Preserving and promoting the cultural identity of ethnic minorities in the Northeast region of Vietnam today

Universality bears the imprint of humanity, creating humanistic values. Any creation in any field that has value and is related to human interests contains humanistic meanings at different levels, directly or indirectly, according to the characteristics of each field. Thus, the author has approached culture from the perspective of value creation activities and at the same time, the author also pointed out the nature of culture as ethnic (associated with the specific conditions of the ethnic group) and humanity (oriented towards common values of universality).

The work “ Culture and Development ”[59] by author Do Huy has briefly examined the concepts of culture in the East and the West according to the course of history, the Marxist concept and Ho Chi Minh’s concept of the nature of culture. On that basis, the author presents his concept of culture, which is the sum of values created by humans, which are material values, spiritual values and human development itself. The author believes that in culture, all three values interact and are linked together. In material values there are spiritual values and in spiritual values there are material values. In these two values there is also the development of human nature’s capacity.

In short, researchers and cultural activists in the world as well as in Vietnam have identified that culture is different in terms of the breadth and narrowness of the problem, the limits of the categories of cultural systems and fields; in terms of the components, structures, and characteristics of culture, and the relationship between cultural studies and other sciences, but not different in terms of the origin, foundation, generality, and generality of culture.

* Research status on BSVH

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The work " Searching for the identity of Vietnamese culture " [130] by author Tran Ngoc Them applied the systematic - structural approach combined with the comparative - typological method to conduct a survey of Vietnamese culture in a panoramic picture, on the basis of comparing it with distant cultures (of the world) such as the culture of Western ethnic groups and a close culture (of the region) with close relations such as Chinese culture, at the same time pointing out the relationships of

strict rules between the elements (on the synchronic level) and between the development periods (on the diachronic level) of Vietnamese culture. The work seeks to find the identity features - those are the basic characteristics necessary for understanding Vietnamese culture and the rules of their formation and development. Those characteristics are expressed in cognitive culture, community organization culture, culture of behavior towards the natural environment, culture of behavior towards the social environment.

In the work “ Vietnamese Cultural Identity ”[101] by Phan Ngoc, after introducing a preliminary definition of culture, the author used this definition to study Vietnamese culture. Based on the approach to culture not as objects but as a system of relationships, the author briefly examined the elements of Fatherland, Family, Status, and Appearance in distinction with some other cultures to highlight Vietnamese culture.

The article “ Culture, promoting identity and integration ”[61] by author Nguyen Van Huyen conceived of BSVH as a shining focal point, extracting and converging countless multi-colored halos of the entire cultural quintessence of all ethnic groups of the entire nation. On that basis, the author also put forward the concept of BSVHDT, which is the gene, the core of the cultural nature of each nation, the inner core like the identity card of each nation.

The research work "Preserving and promoting national cultural identity - the role of research and education" [120] includes many articles by many authors referring to the issue of culture and traditional culture. The article " On the sustainability and change in national cultural identity" [120; 178] by author Ho Anh Dung mentioned the concept, characteristics, and structure of culture and traditional culture, as a basis for studying the sustainability and change in traditional culture. From there, the author came to the affirmation: In the process of innovation, developing a market economy, opening up, exchanging and cooperating with countries with different political regimes, only on the basis of preserving and promoting traditional culture well, can we have the internal strength to absorb the cultural quintessence of the times, increasing resources for development.

rapid and sustainable development. "National cultural identity originates from national character" [120;52] by author Ho Le examined the issue of ethnic cultural identity from two perspectives: ethnic cultural identity of Vietnam and ethnic cultural identity of each ethnic group in Vietnam. At the same time, the author also affirmed that ethnic character is the source of ethnic identity, ethnic cultural identity also has the opposite effect of strengthening ethnic character, helping ethnic groups to be confident and better promote their character to overcome historical challenges.

The work “ Traditional values in the face of challenges of globalization ”[64] by author Nguyen Trong Chuan and author Nguyen Van Huyen (co-editors) includes many articles on the issue of cultural heritage such as: “ Globalization and some issues raised for Vietnamese cultural identity ”[64;223] by author Nguyen Van Huyen; “National cultural identity in the trend of globalization” [64;236] by author Tran Van Binh. The author of the article believes that cultural heritage is not only clearly expressed in ethics, lifestyle, and artistic activities, but also implicit in customs and practices, and unique ways of perceiving the world in terms of space and time.

The work " National Cultural Identity " [129] by author Ho Ba Tham pointed out the nature of ethnic culture. The author believes that ethnic culture is a combination of endogenous and exogenous cultural qualities and values that form the soul and sustainable vitality of the ethnic group, with superior features compared to some other ethnic groups, bringing stability in the historical process of struggle and construction of that ethnic group.

