Vong Communal House in Song Van commune (Tan Yen district) has been restored, creating favorable conditions for local people to organize traditional festivals.

Danh Temple, located on the top of Danh Mountain in Lien Chung commune was recognized as a provincial-level historical relic site in 2006. This was a religious work built in the Le dynasty (the 18th century). During the resistance war against the French colonialists, Danh Temple was the front line for Vietnamese troops to lie in ambush for protecting the free zone. 

On the other hand, the relic site has historical and cultural values, as it now keeps many valuable artifacts such as old stone pillar system, ancient joss-stick bowl, altar and some other valuable worship objects. 

At the same time, this is a place where cultural activities and traditional festivals of local people are held. Nguyen Thi Be Nhung, deputy head of the district's Culture and Information Division, said in order to prevent the relics’ degradation, with capital sources from the State budget and mobilized from people, in 2017, the province invested about 3.4 billion VND (over 149,000 USD) in temple restoration. 

Based on its vestiges, the temple has been restored with a three-compartment front worship building and two side rooms that are wider than the previous ones. The foundation is made of brick, with an ironwood pole system. To date, the work has been completed.

Similarly, Cao Thuong Communal House in Cao Thuong commune is a national relic site. It used to be one of the important bases of Yen The Uprising. In 2011, nearly 17 billion VND (745,600 USD), sourced from the national target programme on culture, was poured into renovating items such as the great hall, shrine and auxiliary works. Or the relic complex of Vong Communal House in Song Van commune got an investment of 7 billion VND (307,000 USD), with Vong Bridge rebuilt in front of the communal house.

Besides State investment, many localities have also successfully mobilising money from social sources to preserve and embellish relic sites. For example, in 2015, Phuc Son commune allocated 6.6 billion VND (289,000 USD) for restoring the communal house, pagoda, shrine and the tomb of Nu Gia Dai Than (a female general of Hai Ba Trung – Trung Sisters). 

Of the amount, 6.3 billion VND was mobilized from local people and the rest was from the local budget. Tinh Dao Communal House in Quang Tien commune is a provincial-level historical relic site that has also been renovated using the State budget and social sources.

Tan Yen district now has more than 400 relics of all kinds, of which 92 were classified with 12 belonging to the special national relic site of Yen The Uprising places, five national relic sites and the remaining being provincial-level relics. Dinh Duc Canh, Vice Chairman of the district People's Committee said: "Since 2011, together with the State budget, the district has mobilized more than 21 billion VND (921,000 USD) from organizations and individuals to repair 45 historical relics ".

Noi Communal House in Viet Lap commune (Tan Yen district) is the location to held several folk games. Photo: Chau Giang.

Parallel with restoration and conservation, Tan Yen district has also paid attention to promoting the values of the relics. Over the past time, the locality has spent billions of VND erecting many signs to the relic sites. At the same time, it has actively disseminated information on the relics through the media and introduced those which have been ranked on its portal. 

The district has also assigned its management board of cultural relics to regularly guide local officials, grassroots-level management boards and religious practisers to ensure the environmental sanitation and scenery at the relic sites as well as avoid bringing worship items with unknown origin to the sites.

By doing so, the renovated relics have restored their original appearance to become the complete cultural products, helping the younger generations have a more comprehensive view of local history and culture as well as attracting tourists.

Minh Linh