VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES TRẦN THỊ LAN TRAN THI LAN THE HERITAGIZATION IN VIETNAM: THE CASE STUDY OF HAT MON TEMPLE, PHUC THO DISTRICT, HANOI Major: Cultural Studies Code: 22 90 40 ABSTRACT OF DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN CULTURAL STUDIES Hanoi, 2019 The work has been implemented at: GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Supervisors: Assoc Prof Dr Luong Hong Quang Ph.D Hoang Cam Cầm Review 1: Assoc.Prof.Dr Tran Duc Ngon Review 2: Assoc.Prof.Dr Dang Hoai Thu Review 3: Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyen Thi Yen The dissertation has been defended at the Academy-level Doctoral Dissertation Assessment Council, held at Graduate Academy Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences At: ………: …… of (dd/mm/yyyy) ………… 2019 Reference materials available at: - National Library of Vietnam - Library of Graduate Academy of Social Sciences LIST OF PUBLISHED WORKS OF THE AUTHOR Tran Thi Lan (2018), “Participation of the state and community in the heritagization of Hat Mon Temple (Hanoi)”, Journal of Culture Research, Edition 24, P: 13-19 Tran Thi Lan (2018), “Heritagization and the process of heritagization in Vietnam since Đổi up to present”, Journal of Culturology, Edition 5, P: 61-68 Tran Thi Lan (2018), “Protection of cultural heritage in modern society: A case of study of Hat Mon Temple in Hanoi”, Magazine of Culture and Art, Edition 11 (66), P: 96-104 INTRODUCTION Rationale Over the past few decades, cultural heritage has growing interest from scientists, State administrative agencies and the community This proves that the natural heritages, relics and cultural practices are increasingly demonstrating their roles, functions and significance in the political, economic and social fields In Vietnam, since the renovation period, the restoration and presevation of cultural heritages have clearly proved the policy of the state Many cultural heritages have been inventoried, selected and documented on records at different levels Heritagization is considered a factor that changes the cultural practices of communities; strengthens the relationship between the state and cultural bearers, the relations between heritage and new cultural creations, and also cultural identity, affirming cultural identity in modern time On the other hand, during the process of heritagization, the selection, restoration, heritage ranking, relations between the community and the state is a rather complex issue that reflects multidimensional views, political evolvements, and power interactions among groups in the society Hat Mon Temple (Phuc Tho District, Hanoi), an ancient relic in the Red River Delta, is a place to glorify Hai Ba Trung- the two women who are considered as symbol of the nation's unyielding and indomitable fighting spirit The worship of Hai Ba Trung for thousands of years is not only of spiritual significance to the community, but also of special importance in maintaining and raising the Vietnamese people's consciousness on their ancestors and national - ethnic history Following the trend of heritagization, Hat Mon Temple was selected by the state and ranked as a National Special Relic in 2013, the Festivals of Hat Mon Temple was recognized as the National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016 In fact, the discussions on the heritagization and the process of establishing cultural heritage in Vietnam in general and Hat Mon Temple in particular have posed many urgent problems concerning theory and reality, which needs more researches conducted On that basis, I chose to a research on: The Heritagization in Vietnam: A Case Study in Hat Mon Temple, Phuc Tho District, Hanoi, with the desire to share my views on the problem and to constitute a rich contribution to the studies on cultural heritage in Vietnam in modern time Objectives and tasks of study 2.1 Objectives The thesis is to clarify the process of selecting and honoring Hat Mon temple and its festivals as cultural heritage; to explain the political, social and economic evolvements of cultural heritagization in Vietnam as well as the effects of heritagization on the protection and promotion of cultural heritage On the other hand, through the case study in Hat Mon Temple, the thesis aims to explain theoretically the heritagization trends viewed in reality of Vietnam, contributing to enriching the studies on cultural heritage in Vietnam today 2.2 Tasks of study - To provide an overview of Hat Mon temple and its festivals; the process of formation, development and the role of relics in establishing national-ethnic identity ; and the significance to local community in its history - To study theoretical issues concerning the trend of heritage in Vietnam and in the world - To study systematically the process of selecting and honoring Hat Mon Temple and its festival as cultural heritage; to point out the transformation of the relic and its festivals after being honored; the participation of the community and the state in the process of heritagization of Hat Mon temple and its festivals - To discuss the issues that came out during the process of heritagization in Vietnam in a transformation period Objects and Scope of study 3.1 Objects The thesis aims to study Hat Mon Temple and its festivals, in Phuc Tho District, Hanoi, and other the parties involved in the process of honoring this cultural heritage 3.2 Scope of study - Scope of the