In the article “ Identity and cultural exchange - from a philosophical perspective ”[113], author Bui Thanh Quat also presented the concept of BSVH, the author believes that BSVH is not an abstract thing that is difficult to see but is revealed in the daily life of each person and the whole community. Those are the unique features that distinguish the Vietnamese people from other ethnic communities in the world. Those unique features are shown from the lifestyle of each family member to the way the whole ethnic group behaves with other ethnic groups.

The book "National identity and modernization of Vietnamese culture, several

In the theoretical and practical issues” [21], author Thanh Duy believes that all the factors that create the BSDT of culture are the conditions for the existence and development of each ethnic group. Therefore, between the history of development of ethnic groups and the history of formation of BSVHDT, there is an organic, dialectical, inseparable relationship. The author points out the unity between the ethnic nature of culture and BSVHDT: “The ethnic nature is expressed in the community of people formed in history, in language, in community consciousness, in ethnic psychology, in customs, habits, lifestyles, in economic activities and in general, the cultural expression in each community. That ethnic nature is the BSVH of each ethnic group” [21;17].

The author also affirms that BSDT as well as BSVHDT are not immutable, inherent, and never change, although they are formed in tradition and associated with the long-standing cultural tradition of the ethnic group, they develop in the movement of the natural environment and certain socio-economic conditions, associated with the political institutions of a specific society.

The book “Vietnamese Cultural Values - Tradition and Change” [134] by author Ngo Duc Thinh (editor-in-chief) has conceived of BSVH as a totality of cultural characteristics, formed, existing and developed throughout the long history of the nation. Those cultural characteristics are sustainable, eternal, abstract and latent. To recognize BSVH, one must go through countless cultural nuances, as the manifestation of that BSVH. The author also believes that, many times, BSVH is understood as cultural values when considering it as the identity, the uniqueness of each community, distinguishing it from other communities.

All these articles and scientific works have analyzed deeply and comprehensively the nature, content, role, position of BSVHDT and the issues facing BSVHDT in the context of globalization, promoting industrialization, modernization and developing a socialist-oriented market economy. Thereby, providing a scientific basis for planning and organizing the implementation of the contents in the viewpoints, guidelines and policies on cultural development of our Party and State.

It can be said that books, articles, and research works have approached the issue of BSVH, BSVHDT from many different angles, but they all have in common that the nature of culture is the process of human creative activities. The result of that creative activity is the system of material and spiritual values. In that system of values, there are typical, core, and quintessential values that distinguish this ethnic group from other ethnic groups and are called BSVHDT. Researchers also affirm that BSVHDT is the endogenous strength to bring the country to sustainable development in the period of opening up and international integration. From there, we come to the conclusion that it is necessary to preserve and promote BSVHDT and propose a number of orientations and solutions to preserve and promote BSVHDT in the context of opening up and deep international integration.

However, the reality of the country and the times is always changing, thus requiring theoretical research to continue to clarify many issues that have, are and will arise in the process of preserving and promoting the National Heritage in order to have timely solutions to improve the effectiveness of preserving and promoting the National Heritage.

* Research situation on ethnic minority culture

Vietnam has 54 ethnic groups, each contributing to the formation of the common cultural nuances of the whole country with its own unique cultural characteristics, creating a unified Vietnamese culture in diversity. In addition to the Kinh ethnic group, which accounts for the majority, the remaining 53 ethnic groups reside interspersed and scattered throughout the regions of the country, but are mainly concentrated in mountainous areas, remote areas, border areas, with a less developed material life than the Kinh ethnic group. However, it is in the ethnic groups that contain many unique cultural values that attract the interest and attention of many researchers and scientists at home and abroad, including very early research works such as: " Thai, Kadai and Indonesians " (The ethnic groups speaking the Thai, Kadai and Indonesian languages) [5] by PKBenedct. This work mentioned customs, habits, languages, and

language, ethnographic characteristics of some ethnic groups speaking Thai, Kadai and Indonesian languages in Vietnam. Through research and training activities, exchanges and scientific cooperation, foreign scholars also study, comment and evaluate the culture of ethnic minorities in the Northern mountainous region such as the research work: " Some comments on theory and practice of a visit to ethnic minorities in the Northwest and Viet Bac " [49] by AGHaudricourt. In addition, there is also the research work " Development trends in the Northern mountainous region of Vietnam " [16] by Donovan, through this work has contributed to introducing the culture of ethnic minorities in the Northern mountainous region to international friends, so that they have a clearer view of the unity in diversity of Vietnamese culture. In addition to cooperation in the field of training research, there is also cooperation in the field of poverty reduction and environmental protection. Therefore, foreign scholars also have research in this field such as: "Socio -economic Overview of the Northern Mountain Region and the Project and poverty reduction in the Northern Mountain Region of Vietnam " [74] by Neil Jamieson; " Rethinking Approaches to Ethenic Minority Develoment, the case of Vietnam" [75] ....

