Culture and Cultural Identity of Cao Bang Province

1.2.2. Concept of cultural identity

In recent years, along with the concept of culture, authors have also been interested in another close concept, cultural identity. Cultural identity is mentioned in many different research works on Vietnamese culture. But up to now, this concept has not yet found a high level of consensus. In general, authors all believe that cultural identity is the most distinctive and unique features of a culture, while some authors believe that cultural identity must be the most beautiful and quintessential features of a culture. From an etymological perspective, ban means basic, essence; sac means color, shade. Identity is the most characteristic and fundamental thing of a thing or phenomenon, it is the basis for distinguishing that thing or phenomenon from other things or phenomena of the same or different type. Thus, cultural identity must be the most unique and basic characteristics to identify a culture and to distinguish this culture from another culture.

According to the Vietnamese Dictionary, the term "identity" is used to refer to the unique properties and colors that make up the special qualities of an object, that is, to refer to the nuances, characteristics, and unique features of that object. In reality, when we say "identity", we often refer to the unique, very unique things of an object to distinguish it from other objects in the objective world.

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"Identity" is a compound word of Sino-Vietnamese origin, so there is another approach which is to analyze the semantics of the two words "original" and "color". Accordingly, "original" is the root, the basis, the core, the nucleus of an object; "color" is the expression of that basic, the core, the nucleus. This second approach is more reasonable because the concept of "identity" is perceived on both sides: the inner essence and the outer expression, and there is a dialectical relationship between the two sides. In which, the inner side reflects the uniformity and nature of a certain class of objects and the outer side reflects the signs and nuances of the object to serve as the basis for distinguishing the difference between this object and another.

The term identity is often used in conjunction with culture and ethnicity. To talk about ethnicity is to talk about culture, cultural identity and to talk about culture is to talk about ethnicity, ethnic identity. Cultural identity can be understood as a system of values that characterize the nature of a culture that is established, exists, develops in history and is expressed through many cultural nuances. In cultural identity, the values that characterize the nature are abstract, latent, and sustainable; while its expression nuances are relatively specific, more exposed and variable. However, if we stop here, the concept of cultural identity is still an indefinite concept, because to talk about culture is to talk about people and talk about specific ethnic groups that gave birth to, maintained and developed it. Therefore, only when approaching the cultural identity of a nation can its meaning be fully expressed.

If we approach culture in the broadest sense, including all material and spiritual values created by humans in history, then national cultural identity is a system of material and spiritual values created by a nation in history, which are very unique features of this nation compared to other nations. In essence, national cultural identity represents the spirit, soul, character, and mettle of a nation. This is considered a "sign of qualitative difference" between this nation and other nations. At the Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies held in Venice, F.Mayor - former Director General of UNESCO gave his opinion on the concept of culture on the basis of emphasizing the specificity of national cultural identity: Culture includes everything that makes this nation different from other nations, from the most sophisticated modern products to beliefs, customs, lifestyles and labor. In international relations, national cultural identity is considered an "identity card", the character of each nation expressed in all aspects of diplomatic relations in economics, politics, culture and society.

In the process of existence and development, cultural identity is a factor that carries national spiritual strength, helping the nation overcome historical challenges.

history, because national identity is the sum of the qualities, personalities, basic tendencies of the potential strength and creativity of a nation in the history of existence and development of that nation, helping that nation maintain its uniqueness, unity, and consistency compared to itself in the development process. Therefore, the preservation and promotion of national cultural identity has been and is being valued by many nations and there are specific solutions in the development process.

1.3. Culture and cultural identity of Cao Bang province

Cao Bang, the land of water wheels, clear streams and indigo girls. Not only famous for its white rice and clear water, this is also a culturally diverse and rich region with the contact, harmony and cultural convergence of many ethnic groups, creating a multi-ethnic and multi-colored culture. The typical ethnic groups in Cao Bang include the Tay, Nung, Dao, San Chi, Kinh, Mong and Hoa ethnic groups. Besides the common features of community culture, each ethnic group has its own unique traditional cultural heritage, making the cultural treasure of Cao Bang rich, diverse, imbued with national identity and crystallizing beautiful human values. The Tay people account for a large number in Cao Bang province. The unique cultural features of the Tay people are expressed in the melodies of Luon, Hat Then, Luon Sluong, Luon Coi, Luon Ngan, Sluong dance, Chau dance, Tin lute, Phuong Ly. The Nung people live intertwined in the same geographical areas as the Tay people. The Nung people have many ethnic groups, based on their dress and language to distinguish them: Nung Inh, Nung An, Nung Loi, Nung Giang, etc. The Nung people have fan dance, scarf dance, two-stringed stringed instrument and copper shaker set... Da Hai is a form of ancient drama of the ethnic group with a history of more than 300 years and is being revived in the present period. The Dao people in Cao Bang are hard-working by nature, living mainly in low mountainous areas, both farming and farming, with heavy customs and practices. The characteristics of the Dao people in Cao Bang are Dao Tien and Dao Do. The Dao people have Bell dance and drum dance. The H'Mong ethnic group mostly lives on high rocky mountains, in remote areas, and is concentrated in large numbers.

