1. After the victory on April 30, 1975, our country was unified, and Vietnam became one. That was the dream of thousands of years of our people, of many generations of patriots who rose up against foreign invaders. Right after the August Revolution, Uncle Ho wrote a letter to the people of the South, affirming: “The people of the South are the people of Vietnam. Rivers may dry up, mountains may wear away, but that truth will never change.”

On October 23, 1946, declaring to the people after returning from France, he earnestly expressed: "A day when the Fatherland is not unified and the people still suffer is a day when I cannot eat well or sleep well. I respectfully promise to the people: "With the determination of the people, with the determination of the entire people, the South will definitely return to the common love in the heart of the Fatherland."

On September 19, 1954, during a meeting and conversation with officers and soldiers of the Vanguard Army Corps before returning to take over the capital Hanoi at Gieng Temple in the Hung Temple relic site (Phu Tho), Uncle Ho advised: "The Hung Kings had the merit of building the country, we, Uncle and nephew, must work together to protect the country."

The truth that Uncle Ho affirmed is the truth that the country must be unified, our people must be one, no force can divide us. I would like to add that there is another very important unity, which is the unity of culture. That is the unity of the Vietnamese soul, because we share the same culture and “culture lights the way for the nation to go” as Uncle Ho said.

Now - in 2025 - after 50 years of national reunification, we are ready to enter a new era, an era of bringing Vietnam to prosperity, standing shoulder to shoulder with the world powers. The solid tripod for Vietnam to realize that dream is the "three unities": national unification, national unification, cultural unification. From these "three unities", Vietnam will have a huge energy to enter a new era. I want to talk more deeply about cultural unification.

2. When talking about culture, we must first emphasize cultural identity. The cultural strength of a nation, a country, the difference that creates that strength lies in cultural identity. But how can we have the cultural identity we desire?

Nearly 700 years ago, the great poet and patriot Nguyen Trai, in his Proclamation of Victory over the Wu, wrote: “As for our Dai Viet country, it has long been called a cultured nation, its mountains, rivers, and borders have been divided, and the customs of the North and the South are also different.” The core of that culture is culture. And since ancient times, our Vietnamese ancestors have strongly affirmed that “it has long been called a cultured nation,” even mentioning this before the borders and territories. Culture is the soul of the nation!

As for Emperor Quang Trung - Nguyen Hue, right at the coronation ceremony, he issued a Proclamation to march to war. The proclamation only had 35 words but summarized many layers of meaning and had a dignified and heroic style: "Fight until their hair grows long/ Fight until their teeth turn black/ Fight until they never turn back/ Fight until they never return with their armor/ Fight so that history knows that the Southern nation has a heroic owner".

In the history of mankind, perhaps no military order, no national military campaign could be more concise; and also exude such a spirit of national steadfastness! The proclamation that the great emperor of the nation issued must have shaken the soul and spirit of determination to fight and win, not only of the entire army but also of the entire nation. It was also to protect the culture, to protect the differences of the Vietnamese people!

Our ancestors always had the awareness to protect culture, which means protecting cultural identity, protecting the "absolutely unique" pride of the Vietnamese people.

Today, to move towards a new era, new energies are needed, in which science and technology are very important, but cultural identity is also a huge energy that helps us reach a life that is not only rich and prosperous, but must be a beautiful and humane life that always has a high level of culture, a unique culture, and a culture as a source of pride.

But if the nation wants to have a high culture, as General Secretary To Lam has clearly stated: "Build a learning society, lifelong learning" and that "will only be successful when each citizen is aware of his or her own responsibility for lifelong self-learning; each cadre and party member is always aware that lifelong learning is a revolutionary task with a serious attitude and high self-awareness". Only then will Vietnam have enough necessary energy to be strong and powerful to enter the new era.

So, if you want to learn for life, what should you do? First and foremost, you must learn by yourself. To have a constant awareness of learning by yourself, you must read books. Reading books is the beginning of culture.

Like when we plant a tree, in the spring the tree sprouts and grows, but we must always love it, water it, and fertilize it, meaning we must provide enough nutrients for the tree all year round to expect good results. The nutrients of a nation that is strong enough to "stand shoulder to shoulder with the great powers of the five continents" are culture, and the yeast of nutrition is culture and art. Culture and art make a green tree flourish, and that green tree is the embodiment of Happiness. Or in other words, our nation will have enough "independence - freedom - happiness".

3. And because culture always “flows” in the way it flows, following the laws of rivers: It is integrating, blending, filtering, intermingling and finally “hundreds of rivers flow into the ocean”. That “ocean”, that “cradle” is the synthesis of human civilization.   Going to the very core of our nation, we will find ourselves in humanity. The Vietnamese cultural river has long since found itself in humanity in this way!

The theory of “cultural geography” seems to have its reasonable core. Because there is land, then there are people, and there are people, then there is culture. Look no further, just take the land of Binh Dinh as an example. The flow of Cham culture at an unexpected intersection has met and merged with the flow of Vietnamese culture. The meeting place in the “wide space” is Central Vietnam and the place where they are most closely and beautifully intertwined is Vijaya - Binh Dinh. Saying that is not an exaggeration. Because it is in the “narrow space” of Binh Dinh that culture sometimes accumulates, condenses, blends and sublimates at the same time. The level of crystallization of culture in Binh Dinh is more obvious than in the surrounding area, in the “wide space”.

In culture, “integration” always goes hand in hand with “dissolution” – because only by dissolving can a new cultural quality be created and can resist the law of degeneration. That means what already exists will absorb the new so that not only will it not be lost, not degenerate, but it will also generate new values. That is why I believe that in Binh Dinh, “melting, compressing, blending and sublimation” of culture has taken place simultaneously.

Now, Binh Dinh has affirmed its cultural crystallization value. From the solid foundation sediments have risen colorful cultural crops, cultural sounds harmonizing like wonderful symphonies. Binh Dinh now not only has traditional culture and art, but has affirmed its modern culture and art originating from tradition but flying higher and further.

I firmly believe that if there is any traditional art form of Vietnam that can “stand shoulder to shoulder with the great powers of the five continents”, the first one would be hát bội, more precisely, hát bội Bình Định. There are few traditional arts of Vietnam that approach human civilization more uniquely than hát bội, but my friend, that is another story.                              

THANH THAO