A dancing performance at the week's opening ceremony (Photo: VNA)Ha Tinh (VNA) – A culture and tourism week in memory of UNESCO-recognised World Cultural Celebrity Nguyen Du was opened in his father’s hometown – Nghi Xuan district, the central province of Ha Tinh, on November 28.
The week is part of a series of activities to celebrate the 250th birth anniversary of the great poet (1765 – 1820).
Opening the event, Chairman of Nghi Xuan People’s Committee Nguyen Hai Nam said the district is proud to be the homeland of Nguyen Du, whose outstanding works including “Truyen Kieu” (The Tale of Kieu) have brought fame to the land.
During the culture and tourism week, an exhibition hall on the literary heritage of Nguyen Du and “Truyen Kieu” will be inaugurated, and an amateur folk singing festival of the north central coast and Red River Delta regions will be held.
Notably, a grand ceremony commemorating the poet will be held on December 5 – the last day of the week.
Nguyen Du, also known as To Nhu or Thanh Hien, was recognised by UNESCO as a World Cultural Celebrity at its 37th General Conference session in Paris in 2013.
In 1965, he was also honoured as a world cultural celebrity by the World Peace Council along with eight others for his devotion to Vietnamese literature and the world’s culture.
“Truyen Kieu”, his most influential work, is a 3,254-line classic verse novel written in "luc bat", the form that consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables, a traditional verse form of Vietnam's poetry.
Kieu's story is vastly popular in Vietnam; many people know the epic by heart and it has been translated into 20 different languages including French, Chinese, English, Russian and Japanese.
The 250th birth anniversary of Nguyen Du is being observed at the national level as decided by the Party Secretariat in August 2014.-VNA
