Preserving and promoting heritage values

With its vast space and significant potential, Dong Nai has an opportunity to achieve comprehensive socio-economic breakthroughs. However, this reality also poses an urgent challenge to the management and preservation of historical and cultural relics and scenic sites.

Linking preservation with the promotion of heritage values is becoming an important direction, contributing to shaping urban identity, improving the cultural life of the people, and creating further opportunities for Dong Nai to develop sustainable tourism.

Students scan a QR code to learn about the national-level relic of Trinh Hoai Duc's tomb in Tran Bien Ward.

"Red addresses" rich in value

Phuoc Long is among the wards currently assigned to manage a large number of relics, including the national-level historical relic and scenic site of Ba Ra Mountain–Thac Mo; four city-level relics; and two relics on the inventory list, namely Thien Hung Pagoda and Phuoc Tin Circular Citadel.

Among them, the Ba Ra Mountain–Thac Mo relic holds significant historical and cultural value, as the area is associated with the resistance wars against French colonialists and U.S. imperialists for national salvation waged by the military and people of Phuoc Long. The relic comprises Ba Ra Mountain, which rises 723 meters above sea level and forms a unique natural landscape with Thac Mo Lake; the Bang Lang Hill area, which commemorates fallen heroes and martyrs as well as compatriots who lost their lives; and the Cay Sung, Doi, and Tu Can caves, which served as shelters for revolutionary soldiers and bases for the activities of the Ba Ra Mountain Commando Team during the resistance wars.

Notably, the relics in Phuoc Long Ward are interconnected in terms of both space and value. Ba Ra Mountain–Thac Mo and city-level relics such as the Nguyen Thi Dinh Souvenir Garden, the site marking the crimes of the U.S.-backed Saigon puppet regime at Dak Lung Bridge, the site marking the Phuoc Long Victory, and Ba Ra Temple are being oriented and linked by local authorities to form an integrated heritage complex encompassing revolutionary history, culture and beliefs, and natural landscapes. In particular, the ward maintains the annual Ba Ra Temple–Phuoc Long Festival, a national intangible cultural heritage, helping promote the image of Phuoc Long and its friendly, hospitable and warm-hearted people.

In Thuan Loi Commune, the story of heritage continues through the history of the rubber workers' movement and the establishment of the Party organization. The locality currently has one national-level relic, three city-level relics, and two relics on the inventory list. Among them, the historical relic cluster marking the site where the Indochinese Communist Party Cell was established in Phu Rieng (Red Phu Rieng) is a "red address" of special value for education about revolutionary traditions. The relic comprises the main gate, the Red Phu Rieng Monument, the memorial stele house for martyrs of Thuan Loi Commune, the Lang 3 rock stream area, and the system of gardens and auxiliary technical infrastructure.

For Red Phu Rieng, preservation goes beyond maintaining the site, landscape, and related traces. The locality has also set a direction for collecting documents, community memories, and stories from historical witnesses to serve exhibition, interpretation, education, and experience activities. It also proposes planning for the relic and connecting it with the Thuan Loi 1 circular earthwork, Thuan Phu 2 circular earthwork, the Water Tank – the site where the U.S.-backed Saigon puppet regime murdered compatriots at Lang 2, Thuan Loi Rubber Plantation, in 1965 – Suoi Lam Lake, and the Chu Nhat house to form characteristic cultural tourism products.

Meanwhile, Nhon Trach Ward has two city-level relics: Phu My Communal House and Phuoc Thien Communal House. These relics are currently managed by the ward's Center for Culture, Information, and Sports. Recently, the locality has carried out major restoration and embellishment projects for many components of the Phuoc Thien Communal House relic, with nearly 10 billion VND mobilized from non-State sources. For the Phu My Communal House relic, the Dong Nai Museum has carried out the preservation, restoration, and gilding of the rear hall, with a total investment of more than 1.2 billion VND from the state budget.

Awakening heritage values

Preserving and promoting the value of relics is a long-term task requiring the participation of all levels, sectors, and localities, along with the joint efforts of the community and businesses. The reality in localities shows that, despite the initial achievements, many difficulties remain, particularly regarding legal documents, land, human resources, and funding for the restoration and embellishment of relics.

Besides its system of historical and cultural relics, Dong Nai also possesses many valuable intangible cultural heritages, among which don ca tai tu Nam Bo (Southern amateur music) has been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, while 11 heritages have been included in the list of national intangible cultural heritages. This heritage is an important resource for the locality to continue preserving, passing on, and promoting cultural identity in the new era.

According to Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Tran Bien Ward Nguyen Kim Bich Huyen, within the scope of the locality's functions and tasks, Tran Bien Ward will study ways to connect the heritage space with typical relics in the area and cultural destinations to form cultural-historical routes and attractions, improve the effectiveness of heritage value promotion, and create momentum for the development of local cultural tourism.

"In the coming period, Tran Bien Ward is determined to continue innovating relic management, promoting digital transformation, and effectively mobilizing socialized resources for relic restoration and embellishment. In addition, the locality will link preservation with cultural tourism development, education about revolutionary traditions, and the building of Tran Bien's urban identity in the new era," said Huyen.

Director of the Dong Nai Museum Nguyen Ngoc Yen said, "Implementing the special 500-day-and-night emulation campaign themed “Unity – Discipline – Efficiency – Breakthrough, building a civilized and modern Dong Nai,” the Dong Nai Museum will step up communication and promotion of local heritage sites; at the same time, restore, embellish, and effectively harness the potential of heritage sites associated with the development of local culture and tourism. In particular, the museum will continue to improve the quality of exhibitions, interpretation, and education about revolutionary traditions, while applying information technology and advancing digital transformation to bring heritage closer to the public."

By My Ny – Translated by Minh Hong, Thu Ha