The person of preserving and teaching the letter of Nom

The person of preserving and teaching the letter of Nom – Dao language

2/6/2018 - 10:17:05 AM

(HBO) - The Dao ethnic people have their own language, but their writing is being lost. In order to preserve and develop the indigenous knowledge of the nation, Ly Van Henh, in Cao Son commune (Da Bac), who understands the language, the writing and preserves many ancient Dao books, has opened free classes to teach the local people to read and write the ancient Nom- Dao writing with an expectation of preserving and keeping the traditional culture of his ethnic nation.

Classes of teaching the letters opened by Mr.Henh attracting a lot of people to attend.

We came to the family of Mr. Ly Van Henh, Sung village, Cao Son commune (Da Bac) when he was guiding the little children in the neighborhood to familiarize themselves with the ancient Dao characters. He said: learning Nom was difficult, to understand, translate, and spell into Dao language is harder, which requires learners to be hard working, passionate to achieve successfully. Born from a family with a tradition of learning Nom - Dao, from early childhood, I was taught traditional scripts, culture, traditions of the Dao ethnic minority by my father. With the teaching of my father, at the age of 18, I mastered writing, folk songs, proverbs, idioms and customs of Dao Tien ethnic minority, folk dances and customs in the spiritual works. With my proficiency of Nom- Dao language, I have collected, rewritten and publised the books on spirituality, customary law and customs of the Dao Tien ethnic people for the Dao community in the areas in the province.

Talking with us, Mr. Henh added: In the present life, many cultural flows have been imported to the villages of Dao ethnic people. Young people are learning the Vietnamese language, foreign languages but forgetting to learn, or not speak ethnic languages. This is what makes us very nervous. Dao ethnic language is at risk of being lost gradually, therefore, the teaching language class is open to meet the joy of Dao ethnic community. Before the reality that the majority of Dao ethnic people, not only the children but also many middle and senior people, are not knowledgeable and cannot write or read the ancient scripts of Nom- Dao writing, as well as not knowing the writing of their own ethnic’s language. This made me feel so regret. With the desire to teach the script to the community and to preserve the unique cultural features of Dao Tien ethnic minority, I began teaching Nom - Dao writing for the children in the family and family clan by traditional learning methods. Up to now, my offspring are well aware of the language, script and customs of Dao ethnic minority and can teach the knowledge of Dao ethnic minority to everyone.

In particular, in 2008, with the help of members of the indigenous knowledge network for ethnic minorities in Hoa Binh province, Mr. Henh made a proposal to the People's Committee of Cao Son Commune to teach Nom - Dao writing popularly for officials and local people in the area. At first, he opened the free classes for the children and the people in the commune. Here, the learners not only learn about the ancient Dao script but also learn the folk songs of Dao Tien, such as singing Khia, singing in pairs about love and singing in the spiritual ceremony of Dao ethnic minority as: Cheo dance, bell dance, dance ... The good news is that many people in other communes knowing about Dao writing classes have registered to learn with the expectation of learning the language to teach the next generation.

Despite his high age, every day, Mr. Henh still goes to the openings in localities in the district to teach indigenous knowledge to the Dao ethnic people. Up to now, Mr. Henh has opened six classes in communes of Cao Son, Vay Nua, Doan Ket, Tan Pheo, Hien Luong with over 350 learners participating. The learners attending classes are at all ages, from small children to middle-aged and elderly people and the commune officials.

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