Artisan Nguyen Dang Che finishes a Dong Ho painting “Carp watches the moon.” (Photo: VNA)

The proposal of the People’s Committee of Bac Ninh to compile the dossier to gain UNESCO recognition as an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding has been ratified by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. Dong Ho painting originated in Dong Ho village in the Thuan Thanh District of the northern province of Bac Ninh. Dong Ho painting is classified by 7 major types: worship painting, congratulation painting, historical painting, comics, dialect painting, landscape and object painting, and daily practice painting.

Vietnam already has 12 UNESCO-recognized intangible cultural heritages. They  include Nha Nhac royal music, Space of gong culture, Quan Ho Bac Ninh folk songs, Ca Tru singing, Giong Festival, Worship of Hung Kings, Don Ca Tai Tu music and folk songs, the Vi and Giam folk songs of Nghe Tinh, Tugging rituals and games, Practices related to Vietnamese belief in Mother Goddesses, Xoan singing, and Bai Choi singing.