The Vietnam Institute of Social Sciences and the Dak Lak provincial People’s Committee will co-organize a seminar after the conclusion of the 7-year project, “Tay Nguyen epic, the investigation, collection, translation, preservation and publication” in Buon Ma Thuot City on January 8.

The Government had assigned the project to the Institute, to work with Tay Nguyen’s provinces, including Dak Lak, Dac Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Lam Dong, and the surrounding provinces of Binh Phuoc, Phu Yen, Ninh Thuan. It was carried out from October 2001 to the end of 2007 and cost VND17.95 billion.

The project included investigating, collecting, translating, publishing, restoring and preserving the Tay Nguyen epic. In particular, 75 of the 800 works of the Mo Nong, Ede, Ba Na, Xo Dang, Cham, Ra Giai, in bilingual form (including 62 books) with 60,400 pages have been published.

The Vietnam Social Scientific Institute plans to preside at an international summit on the Tay Nguyen epic in the third quarter in 2008 in Dak Lak. This will provide an opportunity for domestic and foreign scientists to assess it as it is considered an encyclopedia of community life, portraying how the ethnic minorities used to live many generations ago.