Based on the socio-economic situation of the Northern mountainous region, these studies and reports have made a number of recommendations on supplementing and perfecting policies and guidelines to suit the practical situation of ethnic minorities, thereby contributing to promoting the role of culture as the endogenous capacity of ethnic minorities in the process of socio-economic development.

In the country, there are also many research works on ethnic minority culture such as: "Some issues on the development of ethnic minority culture" [121] by a group of authors. The book includes many articles by authors on the issues of common and specific issues in the development of Vietnamese culture. That specific issue is

Ethnic culture, the culture of each specific ethnic group living in the territory of Vietnam, contributes to the common culture, unifying the unique, distinctive, and characteristic cultural features of each ethnic group. Also in this book, author Ngo Duc Thinh has an article " On the penetration and emergence of new things in the culture of ethnic minorities " [121] , the author analyzed and clarified that in the culture of ethnic minorities, new cultural phenomena gradually appear and arise due to the internal development of the culture of each ethnic group, which is the product of the process of cultural exchange and influence between ethnic groups and between countries that is taking place very vividly today. The author has given instructions on the emergence of new cultural phenomena in both material and spiritual culture. Thereby, helping us to identify the changing trends of ethnic minority culture in the current new socio-economic context. From there, provide scientific basis for planning cultural development strategies in ethnic minority areas of our country.

In the current cause of innovation, industrialization and modernization, culture can be the driving force for socio-economic development, and conversely, it can also be a pressure to restrain socio-economic development. Therefore, social management based on theories and practices of ethnic culture and regional culture is extremely necessary. Therefore, the works " Studying the regional culture of ethnic minorities " [110] by author Lo Giang Pao; " Natures of local and ethnic culture in the country's development strategy " [108] by the Social Sciences Publishing House; “ The trend of changing regional cultural structures in the northern provinces of Vietnam ”[58] by author Lai Phi Hung.... has raised common issues such as: Ethnic cultural nuances, local cultural nuances (regional culture), unity in diversity of Vietnamese culture, basic cultural change trends in the northern provinces in the years of renovation... for cultural managers to refer to when planning and giving specific instructions on regional culture of ethnic minorities. In particular, in the book “ Culture of ethnic groups in the Northwest ”[7] by a group of authors of a state-level scientific topic group, author Tran Van Binh (editor-in-chief) has assessed and analyzed relatively comprehensively and objectively the current status of cultural life of some ethnic minorities in the region.

The Northwest in the renovation process, at the same time forecasting trends, proposing both basic and urgent solutions to continue developing the cultural life of ethnic groups in the area under the impact of the development of a socialist-oriented market economy. The book is a useful reference for researchers and activists in the fields of culture, education, and arts and culture related to the topic of ethnic minorities in our country.

Research to build ethnic minority culture aims to protect and promote ethnic cultural values not only in terms of spirit, traditional knowledge, literature and art, emotions, customs and traditions but also in terms of material aspects such as cultural aspects that ensure life such as food, clothing, housing, transportation, cultural environment... Typical for this research field are the works: " Ethnic minority culture from a perspective " [102] by author Vi Hong Nhan; " Cultural life of ethnic minorities in the process of industrialization and modernization " [9] by Tran Van Binh (editor-in-chief)... These works have presented in a general way some of the most unique and fundamental values in ethnic culture. Those values not only ensure the existence of ethnic groups in history but if well promoted, will create conditions for ethnic groups to develop in current conditions.

In the work " Culture, ethnic culture and Vietnamese culture " [133], author Ngo Duc Thinh also discussed ethnic culture, the current situation and changes in the culture of ethnic minorities. Based on the perspective of culture and development, the author pointed out the current situation of ethnic minority culture in the following aspects: traditional social structure of ethnic minorities, material culture, spiritual culture, and trends in changing the cultural life of ethnic minorities. On that basis, the author pointed out the issues raised in the development of ethnic minority culture. The issues are both aspects of human perception, especially of managers, and aspects of mechanisms and implementation. From there, it provides readers with a general picture of the current situation of ethnic minority culture in our country, which is the basis for planners.

Preserving and promoting the cultural identity of ethnic minorities in the Northeast region of Vietnam today - 3

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