content: The thesis focuses on studying the actual heritagization of Hat Mon Temple and its festivals; The actions of parties in the process of the heritagization - Scope of time: The thesis focuses on studying Hat Mon temple and its festival from 1986 to 2013 and since the State has recognized the Temple as a special national relic till now Methodology and study method Within this thesis, we approach cultural heritage in terms of culture studies, power Particularly, Political features of cultural heritage are a focus of the research In stead of seeing cultural heritage as a calm entity using essentialism method, this study focuses on working state of the heritage, especially, the political features of heritage in a close relation with its social - political context The thesis uses the study methods of many different scientific branches to study and fully explain the political features of cultural heritage in the process of heritagization; they are: - Observation; - Deep interview; - Synthesizing and analyzing documents New scientific findings of the dissertation From a cultural perspective, the thesis aims to clarify the process of selecting and honoring relics and cultural practices as cultural heritage with the participation of different branches On the other hand, the thesis analyzes the issues that come out after those cultural heritages are honored This helps to preserve and promote cultural heritage values in Vietnam today Theoretical and practical meanings of the thesis 6.1 Theoretical meaning The completed thesis will provide updated views, approaches and the system of heritagization process in particular; hence will help to protect and promote Vietnam's cultural heritage in general The analysis and summation of the thesis on the process of honoring heritage such as the issue of marginalization, state-running, the political features of heritage through a specific and objective case study, the thesis will make substantial contributions in the field of academic research on cultural heritage 6.2 Practical meaning From a specific case study, the thesis points out the practical issues that the cultural heritage is facing before and after being honored At the same time, the results of the thesis provide a basis for the orientation on protection and promotion of cultural heritage values today On the other hand, the results will provide an additional reference for teaching and studying cultural heritage Outline of the thesis In addition to the Introduction, Conclusion, References and Appendix, the thesis consists of chapters: Chapter 1: Overview of research situation, theoretical basis and research area Chapter 2: The honoring process of Hat Mon temple and its festivals Chapter 3: The Post-honoring process of Hat Mon temple and its festivals Chapter 4: Heritagization of Hat Mon Temple and issues to discuss Chapter OVERVIEW ON STUDY SITUATION, THEORETICAL BASIS AND STUDY AREA 1.1 Overview on study situation 1.1.1 Studies on heritagization We divided studies into the following groups: Studies on political and social evolvements of parties involved in the process of heritagization; Studies on the impact of heritagization: positive impacts, consequences for the protection and promotion of cultural heritage values 1.1.2 The studies on Hat Mon temple and its festivals We divided the studies into the following groups: The studies on the temple and its festivals viewed from historical perspective; The studies on the temple and its festivals viewed from cultural perspective and cultural management 1.1.3 Reviews on the studies and tasks of the thesis Firstly, heritagization is an issue many researchers are interested in, it is expressed through many articles and researches in both theoretical and practical aspects In general, the researches done in the heritagization process have two sides On the one hand, the heritagization creates positive consequences in the protection and promotion of heritage values after being honored; on the other hand, heritagization leads to unexpected consequences such as “Staterunning”, “put-on-stage” and “tourism” of heritage, and the “marginalization” for community-the owner of Cultural heritage Secondly, studies on Hat Mon temple and its festivals are viewed from the perspective such as history, culture, cultural management Many of them mainly make a general introduction of the relics and its festivals From an overview of the studies, it shows that the recognizing and honoring of heritage remains a a task for the researchers to on Hat Mon Temple The actions of the parties, for the sake of politics, reputation and identity in the process of selecting and recognizing a specific cultural element as cultural heritage; the change of heritage after having a certain title; The issue of state management and community management which are applied in the managing of cultural heritage before and after the heritage is honored, will be fully discussed in the study on Hat Mon temple, hence to provide a comprehensive overview on the process of heritagization in Vietnam The studies of other scholars will be an important source for our study 1.2 Rationale 1.2.1 The concept Cultural heritage: Cultural heritage is defined in Cutural Heritage LawsV(2001) as “intangible and tangible cultural heritage; spiritual and material product of historical, of cultural and scientific value, handed down from generation to generation in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam” [99, p 