King's Press and Selfie

The golden seal "Hoang De Chi Bao" - which was given by King Bao Dai to the revolutionary government at Ngo Mon on August 30, 1945 - is one of the special national treasures. That historic abdication ceremony is not unfamiliar to my family's memories. The guard who received the seal and sword - Mr. Hoang Xuan Binh - is a relative of my grandmother's family, a member of the Hoang Xuan scholar family in Yen Ho, Ha Tinh. When King Bao Dai went to Hanoi to meet Uncle Ho, he trusted and chose the young intellectual Hoang Xuan Binh as his bodyguard and liaison officer.

Mr. Pham Khac Hoe, the Director of the Imperial Office under King Bao Dai, who participated in the ceremony of handing over the royal seal and sword and was later responsible for the inventory of royal assets handed over to the new government, was the grandson of Governor Hoang Xuan Phong. When my grandparents were still alive, I had the opportunity to meet them several times when they visited their home. Poet Cu Huy Can - a close friend of my grandfather, writer Bui Hien - was one of the three government representatives who received the seal and sword. Since I was a child, I have known by heart the strong declaration in the Abdication Proclamation of the last king of the Nguyen Dynasty: "I would rather be a citizen of a free country than be the king of a slave country".

Those historical ties made the trip to see the golden seal not just a sightseeing tour, but a journey of memories. I wanted to inspire my children. But the sacred moment was quickly broken.

That day, a group of nearly 50 tourists rushed into the exhibition room. They talked and laughed, some took videos , some took pictures. Some exclaimed "why so much gold", others commented "it must be full of anti-theft cameras". No one paid attention to the story related to the gold seal. The narrator's voice gradually faded and then stopped. The whole room became a noisy stage, where the treasure was just a prop for the photos posted online.

I was about to speak up, hoping to preserve some dignity for the exhibition space, but then hesitated. Having been looked at with disapproval many times for reminding people in public, I hesitated. I only talked privately with the guide about a few inaccuracies. "I'm speaking from the textbook," the guide, who was probably a part-time office worker, said, scratching his head.

I left the museum with mixed feelings. I was happy because after many years of wandering, the largest golden seal of the Nguyen Dynasty had returned home. It is a precious artifact of a dynasty that expanded its borders, established sovereignty over the islands of Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, and created the shape of the S-shaped country today. But unfortunately, as I witnessed, the way it was received by a part of the public was superficial, indifferent, and even somewhat rude.

Not only as a visitor, I have also experienced hesitation when faced with the choice of preserving family heritage. My grandfather - with his habit of careful note-taking - left behind more than 70 volumes of diaries and dozens of letters exchanged with Nguyen Tuan, Nguyen Hong, Nguyen Cong Hoan... My family hesitated when the National Archives Center contacted to request to receive them. Will those fragile documents be properly respected and preserved?

That worry only really disappeared after a recent meeting organized by the Center. We witnessed with our own eyes the modern storage system, which can preserve documents for a long time. But what made us feel more secure was the understanding and love of the profession of the archival staff. In particular, the fact that musician Hoang Van's collection was recognized by UNESCO as a World Documentary Heritage has strongly inspired many families of artists. Obviously, the memories of a nation will be recognized internationally if properly preserved.

From the story of national treasures to the diaries in the family drawer, I realized one thing: no heritage can live long without three accompanying factors - the owner understands the value, the responsible custodian and the community of beneficiaries knows how to appreciate. When a heritage is just a backdrop for selfies, when a throne is destroyed, it is not only the fault of the museum, it is the result of a lack of depthin education .

To improve the neglect of heritage and antiquities, the solution to handle the caretakers, such as the case of firing the guard at the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, is perhaps only a temporary solution. Heritage cannot just be kept in glass cabinets, "protected" by a few cameras and red velvet ropes. Heritage needs to live in awareness, in education, in family stories, and above all, in people's hearts.

When history is framed in a dry curriculum, when explanations are just model texts, any treasure will turn to stone, alien to the people. A society that lacks the ability to connect with the values passed down from previous generations will find it difficult to build the consensus, courage and cultural depth necessary for development. Without the support of cultural pillars, socio -economic goals can easily become distant, lost, and lifeless.

And to do that, every legacy - whether it's a two-hundred-year-old seal or a handwritten piece of music, a family diary - needs to be recognized for its true value, told with all the objectivity of a community that knows who it is, where it comes from, and where it wants to go.