Building coastal urban areas associated with preserving and promoting the values of cultural heritage of coastal villages, with the participation of the community, is an important factor in promoting sustainable development. Not only does it bring great benefits in promoting the local socio-economic situation but it also helps people benefit from the cultural heritage of the community.

Mr. Huynh Van Muoi introduces the types of fishing gear that are being stored and displayed in his house. Photo: D.H.L

Nurture a dream of building a fishing village exhibition house

About 20 years ago, the strong urbanisation policy made the people of Man Thai fishing village in Son Tra District) face existential challenges. Coastal land was planned to build new roads and high-rise buildings, restaurants and hotels. This had a significant impact on the culture of the coastal village residents.

Born and raised in time-honoured Man Thai fishing village, Mr. Huynh Van Muoi has long cherished the idea of creating a house displaying exhibits on the culture of his coastal village. More than anyone else, Mr. Muoi possesses a deep knowledge of the traditional culture of his coastal hometown because his family has been in the fishing industry for ten generations, both fishing and processing seafood for up to about 250 years.

Sharing about the project of the sea village exhibition house, Mr. Muoi said that he has so far collected more than 50 types of fishing tools and he is expected to have completed the exhibition house highlighting the culture of the sea village by the end of 2024.

According to Mr. Muoi, the collected items must be the ones used by fishermen in his village, most of which are fishing tools that he has kept for many generations because they have many memories closely associated with the daily life of his family. There are items that he has kept for more than 50 years, such as the HATZ machine.

In the middle of Man Thai fishing village, Mr. Muoi’s house preserves many of the fishermen’s old means and tools for fishing such as baskets, bamboo boats, torches, kerosene lamps, engines, barbed nets, fishing nets, as well as jars, pots, tins, baskets used to make ‘nuoc mam’ (Vietnamese fish sauce).

Among them are items that his family has kept for more than 80 years. With a rich source of artifacts about the culture of the fishing village, recently, the Museum of Da Nang led a group of ‘Children Guides’ to his house to learn about the traditional fishing tools of the coastal village. Through that, the children were very excited when hearing Mr. Muoi introduce how to make fish sauce and instruct on how to weave nets by hand.

“Many children were very excited when I showed them how to make fishing tools. Although it is very difficult, the children learned quite quickly with eagerness. Not only children but also domestic and foreign tourists come to my house to experience how to make fish sauce and learn about some fishing tools,” said Mr. Muoi.

With his love for the culture of the coastal village, every year Mr. Muoi also organises the programmes ‘Tan Thai - Love Song’, ‘Spreading Love’, ‘Man Thai - A Land of Love’, which are enjoyed by both locals and tourists.

Here, in addition to the artistes singing Ba Trao (dancing and singing local traditional folk songs) and performing songs about Man Thai, there is also an exhibition of relics associated with the homeland of Man Thai, thereby recalling the history of a fishing village that existed more than 400 years ago. Along with that, Mr. Muoi also compiled a book introducing Ba Trao singing, stories and images of this time-honoured fishing village.

“Currently, in Man Thai Ward, there are two communal houses, namely Thai Tan and Co Man, which have been restored and kept quite intact. This is a place to worship the gods and ancestors of the fishing village with many festivals like ‘Cau ngu’ (Whale Worshipping) Festival. In addition to maintaining the festivals of the communal houses, the city also needs to pay attention to developing folk cultural forms such as Ba Trao performances. Through such events, both local residents and tourists can watch performances of daily activities taken by coastal villagers in order to better understand the culture of the ancient fishing village”, Mr. Muoi suggested.

Restoring and promoting the culture of coastal villages

Spending a lot of time researching the culture of coastal villages, Ms. Dinh Thi Trang, the Chairwoman of the Da Nang Folk Arts Association, said that the urbanisation process in Da Nang is taking place strongly, through many times of expanding the area in all directions.

Besides the positive factors, this ongoing process also results in the narrowing of the space of coastal villages, leading to many difficulties in preserving the traditional culture of the fishing community. According to Ms. Trang, in order to preserve the culture of coastal villages, it is necessary to collect and research folk cultural heritages, from which to propose appropriate solutions depending on different cultural elements.

It can be seen that since the city issued the project on preserving and promoting ethnic cultural values in Da Nang in the 2021 - 2025 period, the work of preserving and promoting cultural heritage values in the city has recorded positive changes, initially effectively tapping cultural heritage values to serve tourism while promoting the role of traditional education and preserving local cultural identity.

Typically, the city has invested in and completed infrastructure to ensure sufficient conditions for recognition as a tourist destination in accordance with the provisions of the 2007 Tourism Law for the Nam O relic cluster, the ancestral temple of An Hai Village and Thoai Ngoc Hau, the legendary mandarin was one of the meritorious officials during the reign of Emperor Gia Long of the Nguyen Dynasty.

According to Ms. Phan Thi Xuan Mai, the Head of Heritage Management Department, the Museum of Da Nang, along with preserving village communal houses and coastal temples, the city has organised an inventory and assessment of the entire status of the organisation of fishing festivals in localities with institutions worshipping the 'knight' whales (Nam Hai God).

At the same time, support is being given to localities to restore and improve the management boards of the Whale Temple and the ceremonial boards that directly perform rituals at the worshiping establishments, especially organising the ceremony to honour the ‘Da Nang Whale Worshiping Festival’ as a heritage in the list of national intangible cultural heritage.

“Preserving and promoting the value of heritage has great significance in affirming the cultural identity of Da Nang. Thanks to that, cultural heritage exists as an important resource contributing to the cause of protecting, building and developing the city in the future", Ms. Mai affirmed.

Reporting by DOAN HAO LUONG - Translating by A.THU