8] Heritagization: Combined with views of researchers, in this thesis, heritagization is defined as the process of selecting elements of a culture (buildings, monuments, relics, gardens, landscapes, objects, practices, rituals, and traditions ), and honoring it as a cultural heritage in contemporary society, with various social - political changes of participants (State, community, researchers, managers ) Heritagization includes two successive stages: honoring stage and post-honoring stage 1.2.2 Some theoretical points In this thesis, the reseacher adopted Oscar Salemink's approaching method to consider the aspects related to the heritagization of Hat Mon Temple Oscar Salemink discusses the political-social actions of the parties involved in the heritagization process Oscar argues that heritagization “is not a one-way street Many communities and localities willingly participate in the process of seeking cultural validation to achieve their own purposes” [168, p 174] On the other hand, Oscar believes that, through the process of heritagization, a state has a deeper and deeper intervention in the cultural practice of community, leading to the risk of deprivation of cultural practice which was familiar with the community in the past The privilege is then given to tourism, economy, politics From Oscar Salemink's fundamental points, we decide to consider the process of heritagization of Hat Mon Temple in reality The process will be considered on the following aspects: Firstly, the The recognizing of Hat Mon Temple was conducted within the trend of heritagization approached by researcher from different aspects, one of the sesearchers is Oscar Salemink According to Oscar, that process represents social-political evolvements with the participation of many different parties such as the state, the community and scientists Oscar argues that state’s intervention leads to the risk of deprivation of cultural practices that were familiar with the community in the past Oscar Salemink's approach has created a significant theoretical foundation for our study on Hat Mon temple It helps us to learn about the actions of the parties, to view their benefits, politics, reputation and identity in the process of selecting and recognizing a specific cultural element as a cultural heritage; and to find out more about the transformation of heritage after having the title as well as the issues concerning management State management and community applied for cultural heritage before and after the heritage is honored Chapter THE HONORING PROCESS OF HAT MON TEMPLE AND ITS FESTIVALS 2.1 The process of honoring Hat Mon Temple as a Special National Relic In the development history, in 1964, Hat Mon Temple was ranked as a national cultural and historical relic From late 2012 to early 2013, Hat Mon Temple was selected as a part in the plan of Hanoi City that prepares a profile for the the temple to be honored as a Special National Relic unlike before, this time, the selecting of 10 Hat Mon temple took place in a completely new economic, political and cultural context At the beginning of 2013, implementing the plan of the city; authorities, the officials of the Management Board of Relics and Landmarks cooperated with the district authorities, the Department of Culture and Information and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Phuc Tho district to prepare a profile ranking Hat Mon Temple The background of the temple is one of the important documents in heritage profile In order to match with the criteria which requests that historical and cultural relics be associated with national heroes; the profile aims to emphasize life, career, the Hai Ba Trung’s revolts and patriotically historical events which took place in the lands where relics were established In the record, Hat Mon temple’s values in terms of historical value, architectural, artistic value, cultural and scientific values are also considered to be choosen The background of relic also mentions the plan to protect and promote the cultural heritage values of Hat Mon Temple after being honored Heritagization is defined as a process of selecting specific cultural relics/practices, then honoring them cultural heritage; and in fact, the honoring of Hat Mon Temple relic is also a process of selecting the criteria and contents to match the title that relic aims to achieve 2.2 The process of honoring the festival of Hat Mon temple as a national intangible cultural heritage In 2016, Hat Mon Temple’s festivals continue to be honored as the national intangible cultural heritage Similar to the process of honoring a relic, the process of honoring festivals is the result of the selecting contents and festivals to match the criteria of a National 11 Intangible Cultural Heritage which is defined in the legal documents of the state Profile of Hat Mon temple’s festivals is oriented according to the criteria of a traditional festival The criteria are the standards in producing scientific documents, and are issued by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Circular No 04/2010-BVHTT that stipulate the standards in inventorying and making profile of intangible cultural heritage Therefore, the content of the profile is considered whether it meets criteria: "1 the identity of the community and locality; the cultural diversity and human creativity which are handed down from generation to generation; Ability to recover and survive for