in Bao Lac, Ba Be, Thong Nong, Ha Quang; nomadic, slash-and-burn farming, mainly growing corn. The H'Mong people have umbrella dances, bamboo flutes, leaf flutes, and lip flutes.

In the Cao Bang cultural region, we can encounter the cultural characteristics of different ethnic minorities, but due to the solidarity in working life, fighting to build and protect the homeland throughout the history of the nation, the Cao Bang cultural region has been formed, multi-voiced, multi-nuanced but still unified. The long-term coexistence of ethnic groups has led to cultural exchange, unity in the cultural identity of the mountainous region, expressed in cultural aspects: autonomy and community cohesion in villages, spiritual life with polytheistic thinking, folk literature that is both rustic and sophisticated, closely connected and truly reflects the life of highland residents, intuitive thinking and rich comparisons through phenomena that only exist in the mountains. As for folk literature, the most prominent one is the Tay people's origin legend "Bao Luong, Slao Cai", the big couple gave birth to 100 children (half boys and half girls). The legend "Bao Luong, Slao Cai" has explained in a specific, coherent, logical, systematic, and impressive way the formation of humans and agriculture, the beginning of human life in Cao Bang in the mountains and rivers, comparable to the legend of Muong Huou Sao (Ngu Co) - Ca Chep (Long Wang) and the legend of Viet Tien (Au Co) - Dragon (Lac Long). The legend "Cau chua cheng Vua" (Nine Lords fighting for the King) is also very unique, touching people's hearts. The legend refers to the historical figure Thuc Phan around the end of the Hung King's reign, the 3rd century BC. He had the merit of unifying Nam Cuong and Van Lang into Au Lac, with the capital in Co Loa, Dong Anh (Hanoi). The legend is the initial basis to show us the reality of a historical land, a historical person, and a glorious capital of Nam Binh.

Regarding the treasure trove of stories, besides historical stories, every ethnic group also has fairy tales, fables, etc., along with rich poetic genres such as proverbs, nursery rhymes, and riddles. Each ethnic group has its own language, especially the Tay people who created Nom script with written literary works that mention many aspects of knowledge about medicine, geography, customs, history, and calendars; currently, 85 Tay Nom script documents are preserved at the Han Nom Institute.

Cao Bang folk literature is the richest in national folk music. Usually, we most often encounter the folk music genres of the Tay and Nung people, first of all, the famous Then Tinh folk music with many melodies and genres characterized by two main Then genres: Eastern Then and Western Then. Eastern Then is often called Dang (male singing), on the contrary, Western Then (put, then) is female singing. Then singing is a type of comprehensive folk performance including: singing, music, dancing and acting. The outstanding feature of Cao Bang Then singing is its popular character. Then is sung in many places, at many times, people sing in rituals, in daily life, both men and women, many people know how to play musical instruments and sing very skillfully. Then singing has become an important requirement for the spiritual and cultural life of the Tay people in this region. Since the August Revolution (1945) onwards, Then singing has been transformed and called Then moi; Especially from 1960 to now, Then music has gradually changed according to the motto of nationalism, science and popularization; due to the need to reflect the new life, there has been new content and new music. Then singing with the Tinh instrument expresses the unique sound and melody of the Tay ethnic folk music, which is loved by people because it has elements of folk music, lasting forever. Then singing has many themes, but the most unique feature of Then singing is Then songs about love, sometimes they are songs expressing passionate, sincere love, sometimes they are songs expressing sadness, torment before the scene of separation, tearful separation. These two emotional levels are the beginning and also the end of an unsuccessful love. And that is the most prominent point that the Tay folk author wants to

Then melodies emphasize love between couples. For example, Tay boys always find an excuse to express their feelings for their lovers through gentle, pure, and subtle Then melodies:

The wind never stops blowing on the high pass/Fish never leave the clean water/Butterflies never leave the flowers of the hundred springs/Hope we will be together forever.

