Talking about General Vo Nguyen Giap, everybody shows their great admiration, fondness and pride for a hero, a General, an excellent eldest brother of Vietnam people’s Army. In these days, while whole Vietnamese people and foreigners mourned for the death of General Vo Nguyen Giap, the Museum of the Cultures of Vietnam’s ethnic groups also remember and had the honor with the 4 times visit from General Vo Nguyen Giap.
In the first time on 14thNovember 1971, General Vo Nguyen Giap visited the Viet Bac museum (now Museum of the Cultures of Vietnam’s ethnic groups) and looked back revolutionary process. General wrote: “we visit the Viet Bac museum and review glorious tradition of the Vietnamese nation; we all the more have to believe that people of Viet Bac’s ethnic groups will advance forever on revolutionary way to contribute to construct, liberate people and build socialism of Vietnam country.” The words of General Vo Nguyen Giap are both pride and advice for the museum’s officers about patriotic tradition that the museum in general and Viet Bac people in particular have to conserve and to promote.
In the second time , the museum is welcomed General Vo Nguyen Giap to visit an exhibition spaces of the museum at Van Ho cultural center–Ha Noi galleryin September 1990.
In the third time , general Vo Nguyen Giap and delegation attended 30 years–anniversary of establishment the Museum of the Cultures of Vietnam’s ethnic groupson 19th December 1990.
In the fourth time on 13th August 1998, General Vo Nguyen Giap and the veteran cadres visited again the museum. The advices and encouragements of General were saved in commemorative register and in popularity: “to acclaim the effort of the museum of cultures of Vietnam’s ethnic groups. The objects on display showed feature of Vietnam’s ethnic groups. 54 ethnic groups live in Vietnam territory with the various habits and customs; the different cultures but they joined forces unitedly in order to against natural calamities and enemy–inflited destruction. Therefore, the race thing is that these ethnic groups made a common culture of Vietnam community while they still preserve their national character and voice. This united spirit is expressed in president Ho chi Minh’s immortal statement: “the Vietnamese country is one, the Vietnamese nation is one. River can be dry, mountain can wear flat. But this truth will never change”
“I hope that the museum will exhibit both the character of each nation and the united culture of the Vietnamese nation. Furthermore, the museum should continue to collect and create contents as well as items of the museum with high quality in order to reflect an intensive vitality of Vietnamese culture.”
General’s advices and encouragements still echo in officers’ memories who work at the museum of cultures of Vietnam’s ethnic groups until now. We pledge to work and effort wholeheartedly in order to deserve with the hope and wish of General. That is to help our country develop and conserve the Vietnamese cultural character.