a long time; Advocated by the community, voluntarily nominated and committed to protection ”(Article 10, Section 2, Circular No 04/2010-BVHTT) An important point in the background of Hat Mon temple which is emphasized is the measures taken to protect intangible cultural heritage in the future - this is one of the conditions that must be included in the heritage profile The background of the Hat Mon festival has introduced a number of measures to protect and promote the festivals today, especially emphasized the role of the community 2.3 Role of State and community in the process of honoring Hat Mon temple and its festivals Honoring cultural heritage is an important stage in the process of heritagization, through which a relic or a cultural practice achieve titles at different levels During this process, there were participations from many different parties, one of the parties that stand out is the state The preparation for the honoring profile of Hat Mon Temple (in 2013) and Hat Mon Temple’s Festivals (2016) were made by the 12 officials of the Management Board of Relics and Landmarks, Department of Culture, Sports and Hanoi Tourism Government representatives and the Protection Board of Hat Mon Temple would provide some support or information about the Temple The entire process of making the profile is implemented entirely by the officials in charge It is not the people living in Hat Mon commune who are in charge of selecting appropriate/inappropriate content of the honoring profile but cultural managers, scientists, who are accustomed to making similar profiles They are qualified to choose what or what factor to emphasize or honor In other words, the process of honoring and ranking the cultural heritage is a "valuation and evaluation process for experts and organizations/units, referring to global cultural standards, not local cultural standards” [89, p 494] Sub-conclusion With so many meanings and roles for the nation and the local community, Hat Mon Temple has been selected by the State, and it took a process for the honoring profile to be prepared and completed The process of building heritage profile is required to conform to the criteria for special national relics (relic), national intangible cultural heritage (festival) stipulated by the Cultural Heritage Law and circulars, guidelines of the state It is a process in which relics and festivals are honored and given titles, but the honoring and ranking have to be in compliance with the cultural standards certified by the state The process of building heritage profiles is also determined by external factors, including cultural managers, experts, and scientists This has also become common in the management system of Vietnamese cultural heritage nowadays 13 Chapter THE POST-HONORING PROCESS OF HAT MON TEMPLE AND ITS FESTIVALS 3.1 The change of Hat Mon temple and its festivals after being honored The honor and recognition of cultural heritage have created an important lever, leading to the change of relic and festivals in many ways Here, we only focus on discussing some major changes such as restoring, building new constructions, and expanding relic planning; reviving, creating more space for the festivals; promoting propaganda and cultural heritage 3.1.1 Restoration, reconstructions and expansion of relic planning As for the restoration, reconstructions: Many constructions have been renovated, reconstructed, changing the whole appearance of heritage space Some of the reconstructed structures are Memorial House for Mrs Nguyen Thi Dinh, Đàn thề, guest houses Many new artifacts are also supplemented in the relic space As for the plan to expand the relic: According to documentation; previously, Hat Mon Temple was small In 1993, the commune authorities decided to grant a piece of land into the land of the temple The granted land is more than 13.000 square meters After being honored as a special national relic, Hat Mon Temple is planned with an expanded area of 13ha Today, the temple has been added with such constructions as management area, discovery area, temple of generals of Hai Ba Trung, temple of Mr Thi Sach’s mother, and traditional house for Vietnamese women 14 3.1.2 To recover, create and expand the festival scale After being honored, the scale of Hat Mon temple’s festival is increasingly expanded in all of the three festivals The scale of festivals are now much greater; not village-scale but national scale, attracting a lot of visitors from many regions Many new rituals are created and expanded such as the procession of Troi cakes, Trong Quan singing is supplemented and carried out on the day of the festival In addition, many new activities are also added in the festival: they are commemoration meeting, Saluting the Colours, National Anthem, Reward ceremony for people who make great contributions to cultural preservation Also in the meeting, a Central company of classical drama was hired to perform the scene of "Hai Ba Trung rose up in arms" bringing back the indomitable spirit of the army led by the Two Women- Hai Ba Trung 3.1.3 Promoting propaganda and cultural heritage Many propaganda programs/activities are carried out to promote the value and reputation of the heritage Hat Mon temple heritage is increasingly introduced through many different media which mainly focus on promoting outstanding values of the special national relic, and introducing festivals as national intangible cultural heritage 3.2 The role