The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has recognised the traditional ceremony commemorating the sailors of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Flotilla as part of the national intangible cultural heritage, the Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People’s Army) reported on April 24.

The newspaper cited Nguyen Dang Vu, Director of central Quang Ngai province’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism as saying that a ceremony will be held on April 28 at Ly Son island district to receive the certificate of the recognition.

The traditional ceremony, known as “Le khao le the linh Hoang Sa” (Hoang Sa Soldier Feast and Commemoration Festival), has been observed through hundreds of years by families in Ly Son island to pay tribute to local men enlisted in the Hoang Sa Flotilla to patrol the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes to mine natural resources and defend the national island sovereignty.

According to Vietnam’s feudal state history, the Hoang SaFlotilla was set up when the Nguyen Lords began their reign in the south of the country. Troops were sent to Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes throughout the past three centuries, since the time of the Nguyen Lords and through the Tay Son and Nguyen dynasties. The Hoang Sa Flotilla was then assigned to control Bac Hai (Truong Sa).

The certificate presentation ceremony will coincide with the organisation of the traditional festival which will for the first time be organised at provincial level together with the 2013 Quang Ngai Sea and Island Cultural Week from April 25-29. A wide range of ritual activities will be held in Ly Son island district and Quang Ngai city during the events, including a requiem for the dead, a procession of the four supernatural creatures, the release of lanterns, boat races, and the launching of replica boats carrying effigies of Hoang Sa-Truong Sa fleet sailors to sea.

On this occasion, a ceremony to receive a certificate of a national cultural-historical site awarded to the communal temple of An Vinh village in Ly Son district will also be held, said Vu.

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