Awakening the documentary heritage

Driven by passion, these young people not only awaken and spread dormant documentary heritage but also create a new model in the research and preservation of cultural values.

As the 2025 Buddha's Birthday celebration prepares to open in Ho Chi Minh City, members of the Dai Duong Sung Phuc Tu (Sui Pagoda) Buddhist Heritage Preservation Office are busy participating in the Buddhist cultural exhibition.

Searching for exceptional heritage documents.

The office brought to the Buddhist Culture Exhibition artifacts such as: several ancient nine-dragon pagodas, robes of some famous monks, ancient Buddhist stupas… Most notable were the Buddhist documentary heritage items including ancient and restored scriptures, Buddhist woodblocks, and rubbings of Buddhist inscriptions… Among them were ancient scriptures that the office members had to put a lot of effort into restoring.

Master Nguyen Tien Hung, a member of the Office, said: “We brought ancient Buddhist scriptures about the five periods of preaching during the Buddha's life. These materials were collected from many famous Buddhist sites such as Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in Bac Giang , Quan Su Pagoda, and Ba Da Pagoda in Hanoi… When we received them, the Buddhist scriptures were severely damaged, some almost completely tattered. We spent a lot of time restoring each page to bring them to the best possible condition, so that people can better understand the history of Vietnamese Buddhism.”

The 10 members of the Buddhist Heritage Preservation Office at Sui Pagoda are mostly young people. All of them have a long history of involvement with cultural heritage in general, and Buddhist culture in particular. Going back in time, more than 10 years ago, Tran Ngoc Thoan was a student at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, majoring in Information Technology, specializing in Systematization. While still a student, Thoan established a technology business.

He happened to receive requests to digitize Buddhist scriptures from several temples. Each time he visited these temples, he felt a clear connection to the cultural flow of his homeland in every dark brown tile, every statue, and every page of the books... though at the time, he didn't fully understand their content. These feelings grew stronger and became deeply ingrained. Thoan and his friends delved deeper into what those books were saying. And that marked a turning point in his life. From a technology expert, Thoan became a "cultural worker."

“We know there is a vast treasure trove of Sino-Vietnamese documents left by our ancestors. However, some groups of heritage within temples are not widely known. People often talk about scriptures or books about sects and monastic orders, but through our work, we have discovered another very important group of documents: the ancestral worship texts. These texts are compiled when the patriarchs have passed away or are about to pass away, detailing their merits and deeds. They provide many missing pieces about the sects, monastic orders, and the lives of the monks. Every time we make a new discovery, we feel very happy and more motivated to continue our work,” shared Tran Ngoc Thoan, Deputy Director of the Buddhist Heritage Preservation Office at Sui Pagoda.

One of the most interesting discoveries made by Thoan and his colleagues was about the Xiển Pháp monastery (a large monastery in the north) and the life and deeds of Venerable Tính Định (1842-1901). Although only a recipient of the Bodhisattva precepts, Venerable Tính Định made significant contributions to translating many Buddhist scriptures into Nôm poetry, thereby helping to popularize the spirit of Buddhism among the general public, a time when most people were illiterate in previous centuries.

The deeper Thoan and his colleagues delved, the more they discovered a vast treasure trove of Buddhist documentary heritage still "hidden" beneath the roofs of temples. Some documents remained undiscovered due to lack of attention. However, many documents belonged to groups that monks usually kept private within their monasteries, only opening them when needed. These documents were scattered across thousands of temples, and many who wanted to study them were unsure of their location. With sincerity and respect for the ancient values of the nation, and as if by an unspoken connection with Buddhism, many abbots of temples opened their hearts to Thoan and his colleagues, allowing them access, digitization, systematization, and dissemination of these documents to the community. To sustain their passion, Thoan needed an income, so he established Vilapa Co., Ltd. (Viet Lac Bat Nha), specializing in religious publications; temple and pagoda decoration; and digitization services for historical relics upon request.