of the state and community in the post-honoring process of Hat Mon temple and its festivals 3.2.1 State’s participation 3.2.1.1 Management and restoration After being honored as a special National Relic, the temple has been administered by People's Committee of Phuc Tho District Accordingly, the People's Committee of Phuc Tho district assigns direct management of Hat Mon temple to the People's Committee of Hat Mon commune 15 Many projects of restoration and reconstruction are implemented by the state At the same time, when realizing that the temple’s donation is growing, the government has kept control on these donations 3.2.1.2 Organizing festival From 2014, Hat Mon temple’s festivals were organized by the district, guided by plans and documents The theme of Hat Mon temple festival is associated with the local political tasks: “Promoting the spirit of independence and self-reliance of the Hai Ba Trung uprising, the Party Committee and people of Phuc Tho district are determined to make the hometown become rich and beautiful, civilized ”.(2018) 3.2.2 Community’s participation 3.2.2.1 Protection and restoration Despite the fact that Hat Mon Temple is administered by a management board , security guards working in the temple make an enormous contribution to implementing all the work related to the protection and preservation of relic, this reflects the active and positive contribution of the community 3.2.2.2 Organizing festivals At Hat Mon temple festival, local authorities can intervene in the community's heritage after honoring process, but on the other hand, the community itself takes active actions to maintain and preserve local traditional identities Government intervention is mainly in the festival , expanding the scale and influence of the festivals, but in fact, the ceremony is still organized by the community The community still holds the post of a cultural bearer Sub-conclusion After being ranked, Hat Mon temple and its festivals have changed in many ways: the relic and its planning have been restored 16 and expanded ; New elements as well as cutural practices have been added to the festival In fact, it is undeniable that honoring is an important agent, leading to the change of the appearance of the relic and its festivals Along with that, after the relic is honored, there is state intervention in the management of local cultural heritage The government plays a role in advising and directing in the protection, repairing, renovation, and organization of Hat Mon temple’s festivals every year However, the local community still plays an important role as the organizer of the festival As an organizer, the community actively selected the participants and performers of the rituals according to the village tradition Chapter HERITAGIZATION OF HAT MON TEMPLE AND ISSUES TO DISCUSS 4.1 The political-social moves of honoring the heritage 4.1.1 State and process of heritagization When discussing the heritagization from heritage honouring in Vietnam, Oscar Salemink [88], [89], [90], Choi Horim [33], Nguyen Thi Hien [47], etc emphasized that the cultural heritage is a fascinating process for many different participants They have a move to actively participate in the heritage because each party finds "certain interests" (may be different / may be conflicting) in honoring The reality of heritagizing Hat Mon proved this point The state, in the modern context, through honoring Hat Mon Temple to build and strengthen nationalism, create a sense of an "imagined community", with common traditions 17 (national tradition), sovereignty, national identity, etc And after all, heritage is a way for the state to establish the legal ownership and management role with cultural heritage On the other hand, honoring heritage is a way to serve different political purposes/tasks of each locality 4.1.2 Community and process of heritage Not only the state, but the heritagization also appeals to stakeholders, including the community and many different groups such as the village's people, the intellectuals or part of the new population living in the local area They actively participate in the process of heritagization, but the purpose of each party is different The original people and intellectuals desire the relics and festivals of the village to be honored, thereby, affirming their traditional cultural values Honoring heritage is also an opportunity to demonstrate and be proud of the world outside the village On the other hand, participation in protection and promotion activities of cultural heritage also facilitates individuals/groups to assert their position The various sociopolitical moves in the process have clearly shown the social relations, complex interactions in the context of the current transition 4.2 The impacts of heritagization 4.2.1 Change in government and community awareness The process of honouring and ranking relics and festivals in Hat Mon temple has had certain impacts on the awareness of the authorities and the community in many different ways, contributing to the protection and promotion of the cultural heritage values 4.2.2 The issue of marginalization after honoring As stated in the rationale, when discussing the process of heritagization, Oscar Salemink emphasized the issue of marginalization as an unexpected consequence after the cultural heritage is honored 18 From the fatcs of f Hat Mon Temple, the community has different strategies, which is sometimes flexible, sometime