The event drew representatives from the Gia Lai Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Tuy Phước commune authorities, committees of Vĩnh Thạnh 1 and Vĩnh Thạnh 2 villages, members of the Đào family clan and local residents.
Following an incense offering ritual accompanied by ceremonial music, delegates watched excerpts of Đào Tấn’s hát bội plays performed at the communal house within the temple grounds.
Amateur artists presented scenes including Quan Công escorts two sisters-in-law (from Cổ Thành) and Tiết Cương fights the axe (from Hồ Sanh Đán). Organisers said the performances both honored Đào Tấn and promoted public appreciation of Bình Định’s hát bội art.
From September 5-7, the Đào Tấn Tuồng Troupe of the Gia Lai provincial traditional arts theater also staged hát bội performances at the temple courtyard for the wider public.
Born in 1845 in Vĩnh Thạnh village, Tuy Phước district, Bình Định province, Đào Tấn, also known as Đào Đăng Tấn, courtesy name Chi Thúc, studied under scholar Nguyễn Diêu before passing the provincial examination in 1867.
He later served under three Nguyễn dynasty emperors, Tự Đức, Đồng Khánh and Thành Thái, in roles including Governor of An Tĩnh, Minister of Public Works and Minister of Justice. He was conferred the title Hiệp Biện Đại Học Sĩ and ennobled as Vinh Quang Tử.
Aside from his reputation as an upright mandarin, Đào Tấn is revered as the “later patriarch” of hát bội.
He authored major plays such as Tân Dã Đồn, Cổ Thành, Hồ Sanh Đán, Trầm Hương Các and Điện Võ Đình, while revising and enriching classics like Sơn Hậu and Tam Nữ Đồ Vương.
His legacy remains central to the preservation and development of Vietnamese classical opera.