Venerable Thich Thanh Phuong, abbot of Sui Pagoda, is a lover of traditional culture. Having worked with Thoan for many years and understanding the young people's passion for heritage, in 2022, Venerable Thich Thanh Phuong established the Sui Pagoda Buddhist Heritage Preservation Office as its Director. The office's members are Thoan and other culturally passionate collaborators. Venerable Phuong arranged a space within the pagoda for the young people to conduct research on Buddhist and traditional culture. Thoan manages a company to generate income to support her research while also participating in the management of the Dai Duong Sung Phuc Tu Buddhist Heritage Preservation Office.

The journey of spreading values

The Office for the Preservation of Buddhist Heritage at Sui Pagoda inherited the materials that Thoan and his research team had compiled over many years, and now possesses a vast archive of nearly 8,000 digitized Sino-Vietnamese documents, including: scriptures, books, inscriptions, steles, ritual texts, royal decrees, and many other documents. These materials have been collected, classified, and systematically organized for convenient research.

For a long time, research on traditional culture has mainly been conducted in research institutes, universities, and colleges.

Next, this entire vast archive was uploaded to the "cloud." The Office provides access codes for all researchers, professional or amateur. Due to limited funding, each field is staffed with only one expert. For example, Master Nguyen Tien Hung is in charge of document restoration, while Master Le Thi Loi handles historical matters. The Office also has experts in Han Nom (classical Chinese and Vietnamese script), technology, and other fields. During this process, many old, damaged paper documents were restored through collaboration with temples and owners, thus reviving many ancient texts.

For a long time, research on traditional culture has mainly been conducted in research institutes, universities, and colleges. The Office for the Preservation of Buddhist Heritage at Sui Pagoda is a new model in the research, preservation, and promotion of traditional cultural values, bringing together a group of experts and operating on a basis that combines research and business.

Under the guidance of Venerable Thich Thanh Phuong, the Sui Pagoda Buddhist Heritage Preservation Office has implemented the "Sacred Place" project, compiling data including photographs, videos, texts, 360-degree photos and videos, 3D drawings of temples, festivals, and Buddhist knowledge. The office aims to provide knowledge about Buddhist culture to everyone, making each trip, pilgrimage, and Buddhist worship more meaningful. Currently, the "Sacred Place" project has updated and systematically organized information and images on over 2,000 temples. Anyone visiting the website: www.chonthieng.com will be surprised to learn that such a massive amount of work on cultural heritage and Buddhist heritage is provided by a small group of researchers and experts working entirely on a non-profit basis.

To share and disseminate more materials, and to collaborate with scholars to promote research, in February 2025, the Office for the Preservation of Buddhist Heritage at Sung Phuc Pagoda established the Asian Heritage and Culture Club. Venerable Thich Thanh Phuong stated: “Over the past time, the Office for the Preservation of Buddhist Heritage at Sung Phuc Pagoda has provided a great deal of valuable material for the research work of various organizations and individuals. The Asian Heritage and Culture Club was established based on inheriting the research achievements of the Office, while emphasizing the connection and preservation of cultural heritage, bringing culture closer to the public, creating conditions for everyone to access heritage, and providing new ways to preserve heritage through its activities.”

The club brings together dozens of professional and amateur researchers in various fields: History, Buddhism, fine arts, Sino-Vietnamese studies, etc. Each month, the club holds a meeting on different topics. For example, in March, the topics discussed included: Introducing documents about Empress Linh Nhân Ỷ Lan; discussing the manuscript "Understanding the Inscriptions of Bắc Ninh" by researcher Nguyễn Quang Khải; introducing the book "Kinh Triều Bảo Lục - The History of Long Quân and the Water Deities of Lạc Thị"...

Despite having accomplished a significant amount of work, Thoan and his colleagues still have a long way to go. “For example, with our system of 8,000 Hán Nôm documents, we plan to upload them to a digital library so everyone can easily access them. We also hope to install NFC chip-equipped signs at historical sites to further develop the Sacred Places project; or publish some books based on the data we have found. The workload is enormous, requiring substantial funding, while our resources are limited. Therefore, we sincerely hope for the cooperation of the community so that the documentary heritage we possess can continue to be disseminated,” Thoan shared.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/danh-thuc-di-san-tu-lieu-post876963.html