resolutely negotiating with the state to achieve its goals They are not passive, not in the position of "victim", are marginalized but are in the position of central, active, proactive participants in the process In fact, for many other communities, honoring heritage has opportunities to actively pursue their own cultural, economic and political goals Many places in the local community are "marginalized" after the heritage is honored That is the situation when Giong festival heritage was honored by UNESCO, people are even asked for money when participating in Giong festival, while in the past it was an honor and pride [77] No matter what level of cultural heritage is honored, the role of the local community must always be enhanced and respected, especially in traditional ceremonies and cultural activities 4.2.3 The issue of "stateization" after honoring When discussing the heritagizatio, the issue of "stateization" of the post- honoring the cultural heritage is shown in the researches in Vietnam [74], [76], [77], [89], etc This practice is quite common in Vietnam today It is the process of cultural transformation that makes cultural heritage a "national asset", and on that basis will lead to the "stateization" consequence of cultural heritage However, in the case of Hat Mon temple as practically the state's participation in the restoration, protection, and organization of the festival, one can see that the process of "stateization" and "administration" is not the deep intervention of the state in the cultural practices and beliefs of the community 19 At present, the issue of "stateization" takes place in many cultural relics and practices, such as the Hung Vuong historical relics complex, Soc Temple, etc The negotiation, compromise to be able to balance and harmonize the role of the state and the community is necessary to protect and promote the cultural heritage values after honoring Sub-conclusion Studying the heritagization of Hat Mon temple shows that heritagization is a process associated with complex socio-political moves of parties The state and the community all want a title of heritage, but the purpose of each party is different From this fact, it helps to clarify Oscar Salemink's view of the heritagization: many communities and localities are ready to participate in the process of heritagization to serve their own purposes Heritagization has had impacts that change the awareness of the community and the state, thereby leading to a change in the status of relics and cultural practices The reality cannot deny the role of the current administration in managing relics and organizing festivals However, the local owners of relics and festivals also has different strategies, demonstrating their own initiative and role of "selfdetermination" It is also the process that the Hat Mon village community creates and affirms the local cultural identity in the contemporary society CONCLUSIONS In the globalization trend, heritagiation is considered an activity not only to promote and honor but also to support and protect the values of cultural creations of ethnic groups or a specific community This activity is very much concerned by the countries 20 through which the state can be more closely connected with the local community in social management, strengthening its political position as well as preserving the national cultural identity In Vietnam, the process of heritagization has been implemented since the 1960s of the twentieth century but expanded after the country implemented the renovation In particular, heritage has become one of the important tasks in the national cultural development orientation when Vietnam promulgated the Cultural Heritage Law in 2001 Hat Mon Temple in Hanoi City is a temple with an important role in history, in the political and cultural life of the community, because here, the worshiped character is Hai Ba Trung - women who have been historically noted to have fought against the invaders and defended national independence It is no coincidence that the interest in Hat Mon and Hai Ba Trung temples has increased especially since Vietnam international intergrated, facing challenges and many problems in preserving national identity In 2013, Hat Mon Temple was recognized by the State as a special National Monument Next, in 2016, Hat Mon temple festival was registered by the state as a national intangible cultural heritage Through the Hat Mon temple and festival, it can be seen that heritagization is an indispensable process with the participation of many different parties, with different strategies, creating a colourful picture in Vietnam after innovation On the state side, it is the propaganda to promote and symbolize Hat Mon festival and monument, the intervention in the organization stages, creating new discourse The State uses cultural heritage to legalize, strengthen 21 and affirm its political power The State needs "title", needs "righteousness" to serve different purposes On the community side, it is the proactive approach, efforts to seek recognition, as well as to change the festival in the direction of new creation, or to expand and proactively store and preserve The community itself it also needs a title to serve its purposes, which is not the same as the purpose of the state The community of Hat Mon commune has been flexible and proactive in participating in the process of heritagization as a way of expressing their voices, affirming membership