National treasures and the journey of spreading heritage values

Delegation from OXFORD University (UK) visited the exhibition of National Treasures sketching the Vietnamese National Emblem at National Archives Center 3. (Photo: National Archives Center 3)

To have the National Emblem as it is today is a journey of endless creative labor, a sense of responsibility for the sacred mission of the country.

To continue to consolidate, establish and expand diplomatic relations with other countries, and at the same time affirm Vietnam's sovereignty to the world through diplomatic activities, on January 28, 1951, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent Official Dispatch No. 87-NG to the National Assembly Standing Committee regarding the proposal to create the National Emblem and National Seal. Next, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued Official Dispatch No. 467-NG on June 8, 1951 regarding the opening of a design contest for the National Emblem of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The contest attracted the participation of many artists from all over the country.

The journey of the birth of the Vietnamese National Emblem

From 1953 to 1955, artist Bui Trang Chuoc (real name Nguyen Van Chuoc) drew hundreds of sketches of the Vietnamese National Emblem. He meticulously recorded his process of creating the National Emblem in his will “I Draw the National Emblem” written on April 26, 1985.

He wrote: “In 1953, when the Ministry of Finance printing house assigned me for a period of time to design diplomas and medals for the Government, comrade Trinh Xuan Con, the Legal Department of the Prime Minister's Office in charge of the medals department, gave me some samples of the national emblems of socialist countries as reference materials for me to sketch our national emblem. Through studying the samples of national emblems of other countries, all of them used rice ears or sickles, hammers or wheels to symbolize industry and agriculture. Regarding the content inside, they used images with characteristics of their country and people.

Based on those suggestions, I sketched some different shapes, also using Vietnamese rice flowers and an anvil or a wheel symbolizing agriculture . For the content inside, I used the image of a bamboo tree or a buffalo, but seeing that bamboo trees and buffaloes also exist in some other East Asian countries, I used historical places such as: Hung Temple, Dong Da Mound, Quan Chuong Gate or Khue Van Cac, One Pillar Pagoda, Turtle Tower... Then I used a circle, a simple traditional shape of our people from the past until now.

Regarding the content, I saw that other countries use their national flags as symbols for their countries and peoples, which inspired me to use the red background and yellow star of our national flag as a symbol for our country and peoples. It is both simple and beautiful in decoration, and meaningful in content, expressing the days of the Party's leadership, the Revolution, and the guiding star.

According to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy (daughter of painter Bui Trang Chuoc), in order to draw the National Emblem, painter Trang Chuoc carefully and meticulously researched every detail, so that the strokes could depict each image most accurately and soulfully. "My father went down to the fields to carefully observe each grain of rice, how the rice flower drooped when ripe, to put it into the National Emblem."

From 1953 to 1955, he drew 112 sketches of the National Emblem with different sizes and shapes. Each drawing has basic and typical images of the Vietnamese people such as: National flag, buffalo, rice field, Turtle Tower, Hanoi Flagpole, One Pillar Pagoda, bamboo grove, silk strip, rice flower... and the name of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

After the National Emblem Design Contest was launched, about 300 drafts of the Vietnam National Emblem were sent to the Fine Arts Department of the Central Arts and Literature Department. 15 drafts of the National Emblem by artist Bui Trang Chuoc were selected by the Fine Arts Department and sent to the Ministry of Propaganda to present to the Prime Minister in October 1954. From those 15 drafts, he continued to edit and redraw other sketches.

“…my final sketch of the National Emblem at that time was presented in a circular shape, surrounded by hanging rice stalks on both sides, embracing the anvil in the middle below, symbolizing industry and agriculture. Below the anvil was a silk strip that later had the words Democratic Republic of Vietnam… I sketched two copies of this design: one copy was given to Comrade Con to present to Uncle Ho and received Uncle Ho’s comments: the image of the anvil is an individual handicraft, so the image should be used to symbolize modern industry. I still keep the other copy today” - artist Trang Chuoc wrote in his will “I drew the National Emblem”.

After being requested to make revisions, by September 1955, he had completed the final National Emblem model, including 1 color version and 2 separate black and white versions, to be presented at the 5th session of the 1st National Assembly. After being discussed and having some details edited, the National Emblem of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was officially approved by the National Assembly. On January 14, 1956, President Ho Chi Minh signed Decree No. 254-SL on promulgating the National Emblem of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, along with Appendix No. 1, 2 printed with the National Emblem designation in gold and the National Emblem without color. In 1976, when the country was unified, the 6th National Assembly, the National Emblem was amended to the National Title as "Socialist Republic of Vietnam" and was officially approved by the National Assembly.

Contribute to multiplying national pride

Painter Bui Trang Chuoc (1915-1992), graduated from the Indochina College of Fine Arts (1936-1941 course). He was the Vietnamese officially chosen to paint Indochina stamps. After the August Revolution in 1945, he was one of the first generation of painters to participate in designing banknotes (bank notes), postage stamps and directly created certificates of merit, awards, medals... along with many timely works serving the country's important historical and political events, contributing to preserving and transmitting the nation's cultural traditions.

In recognition of his talent and contributions, the Party and State of Vietnam awarded him noble awards: First-class Medal of Resistance against America for National Salvation (1988); Second-class Labor Medal (1988); Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts (2022); His name - Bui Trang Chuoc was given to two streets in Hanoi and Da Nang city... In 2021, his collection of sketches of the Vietnamese National Emblem was recognized as a National Treasure by the Prime Minister.

Since 2003, his family has sent to the National Archives 3 sketches of the National Emblem and many of his other works. Up to now, after many donations, the number has reached several thousand works.

On April 27, 2004, the Center opened the exhibition “Bui Trang Chuoc - Works and creative journey”. For the first time, the public was able to admire dozens of sketches of the National Emblem, along with hundreds of his works. The Center directly built a dossier to submit to the Prime Minister to recognize his collection of sketches of the Vietnamese National Emblem as a National Treasure.

In 2023, National Archives Center 3 designed a separate exhibition room to permanently display nearly 200 artifacts, documents, and images about the life and career of the late painter Bui Trang Chuoc (mainly sketches of the National Emblem).

Director of National Archives Center 3 Tran Viet Hoa said: We determined that the Collection of sketches of the Vietnamese National Emblem should be given due attention and placed in a very solemn position. Therefore, the Center has built a separate room with full modern equipment for the public to admire and learn about history and culture through the sketches. After 2 years of operation, the exhibition room has welcomed thousands of domestic and foreign visitors. Among them are many leaders of embassies and archives around the world.

The Center also compiled a number of books about his life and works such as: "The famous painter Bui Trang Chuoc and his masterpieces through the years"; "National Treasure Sketch of the Vietnamese National Emblem". The Center coordinated to provide documents to many units to serve the exhibition activities to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day September 2. All are the efforts of archivists in preserving and promoting the value of heritage to the public at home and abroad, contributing to multiplying national pride.

THANH DUNG

Source: https://nhandan.vn/bao-vat-quoc-gia-va-hanh-trinh-lan-toa-gia-tri-di-san-post905197.html