Program “Village Affairs No 4: Story of Tent” with Tôi xê dịch

Wed 03 Jun 2015, 6 pm
Trung Nguyen Creative Space

From the organizer:

“Nowadays, whenever hearing the words “leu chong” (literally, “tent and bamboo bed”, implying “the royal Confucian examination”) many people are likely to surprise because those words have said farewell to us for nearly three decades. However, about twenty years ago and further, maybe over one thousand years, “leu chong” was dominent our country of “four thousand years of civilization”.

[…] The “Leu chong”, in Vietnam, was in fact a couple which had produced various types of people, both useful and useless. It was these things that had turned Vietnam into a cultural country. It was also them that had brought Vietnam to its extinction. With them, for a long period of time, Vietnam had experienced many bizarre situations which made people laugh, cry and be terro-stricken.”

The above excerption is taken from writer Ngô Tất Tố’s article published in magazine Thời vụ on March 10, 1939 – nearly 80 years later, we can see the same situation. When we (Tôi xê dịch) are preparing for the event Village Affairs No 4: Story of Tent and Bamboo Bed – Past and Present, some would-be participants make comments: “What a familiar and strange subject!”.

Mentioning the story of “Lều chõng” at a time when the annual exams are coming, Tôi xê dịch partly want to a backwards-looking but fresh view to our concerns: Academic distinctions and titles, the role of diplomas and future opportunities, individual talents and social imposition. Through exploring vivid stories in the past, as retold by journalist Nguyen Xuan Hong, a lover of traditional culture who is compiling sevaral books on Vietnam’s traditional culture, such as “Temples of Literature in Vietnam” and “Pictorial dictionary on traditional Vietnamese culture”, the “Lều chõng” will be an interesting topic of discussion for all of you.

“Village Affairs No 4: The Story of Tent and Bamboo Bed – Past and Present” is to be held on June 3rd 2015 at 18pm at Trung Nguyen Creative Space, 52A Hai Bà Trưng Street, Hà Nội. The event is a cooperation between Project Tôi xê dịch and Project School For Kids Vietnam (Xay Truong Cho Em). Participation fee is VND100,000, aimed to cover the costs of organizing the event, and the entire remaining amount will be donated to build schools in Lao Lung Tung mountainous village, Lung Ho, Yen Minh, Ha Giang, as part of Project School For Kids Vietnam. Detailed costs will be public and transparent on all media pages of this event.

Participants can register to attend here.

“Tôi xê dịch” is a social media project on traditional culture designed for young people, founded in June 2012, with the aim of encouraging young people to “travel more, live more”, understanding more about the nation’s values. Tôi xê dịch inspires and encourages young people to take actions in the conservation, preservation and creative promotion of culture, even in everyday life.

School For Kids Vietnam (Xay Truong Cho Em) is a community fund-raising project aiming to build schools and sub-schools in difficult and remoted areas, especially in mountainous areas. The vision of the project is to support ethnic children in difficult areas with long-time effects, by provide infrastructure and educational opportunities for ethnic which leads to a better future, starting with the basic condition that is a school. In 2013 School For Kids Vietnam successfully raised $13,000 to build a sub-school in Phieng Canh, Moc Chau Province. This year, with the fundraising goal of $20,000, a new school is to be built in Lao Lung Tung village, Lung Ho, Yen Minh in the summer of 2015, and to be opened ahead of the new academic year.

Project “Tôi xê dịch” and “School For Kids Vietnam” would like to invite the press to attend and report on this meaningful event.

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