General Vo Nguyen Giap (centre). (Photo: VNA)Quang Binh (VNA) – A series of events are scheduled to commemorate the 107th birthday of General Vo Nguyen Giap (August 25, 1911) and his 5th death anniversary (October 4, 2013) in his home province of Quang Binh.
According to the Director of the provincial Department of Culture and Sports Tran Vu Khiem, the department will host a special music show featuring the local “ho khoan” (chant) singing to pay tribute to the General in the province’s cultural centre on August 18.
“Ho khoan Le Thuy” is a genre of traditional Vietnamese music, originating from Le Thuy district, Quang Binh where General Vo Nguyen Giap was born. The chants are typically sung by groups, with one person setting the tune and the rest singing the chorus, to both entertain and encourage people in their work.
The show will be a tribute of Quang Binh’s people to their general who they admire and at the same time, promote and preserve the traditional values of “ho khoan Le Thuy,” which has been recognised as part of the national intangible cultural heritage, Khiem said.
The event is also intended to give young people a better understanding of the great sacrifice of people who served the nation during the struggle for independence.
On General Vo Nguyen Giap’s birthday August 25, Le Thuy district will hold another music show staging popular songs about the General and “ho khoan Le Thuy” singing.
The district will organize a photo exhibition on local tourism potential, swimming and boat races in Kien Giang River, and a volleyball competition on the occasion, while the district’s authority will visit and present gifts to local policy beneficiaries and veterans.
General Giap was the Commander-in-Chief of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign that helped end Vietnam’s nine-year resistance war against French colonialists in 1954.
He was born in 1911 in Loc Thuy commune, Le Thuy district and passed away in Hanoi on October 4, 2013 at the age of 103.
The general was an eminent disciple of President Ho Chi Minh and the first General and Commander-in-Chief of the Vietnam People’s Army.
Serving the nation for more than eight decades, he was loved and respected by Vietnamese people and international friends and is viewed as a hero to generations of officers and soldiers nationwide.-VNA
VNA
