD rooms. It refers to 54 cultures all the country fully and basicly. So, if you like discovering traditional cultures, I am sure that Viet Nam museum of ethnology is the wonderful destination. Come here, you can just go sightseeing, just research and learn much more about our 54 brotherhood cultures. Because of having both entertaining and educating, the museum seems to be the smart choice for weekend holidays with families ,classes, especially visitors who love Vietnam, come to visit Vietnam but not have so much time to come all over the country to understand it.
The museum is a Viet Nam cultural destination, so “cultural” was shown everywhere, on everything, didn’t only shown through items, panels or instructions. It was also shown in architecture and designing of the museum.
Focusing on comfort and suitability to everybody, the museum applied many modern technology methods to decorate indoor. The museum has special ways and lifts for disabled people or wounded soldiers. There are strong handrails on most of stairs to help older go up and down comfortably. All panels were hang up a suitable height. There are many photographs, videos and reference documents in exhibition room which adapts to everyone to help them read, watch and understand items which were introduced. All explains were written by 3 languages: English, Vietnamese and French. So, foreign visitors can understand all easily by themselves but not need to have translators. Arrangement in here is very scientific. We can see full objects but not be make confuse by seeing so many objects. These things show us to see the highest respect from museum to visitors. All these things seem very normal and simple, but they show us to know about the cultural behavior and level of a nation. I think all these things will make much beautiful and great impression in the eyes’visitors about a peaceful and friendly Viet Nam.
Come into the indoor, I am really amazing when seeing such a brilliantly cultural space. There are many things which I haven’t ever seen before, even I haven’t ever thought about their exexistence.Through seeing photographs, reading explanations under them and watching documentary, I have a chance to understand about life styles and culture of minorities who I never meet, of lands where I haven’t ever come to. This thing is so great! Now, I know much more about minorities such as the Tay, the Kada, the H’mong and so on. I understood why the Kadai who live in remote highlands near the northern border always practice shifting agriculture, making swidden fields by cutting and burning hillsides and planting seed with a planting stick. I really felt interesting in the way which the Tay use their tools which seems to be simple but bring to them much high efficiencies in planting wet rice. The Tay has intensively cultivate wet rice with highly developed agricultural technology. They are really excellent famers . Come to the Cham_Hoa_Khome, you will be contacted a diversified and original culture: for the Cham, there are religious objects, textiles, pottery and transportation carts; for the Hoa, there are depictions of wedding ceremonies and the "lion dance"; and for the Khmer, there are religious objects, manuscripts, clothes, silk dyeing processes and farming tools. I very like the “lion dance” of the Hoa which is always shown on traditional lunar days and festivals. I think this custom reflex protected, peaceful and happy desire of the Hoa. Especially to the Viet, my ancestor, I was seen many closed items which brought to me much more interesting feeling than ever. I am very proud when I know that the Viet is the main centre to associate other brotherhood people group together, to make a developing and united society. The Viet, or Kinh, people make up 87% of the national population. They live throughout the country, but are concentrated primarily in the deltas, midlands, and coastal regions. Nowadays, in many countryside, the Viet is also famous for market day. On the other hand, the most ancient form of political organization of the Viet - Muong dates to the beginning of the first millennium B.C. So, they had a long time developing history with much experience in creating life, in producing and fighting to protect the peace on their country. This is the mainly social foundation to help the others develop.
To each of group, we will see and enjoy many different cultures, with brilliant specificity of them. Through these cultures, we can understand clearer about their people and life style, about stilt houses for the Laha, houses built on the earth for the Colao and Pupeo, or houses built half on stilts and half on the earth for the Lachi in Thai group or The Yao’ initiation ceremonies are organised for young men and their folk culture, particularly literature, is very rich and varied among the Yao.
Especially, there are many traditional products in the museum which stand for traditional occupation villages in Viet Nam. This thing plays an important role in preserving and developing traditional villages. Dong Ho original folk pictures have demonstrated all the long setting up and developing period of a famously traditional village. This is one of the Vietnamese cultural prides. By using professional tools skillfully, ours workers have worked hard for a long time, by all their carefulness and heart, to make pictures which are not only so national character but also stand for a long- standing and greatly folk culture.
