At that time, I simply understood that it was the nation’s sacred order that present and future Vietnamese generations should try our best to preserve and develop so as to turn it into a more powerful and more prosperous country, that would exist forever together with the rest of mankind.
However, after nearly 50 years engaging in the cultural heritage and with my real life experiences, I have gradually been aware of the “cultural message” that Uncle Ho wanted to send us; that the Country - the Motherland - the valuable and beautiful country of Vietnam built up by generations of forefathers and passed on to its descendants is an invaluable asset. And that is also the unique and typical cultural heritage viewed from the macro level.
According to museology theory, cultural heritage is the material and spiritual product created by humans, whose historical, cultural and scientific values are passed down from generation to generation, and refined to become the cultural identity of the nation. Therefore, the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, including land, seas, islands and airspace, that we are empowered today as a living and developing space for 54 ethnic minorities, should be seen as the most precious and sacred cultural assets.
Geographically, Vietnam is a country on the Indochinese Peninsula with three directions of East, South and Southwest facing the sea. Vietnam has a coastline of 3,260 km stretching from Quang Ninh to Kien Giang provinces. It also has a territorial waters of 12 nautical miles and an exclusive economic zone with some 3,000 islands of different sizes, of which the most prominent are the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands. World history shows that countries with islands and sea have an advantage in becoming economic and military powers.
The national territory is a living-ecological space for both urban and village-level cultural heritage. At present, three ancient villages have been officially recognized as part of the national heritage. They include ancient villages of Duong Lam to the north of Hanoi, Phuoc Tich in the Central province of Thua Thien - Hue, and Dong Hoa Hiep in the province of Tien Giang, along the Mekong Delta. They are the heritage of a community of territory, economy, and culture, a living cell in the structure of the Vietnamese society, that preserves and vividly reflects the Vietnamese cultural identity. Meanwhile, urban heritage is visible in the tangible and intangible structures formed in a period or throughout the history of urban development, containing values in the aspects of planning ideas, the organization of public spaces, and the functional diversity of architectural works.
The cultural heritage of urban and rural areas is most clearly reflected in the behavior of the indigenous community with the natural and social environment, as well as the individuals in the community. There are three important components of both urban and rural heritage. First, the natural context has been adapted to serve the survival needs of the community. Second, the architectural fund is formed and developed together with the expansion of urban and village. Third, the lifestyle and customs are created and handed down by the community.
At the micro level, Vietnam has five cultural heritage elements, two natural heritage elements and one mixed heritage site recognized by UNESCO as world’s heritage elements; seven documentary heritage elements under the UNESCO’s Memory of the World program, 11 intangible cultural heritage elements of humanity, and 301 national intangible cultural heritage elements. All things considered, the entire country has 3,498 national historical-cultural relics, including 105 special ones. It can be said that to preserve the system of national cultural heritage, we must first follow Uncle Ho's teaching to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation as a sacred space containing all the remaining cultural heritage.
All the Party's resolutions and legal documents in Vietnam have always affirmed that cultural heritage is the invaluable cultural asset of the nation, with the goal and motivation for national development. However, there are not enough studies to clarify the economic factors in the heritage as a driving force for socio-economic development. According to the statistics of Thua Thien - Hue province, in 2018, the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) was estimated at 32,417 billion VND, an increase of 7.15% against 2017, tourism revenue reached 4,473 billion VND, and social revenue from tourism stayed at 11,300 billion VND, while the proceeds from entrance tickets from 3.5 million visitors to the Hue ancient citadel relic complex was estimated at 320 billion VND. The revenue recorded from Hue might be included in the tourism industry's revenue, accounting for 50% of the gross regional domestic product.
The above-mentioned figures demonstrate that the cultural heritage is not only spiritually invaluable but also an asset of great economic value and at the same time capable of spurring national economic growth as a natural and cultural resource for the development of the "non-smoke industry", namely cultural tourism.
Cultural heritage comes from the past but must become an organic component of the present and must be able to best meet the diverse needs of society. That is the right way to preserve and promote the value of heritage without hindering the socio-economic development of the country.
Written by Assoc. Prof., Dr. Dang Van Bai, Deputy Head of the Cultural Heritage Association of Vietnam
Translated by Mai Huong