Symbol of wet rice and national roots

Implementing the Politburo’s Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW on developing Vietnamese culture in the new situation, Ca Mau Province first came up with the idea and then turned it into an official policy to build a Rice Museum and a symbol honoring wet-rice cultivation, along with satellite attractions such as the “Heritage Route” and the reconstruction of an ancient wet-rice village, under the direction of provincial leaders.

On April 26, the Ca Mau Provincial People’s Committee held a ceremony to announce the establishment of the Rice Museum and the plan for a symbol honoring wet-rice cultivation. The province also allocated some of its best infrastructure to the project, using the former Bac Lieu Provincial People’s Committee headquarters as the museum.

This culturally significant and large-scale project was carried out at remarkable speed. The effort demonstrates that the Ca Mau Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee have translated the Politburo’s Resolution No. 80-NQ/TW into practical life in a rapid, vivid, and decisive manner.

The Rice Museum, the symbol honoring wet-rice cultivation, and its satellite attractions are located in the area of the former Bac Lieu province, a place with deep-rooted connections to these cultural values. The former Bac Lieu province is a sacred land of culture, home to one of the great cradles of Don ca tai tu and Cai Luong theater, the birthplace of the immortal Da co hoai lang, the land of Dong Noc Nang, where farmers demonstrated their indomitable spirit, and the homeland of the legendary Prince of Bac Lieu.

Previously, during the 2010-2014 period, the Bac Lieu Provincial Party Committee adopted a policy known as “Bac Lieu Rising Through Culture.” It was an extensive cultural overhaul aimed at tracing the province’s cultural roots, then carefully identifying and highlighting its distinctive values through the construction of commemorative steles, statues, and cultural facilities. These included the Prince of Bac Lieu exhibition house, the Southern Don Ca Tai Tu Memorial Site, the Southern Cai Luong Theater, and the Musician Cao Van Lau Theater, which have become signature tourist attractions of the Mekong Delta.

Then came the moon lute, a cultural symbol of Bac Lieu, installed in Hung Vuong Square. It added cultural depth to the land and left an impression on tourists. Next, the “Three-Conical Hat Theater” was built, embodying profound cultural significance. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of national reunification, the structure was recognized as a 50-year project.

According to statistics, the former Bac Lieu province had 55 recognized historical and cultural relics, including two special national-level relics, and five national treasures recognized by the Prime Minister. The former Bac Lieu province was also home to one heritage under the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

When Bac Lieu province was merged with Ca Mau province to form the new Ca Mau province, the first Provincial Party Congress identified the former Bac Lieu province as the cultural and arts center of the new Ca Mau province. This was not merely a vision recognizing the former Bac Lieu province's cultural advantages; it also reflected a mindset of mobilizing cultural resources to strengthen the new Ca Mau province's internal capacity. Therefore, locating the Rice Museum, a symbol honoring wet-rice cultivation, and its satellite attractions there helps elevate and deepen the province’s cultural and arts center.

Notably, the policy adopted by the Ca Mau Provincial Party Committee and People’s Committee has resonated with many people's feelings and aspirations. They see these efforts as a way of paying tribute to their ancestors and roots, while mobilizing cultural values for the future.

Since ancient times, our nation has regarded rice grain as a precious gem bestowed by heaven and earth, imbued with profound spiritual significance, for it embodies so many noble values. Ten thousand years ago, humans embarked on an agricultural revolution that would transform the world as we know it today. Rice was one of the five major grains selected as a staple food for domestication and cultivation of crops, the organization of production, and the formation of rural societies, enabling humanity to evolve beyond a primitive existence based on instinctive hunting and gathering.

For Viet Nam, the extremely important thing is that from this tiny grain of rice, people created a wet rice agricultural civilization. Viet Nam thus became one of the countries with one of the oldest histories of wet rice civilization, positioned on the map of Asian wet rice civilizations, specifically as one of the most important cradles of this civilization in Southeast Asia.

At the pinnacle of wet rice civilization are vast alluvial fields, providing the full range of nutrients needed to nurture and unleash the nation’s inner strength. The Mekong Delta is precisely such a land. With nothing more than the rice grain, our ancestors expanded the nation’s territory to Ca Mau without the need for swords or spears.

We can imagine that when the 24-meter-high Three Rice Grains symbol rises, it will create a monumental form in the landscape, embodying the reverence for the rice grain and meeting the generations-long aspiration of the Vietnamese people to cherish it as something sacred.

Moreover, the three rice grains stacked on top of one another represent the rice plant’s growth cycle: the milky grain, the ripening golden grain, and the germinating grain. This evokes for viewers the vigorous vitality of the rice plant and the rice-growing profession.

It is precisely for this reason that honoring the rice grain is also honoring our ancestors, a duty rooted in the moral values of being human. Thus, Ca Mau province’s policy represents a return to and a reminder of our ancestors and roots while also helping the Resolution quickly become embedded in everyday life.

As for the symbol honoring wet-rice cultivation, beyond the creative talent of architect Duong Hoang Le, who achieved a remarkable feat with the design of the Three-Conical Hat Theater in the former Bac Lieu province, the project also reflects the combined vision of people who love their homeland, seeking to create a cultural structure that is itself a work of art. Embedded within the symbol are numerous stories about wet-rice civilization and wet-rice culture.

The three rice grains also represent the three main ethnic groups that have contributed to building the wet-rice civilization in the Mekong Delta and Ca Mau, including Viet, Khmer, and Kinh. Viewed as a whole, the Three Rice Grains symbol resembles a white stork standing in a vast green rice field in Vinh Loi and Ca Mau. It is an immensely familiar and evocative image that will touch the hearts of Vietnamese people with farming roots. Rising majestically amid the countryside, the Three Rice Grains symbol will remind local people of their homeland and roots.

The planned functions inside the Three Rice Grains symbol are as follows: the Germinating Grain will display OCOP products, delicious rice, souvenirs, coffee, and other goods. The Golden Grain and Milky Grain are expected to display traditional agricultural tools, as well as paintings and photographs featuring farmers, rice plants, and natural landscapes with storks and herons.

Of particular significance is its strategic location adjacent to National Highway 1A, in one of the earliest villages established during the land-reclamation period for rice cultivation, where rice farming has remained a stable livelihood to this day despite changing times. This location will deepen our understanding of the potential to preserve and develop culture.

This strategic location has also given the Ca Mau Provincial People’s Committee the idea of developing satellite cultural projects. If the Ca Mau Rice Museum, located in Bac Lieu Ward, serves as a “static” center, the Three Rice Grains symbol will serve as a “dynamic” center for experiences. Ca Mau plans to develop satellite sites around the Three Rice Grains center to promote regional connectivity, including a “Heritage Route” that will connect cultural sites to the Three Rice Grains center and to the province’s cultural and arts center.

The Heritage Route will connect renowned cultural and tourist destinations such as the Vinh Hung Ancient Tower, the Uncle Ho Worshiping Temple in Chau Thoi, Giac Hoa Pagoda, Khmer pagodas, and Hung Thien Pagoda in Hung Hoi Commune. From there, it connects to historical and cultural destinations around the cultural and arts center, including the Prince of Bac Lieu House complex and the wind farms.

The Ca Mau Rice Museum emerges, the symbol honoring wet-rice cultivation emerges, and its satellite attractions will eventually emerge as well. Together with the cultural expressions embodying the distinctive soul of this land, inherited from the former Bac Lieu’s “Rising Through Culture” initiative, they will make life in this region more vibrant and distinctive.