Hanoi Preserves Cultural Identity in New Rural Development

Hanoi defines culture as a foundation for socioeconomic development in its National Target Program on New Rural Development, focusing on resources and solutions to enhance cultural criteria, improve spiritual life and preserve traditional values.

Each local product embodies the culture and traditions of its community

Preservation and promotion

Hanoi's countryside converges the cultures of Xu Doai, Son Nam Thuong, Kinh Bac and other domains, containing the characteristics of the Red River Delta. The cultural values of villages and communes with distinct entities such as communal houses, pagodas and shrines, along with the beauty of customs, practices and beliefs have blended into the culture of Thang Long-Hanoi, creating cultural diversity with its own soul and style, which are recognized and honored. A key objective of the National Target Program on New Rural Development for 2021-2025 is to ensure harmonious and sustainable rural development. This involves enhancing the unique identity of rural areas while improving residents' intellectual levels and quality of life, fostering community well-being and resilience through a balanced approach. Closely following the above goal, Hanoi has focused on tapping and preserving diverse and unique indigenous cultural values, considering them a valuable asset to be protected and promoted so the countryside is not only rich and beautiful, but also imbued with cultural identity.

Standing Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Nguyen Thi Tuyen said, in new rural construction, in addition to the generally given criteria, localities in the city pay great attention to cultural criteria, especially in building and promoting cultural institutions. Typically, cultural, artistic, physical and sporting clubs, teams and groups in communes have constantly expanded. Rural cultural identity is preserved and promoted in order to conserve the Vietnamese "village soul", helping constantly improve the spiritual life of rural people.

In Yen My commune (Thanh Tri district), there is another beauty: The organization of traditional houses to safeguard historical artifacts of the local community passed down to future generations. Currently, the traditional house , -“Yen My Village Museum”, displays more than 300 artifacts donated by more than 80 individuals, mainly items associated with production and daily life, some more than 100 years old, like a rice husk grinding mill, rice flour grinder, plowing tools, harrows and farming tools.

Recently, Duong Lam commune (Son Tay town) organized the program “Mid-Autumn Festival of the Ancient Village 2024”, joined by nine villages. Secretary of the Duong Lam Party Committee Nguyen Dang Thao emphasized that Duong Lam is a new rural commune that is advancing towards an advanced new rural area. Cultural events such as this program are organized to defend and uphold traditional cultural values, restore the beauty of the rich national identity in the western countryside of Hanoi, and create a cultural space and tourist destination for Duong Lam Ancient Village to attract domestic and international tourists.

Caring for spiritual life

According to Nguyen Van Chi, Standing Deputy Chief of the Hanoi Coordination Office for New Rural Development, Hanoi's viewpoint on new rural development is not to follow a stereotype but to tap the strengths and characteristics of each locality. Local traditional values and unique characteristics of each region are fostered rather the same criteria for all. In practice, localities creatively select production models that enhance environmental landscapes and protect the unique aspects of indigenous culture.

Bui Gia Dieu (84 years old, an active member of the Village Volleyball Club) said that the cultural house has two soccer fields and more than 40 elderly people play soccer there every afternoon. The cultural house of Village 6 is also the meeting place of the intergenerational self-help club with many meaningful activities. Every day, members also meet at the cultural house to exchange experiences in enhancing health, doing physical exercises and singing.

Nguyen Thi Quynh Lam, Manager of the Department of Culture and Information, Dan Phuong district, said the district has 129 villages and hamlets, but has up to 131 cultural houses. Some villages in Song Phuong and Trung Chau communes have two cultural houses. Dan Phuong district also installed outdoor sports and exercise equipment in 126 village cultural houses, flower gardens and parks for public physical exercising. In seven years (from 2016 to 2022), the district allocated VND4.78 billion from the budget to support regular operating costs of village cultural houses and residential groups.

Nguyen Van Chi said that implementing the New Rural Development Program with rural people as the subject and center of the development process, the highest goal is to comprehensively improve the material and spiritual life of farmers and rural residents according to the wellbeing criteria; build a modern, prosperous, happy, democratic and civilized countryside; increase income for farmers and rural residents; preserve and promote local cultural identity. In the new period, Hanoi continues to focus resources at a higher level than the city's new rural construction targets for well-invested electricity, roads, schools, clinics and cultural houses. In particular, among 19 criteria of new rural areas and advanced new rural areas, two criteria are related to culture: Criterion 6-cultural facilities and Criterion 16-culture. To date, the city has 2,362 villages and 2,339 cultural houses, or 99.3% of villages with cultural houses. In villages and communes, there are more and more cultural, artistic, physical and sporting activities to improve the material and spiritual life of residents.

By Nguyen Mai, Vietnam Business Forum