It is easy for us to see workers’ carefulness and devotion expressed in other traditional occupations, such as painting, bronze casting and so on. Their works are not only used to earn money for life’s themselves but also contribute to remain, to preserve traditional villages, an important part of cultural nation, tending to be lost gradually in the modern life.
With the outdoor, I were seen, understood in person many real items. They are built by people who do live in each of group. Those are Ede long house, the Tay stilt house, the Yao house half on stilts and half on earth, the Hmong house whose roof is made of pomu wood, the Viet house with tile roof, the Giarai tomb, the Bahnar communal house, the Cham traditional houae, the Hani house made with earth-beaten walls. There are future plans to present the Katu tomb and the surrounding completion of the Viet house. Not only displaying like addition, link to these stay indoor, between the houses, there are trees indigenous to the area of each house, zigzagging paths and a meandering stream crossed by small bridges. This decorating way makes visitors easy-going and they seemed to be lived in strong Tay Nguyen with noisy goongs, peaceful Bac Bo countryside just among the capital.
All houses are introduced specifically on building source, building process and their meaning to each of people group, through real photographs and items which are arranged closed positions in houses. Due to these things, through visitors can’t come to lands, they still image daily living of this group. I used to sit on Bahnar communal house to image to activity- nights: many boys and girls, young people, children sit shoulder to shoulder, beside a fire; everybody listens to the patriarch who has talked about history of village from once upon a time. According to me, this is a efficient way to remind youth about national history, give them the heroic fire to build the future .
On the other hands, come to Thuy Dinh area, being enjoyed water puppet performing, seen the Teus , the Clowns, the Fairies of wonderful water stage make me a full and dramatic sight about this kind of folk culture. It doesn’t only describe about plentiful folk culture but also be specific proof for skillful, dreaming and great imaging ability of Viet people. Looking the way which actors and actress control puppets skillfully, I can see a occupation love by heart in them. They pass to puppets a vitality, give them step from stage to real life. All their trying them best are aimed to remain, preserve and develop the kind “water puppet” in the modern life which is being made confuse by many new kinds of entertaining and faced to the young generation’s ignoring with folk culture.
Nowadays, the youth seem to be so ignoring with traditional culture of nation. Perhaps, because of the style Europeanize which has entered to my country quickly, adolescents prefer contacting and accepting hip-hops, dance sports, strange music to folk cultures such as: classical drama, traditional operetta, reformed theatre and so on. May be only the older just to find out loving, interesting of them, and sometimes, it’s national soul. Our problem is the way we do to pass “national fire” to all the nation generally and the youth privately, so that they can follow, preserve and develop it.
I recognize that it’s me have to change myself to live more responsible on traditionally cultural value of nation.
Not only knowing about our national culture, we need to know and understand about other brotherhood cultures, because everyone lives in a mass home, the big Viet nam family. Minorities’ cultures seem to contain wild tracks of mountain and forests which stand for strong, truthful people and life style which is closed to nature in here. We are custom to Bahnar communal house a which has high roof, with the, communal activities beside the fire, fire doesn’t only belong to nature, to sky and land, but also to Tay Nguyen communal vitality. Ede long house show us to know about multi-generation living in each of family , the way they protect themselves from dangerous animals and threats in nature. We can see the same characters at Tay house. Coming to Yao house or Ha Nhi house, there isn’t any big space under house like those, but there is a mass point in using land which combines to water to be a great gluey material to build. This thing expresses a strong attachment to nature from people in here. I think that, not only being a home, every house of minorities also reflect their dreams, desires, and the way they cope with difficulties in life, in nature.
In conclusion, following along our country, we can find in people, each of lands to have preciously cultural specifics contributing to the wealthy of Viet Nam culture. Each of people group has private language, life style and customs, but all of them have general dreams and wishes to be lived happy, development strongly. These are truthful dreams, adapting to natural rules, but not simple. It is necessary for us to hand in hand to contribute to make them come truth. It is necessary for us to aware of mass nature and folk nature correctly, increase awareness of preserving and inheriting. On the other hands, we also need to care for strengthening our united spirit. All serve for general development. I believe that, besides united and correct awareness, respect, preserving and development culture, our community will be linked together more efficient. This can bring to us the realest and strongest development.
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