Love is associated with longing, happiness and pain. Perhaps this is an unwritten rule in love. Love not only brings people a passionate sweetness but also brings endless sadness, the bitterness and pain of separation, when love is broken. At this time, Luon Then almost becomes a spiritual land for people to pour out their hearts, to express their sadness and bitterness before the scene of separation:

Saying goodbye to you is like taking off my belt/Tears fall all over

...

Looking at the chopsticks at a meal reminds me of myself/Holding the bowl, I imagine it exists.

The deeper the love, the more immense the longing, the more painful and unfillable. For a girl in love, separation and distance make everything seem bland and boring:

Swallowing rice is like swallowing garbage/Soup tastes like figs/Remembering in my heart but unable to speak/Sitting at the table is thinking of good friends.

Then, the painful paradox of reunion and separation unintentionally created a distance between the couple, causing more pain to pile up in the fragile heart of the Tay girl. They wanted to torment and blame, but also wanted to hold on to their lover in a hopeless sadness:

“I remind you of a few words, remember/When you return, you will enjoy yourself day and night/Please don't forget my hard work/Without me, you still have a family/Only I am alone/I hope you look forward to it day and night/Wishing that the birds would build a nest together/Leaving each other to express their sadness”. [30, p. 3]. That is the Then singing of the Tay and ethnic groups.

The H'mong also have the Gau Plenh (Love Song) song with a unique mountainous folk melody:

In front of my house there is a flax tree growing/Bees have a place to come and perch/I have been a girl for seven years following my mother and father/You have places to come and go

“You hold my hand, hold it firmly/I hold your hand, hold it tightly/We love each other as deeply as a fresh green wormwood bush…” [30, p. 3].

Regarding sli, luon is also very diverse in genres, imbued with national identity. Not to mention the folk songs of festivals and other rituals are full of poetry. Each genre of folk songs also contains many melodies with a truly impressive quantity. Having gone through the test of time and the fierce changes of history, the folk songs of each ethnic group still exist like the red fire in the kitchen of the stilt house, passed from generation to generation to preserve and maintain the beauty of the soul and the unique identity of each ethnic group. The process of cultural integration and assimilation has been and is taking place quietly but deeply, the interculturality creates unity in the cultural identity of the region but still preserves the cultural diversity of the ethnic groups living together in that cultural area.

1.4. Local literature of Cao Bang province

1.4.1. Appearance, team, author, work

Cao Bang is a frontier land of the country, a land rich in patriotic traditions, revolutionary traditions and culture. Over thousands of years, the people of all ethnic groups in Cao Bang have stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of the whole country to build and protect their homeland. When the revolutionary movement developed strongly, literature and poetry became an important means of propaganda for the Party. Especially when leader Ho Chi Minh chose Cao Bang as a revolutionary base, it rose even higher. Patriotic and revolutionary literature and poetry in this period played a great role in the cause of national liberation. Before 1945, there were literary works composed in Cao Bang in some communes of Ha Quang, Nguyen Binh, Hoa An districts, Cao Bang town and the capital Hanoi in Chinese, Tay - Nung, Mong and Dao languages. In addition,

There are also some works written in prose. Literature of this period is divided into two stages:

Literary works before 1930: The content of works in this period reflects the objective reality of social appearance, arousing patriotism. Literature in this period is by local authors.

Period 1930-1945: Literature in this period developed richly in quantity and improved in quality, especially after 1941, when comrade Nguyen Ai Quoc, after more than 30 years of wandering abroad to find a way to save the country, returned and founded the newspaper Vietnam Doc Lap; therefore, the poetry and literature compositions in Cao Bang during this period were typical literary genres with the aim of propagating and mobilizing all subjects in society from teenagers, young people, women, the elderly, soldiers... to rise up and fight for independence for the country. These literary works quickly entered the lives of the people of the ethnic groups in Cao Bang because of their simplicity, ease of understanding, and popularity through the folk songs and many works composed in ethnic languages. Poetry penetrated deeply into the hearts of the masses, becoming a strength that together with the whole people made the victory of the August Revolution in 1945.

Since the liberation and unification of the country, the number of authors and literary works in Cao Bang province has increased rapidly in both quantity and quality. In terms of poetry, novels, stories, etc., there has always been a large number of authors, most of whom are ethnic minorities, so the literary image is always associated with the description of majestic nature, reflecting the life, customs and habits of the homeland. Many famous writers have made significant contributions to the development of local prose in particular and ethnic literature in the mountainous region in general, such as: the first generation of writers Vi Hong, Hoang Trieu An; the second generation has typical writers such as Cao Duy Son, Huu Tien, Doan Lu, Tran Thi Mong Dan, Nguyen Van Binh, Doan Ngoc Minh, Mong Van Bon, Nong Quoc Lap, etc.

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