The Red Flamboyant Flower Festival - Hai Phong 2024, themed "Hai Phong - Shining with Heritage," reflects Hai Phong's rich history and profound culture, brimming with tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Coupled with the recent UNESCO recognition of the Cat Ba Archipelago as a World Natural Heritage site on September 16, 2023, the story of the 18 unique gold artifacts offered by the people to General Le Chan, which the Hai Phong Museum has received and is preparing to display for the public and tourists visiting on May 11th, further clarifies the meaning of this year's Red Flamboyant Flower Festival theme.
Accordingly, the gold artifacts, with a total weight of nearly 4 taels (approximately 37.5 grams), included a pair of bracelets, a card, a leaf, a set of betel leaves and three areca nuts, a string of 999 beads, a fan, a gold medal card, two gold badges, two boxes of lip balm, and three pairs of earrings.
The artifacts are exquisitely crafted, bearing the distinct mark of Vietnam's Mother Goddess worship. Researchers tentatively estimate that these artifacts date back to the Nguyen Dynasty, around 1920-1927, and were donated to the Nghè Temple dedicated to the female general Le Chan by a man named Phan Tran Truc. The inscriptions on the plaques read: Trung Thien Thanh Mau, Trang Huy Thuong Dang Than, Duc Bao Trung Hung, Phan Tran Truc.
According to surviving documents, in 1959, Mr. Pham Ba Hung, who was then the caretaker of Nghe Temple, deposited this collection of artifacts into the National Bank of Vietnam in accordance with the regulations at the time, with a total weight of nearly four taels (approximately 180 grams).
By 1976, this gold continued to be deposited at the State Bank branch in Hai Phong .
The exhibition area showcasing the collection of gold artifacts in the Nghè Temple sanctuary, prepared by the Hai Phong Museum, is ready to welcome locals and tourists to visit and admire on May 11th.
After completing the necessary procedures over a long period since 2007, in early February 2024, the Hai Phong Museum received the aforementioned artifacts from the State Bank of Vietnam, Hai Phong branch. The unsealing ceremony was held at Nghè Temple – a place of worship for General Le Chan.
Based on the decorative patterns on the gold artifacts offered to the Nghè Temple, experts believe the artifacts were crafted around the late 19th or early 20th century.
The fact that the Hai Phong Museum is displaying these exhibits for the public and tourists to admire during the Hai Phong Red Flamboyant Flower Festival 2024 is even more meaningful.
With its rich tangible and intangible cultural heritage, Hai Phong is not only a dynamic and developing city, but also a land with profound history, culture, and spiritual beliefs.
VU DUYEN
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