in the community, affirming heritage values In other words, the process of heritagization has created a playground, a forum, a tool for many parties to participate in, take advantage of in many different ways The process of heritagization assigned to places, relics and cultural practices of "cultural heritage" at all levels is a process based on the wishes and desires of parties The selection and recognition of cultural heritage, in a way, positively contributes to national identity - ethnicity, community identity or group identity, creating a difference with the concept "We are us, we are not friends" However, the inheritance/recognition of cultural heritage is not merely stories about the protection of the country's cultural heritage, but also the result of political and economic relations - society and culture In fact, the different sociopolitical moves, the purposes of participating in different cultural processes reflect a complex, multi-dimensional cultural world with the operation of relations between the state and the community in the contemporary society Overall, after the relics and Hat Mon temple festival were honored, there have been impacts on the community, the state and the 22 cultural heritage itself The honor affects the psychology and consciousness of the community, they are proud and excited because their heritage is better known by the domestic and foreign public On the other hand, the community is also more aware of the importance of heritage for their spiritual and cultural life, since then, they care more about their heritage, expressing with enthusiastic participation in organizing festivals, in protecting and promoting heritage values Along with that, the honor also entailed the growing interest of the state and local authorities On the other hand, it is the participation in the Hat Mon community that contributes to creating a picture of multidimensional heritage in Vietnam Despite objective conditions, in the context of increasing state intervention in the culture of the community, cultural activists are still able to improvise, choose and adapt to change The local community is not "marginalized", "deprived of culture", they are not "victims" but in an active position to participate in the heritagization, thanks to this process to "Orthodox" and "legitimize" their rights The activities of managing, protecting and promoting the values of cultural heritage after honoring cannot help mentioning the role of the State In many cases, too much state intervention will lead to the risk of being "nationalized" (Oscar Salemink) However, in the case of the heritagization of Hat Mon Temple, together with the role of cultural "decision-making" of the community, the government does not impose, but rather plays a role to support and help the local people, they can therefore promote their own cultural values In this way, the government will encourage the creativity of the people, on the other hand, to keep the nature of each cultural value The 23 negotiation, the harmonious combination of government and local people is an important basis for cultural heritage to be protected and promote its values in the contemporary society UNESCO managers and cultural policy makers wishing to honor the heritage will be a catalyst to raise the awareness of the state and the community in protecting and promoting the values of cultural heritage From the practical process of honoring heritage has led to many consequences, sometimes unexpected consequences In some cultural heritages, the honor has brought about the view of monumentalism, focusing on investing in the worshiping space, expanding and upgrading festivals, expanding competition activities and associations, performances to match the title This is likely to affect the spiritual values of heritage for the community when the issues of identity, meaning and function of the heritage are not concerned, the heritage is easily changed and distorted Apart from a number of communities that have been proactive and flexible in the protection and promotion activities of cultural heritage after honoring, in many cultural heritages, the process of "nationalization" and "administrationization" has been dragging the fact that the local community is "marginalized" to the cultural heritage that used to be theirs Heritage is an objective and inevitable trend, taking place in every country Heritage itself is a process of expressing the politics of cultural heritage Through the interaction of power, cultural heritage always moves and changes Analyzing and clarifying the process of cultural heritage in particular as well as the issues rose in the protection and promotion of cultural heritage will contribute to improving cultural resources for socio-economic development and international integration of Vietnam in the contemporary context 24 ... administered by People's Committee of Phuc Tho District Accordingly, the People's Committee of Phuc Tho district assigns direct management of Hat Mon temple to the People's Committee of Hat Mon commune... The studies on Hat Mon temple and its festivals We divided the studies into the following groups: The studies on the temple and its festivals viewed from historical perspective; The studies on... important lever, leading to the change of relic and festivals in many ways Here, we only focus on discussing some major changes such as restoring, building new constructions, and expanding relic planning;