Priceless documentary heritage of national history and culture

25 years ago, the United NationsEducational , Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) honored the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks of Vietnam as a World Documentary Heritage. This is the first cultural heritage of Vietnam to be honored in the category of World Documentary Heritage. This important event not only brings pride but also places great responsibility on all levels, sectors, localities and social communities in preserving, conserving and promoting the precious traditional cultural assets of the nation in the process of integration and development of the country.

Woodblocks (wooden engravings) are wooden panels engraved with Chinese and Nom characters in reverse so that after being covered with ink, they can be printed into text with the content that needs to be circulated and stored. Woodblocks were used quite commonly in Vietnam during the feudal period. Under the Nguyen Dynasty, due to the requirement of circulating and disseminating in large quantities: historical events, literary works, the careers of kings and lords; social norms as well as laws that subjects must follow... the court compiled and engraved many official works, official history to be issued and distributed to many classes and subjects in many regions throughout the country. And in the process of maintaining the activities of preserving and disseminating that information, a special type of document was born, which is the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks, which are preserved to this day. These are original, unique documents that were personally read and approved by the Nguyen Dynasty emperors in their own handwriting before being given to the most talented craftsmen in the royal court to engrave on precious wood to become woodblocks.

According to the assessment of the professional agency: 34,619 woodblocks were crafted and collected from the Nguyen Dynasty (containing the content of 152 books in many fields compiled by the National History Institute of the Nguyen Dynasty in the period 1802 - 1945) is an encyclopedic, invaluable, unique work and shows a strong historical mark. The content of the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks is very rich and diverse, reflecting relatively comprehensively the social life of Vietnam under the feudal period and is expressed in many fields with clear thematic characteristics, each field has quite a large capacity.

Specifically: in terms of history, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks have 30 sets of books (including 836 volumes) recording the historical process of Vietnam from the time of the Hung Kings to the Nguyen Dynasty (this is convincing evidence, contributing to affirming that the Nguyen Dynasty brought the country's historiography during the monarchy to its brilliant peak). In terms of geography, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks have 2 sets of books (including 20 volumes) recording the unified geographical situation in Vietnam and recording information related to the Hue Imperial City. In terms of politics and society, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks have 5 sets of books (including 16 volumes) recording in detail the strategies of the feudal dynasties of Vietnam.

Regarding military affairs , the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks have 5 sets of books (including 151 volumes) that clearly record the suppression of uprisings by opposing factions in Bac Ky, Nam Ky, Binh Thuan and some other places. Regarding legal affairs, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks have 12 sets of books (including 500 volumes) that systematically record the Nguyen Dynasty's institutions and laws.

Regarding ideology, philosophy, and religion, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks have 13 sets of books (including 22 volumes) meticulously recording the method of approaching Confucian classics. Regarding literature, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks have 39 sets of books (including 265 volumes) recording the poetry of emperors and famous Confucian scholars of Vietnam. Regarding written language, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks have 14 sets of books (including 50 volumes) explaining the Analects in Nom poetry...

Woodblock document storage at National Archives Center IV. According to Toquoc.vn

In particular, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblock Document Heritage contains many rare works such as: The famous historical book “Dai Nam Thuc Luc” (compiled and printed over 88 years, from 1821 to 1909); the book “Hoang Viet Luat Le” (also known as Gia Long Law) promulgated by King Gia Long in 1815 and considered one of the two most famous law codes of the feudal dynasties of Vietnam.

In addition, the books: “Dai Nam Nhat Thong Chi”, “Kham Dinh Viet Su Thong Giam Cuong Muc”, “Kham Dinh Dai Nam Hoi Dien Su Le”… are also very valuable in terms of history. The Nguyen Dynasty woodblocks also have a number of works composed by famous emperors (Minh Mang, Thieu Tri, Tu Duc), such as: “Ngu Che Van”, “Ngu Che Thi”. Another notable point is that among the 34,619 Nguyen Dynasty woodblocks, there is one engraved with the poem “Nam Quoc Son Ha”, which is the oldest engraved version of this poem to date.

In particular, in terms of geography, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks have many engravings affirming Vietnam's sacred sovereignty over the Hoang Sa Archipelago. In particular, the original book "Dai Nam Thuc Luc Tien Bien" records events that occurred from 1558 to 1777, through 9 lords (from the time of Lord Nguyen Hoang to the time of Lord Nguyen Phuc Thuan) affirming that the Hoang Sa Archipelago belongs to Quang Ngai province...

After hundreds of years of existence with countless ups and downs of the times, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks Heritage with its immense value is still preserved almost intact. In 1960, under the Saigon puppet regime in the South, all the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks were transferred from the capital Hue to Da Lat (Lam Dong) and stored at the Treasury, then transferred to the Redemptorist monastery. After the South was completely liberated, in 1983, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks were transferred to the Tran Le Xuan Palace relic site (now the National Archives Center IV).

Since 2004, the State Records and Archives Department has allowed the compilation and publication of the book Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks, thereby introducing the entire content of the above rare documents to domestic and foreign researchers with the aim of preserving and promoting their value. In 2016, the Prime Minister approved the Project "Preserving and promoting the value of Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks - World Documentary Heritage."

Accordingly, the project aims to contribute to raising awareness of society, especially the young generation of Vietnam, about the value of the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks; at the same time, limit damage and loss, and preserve the nation's extremely rare world documentary heritage safely and permanently. On the other hand, promoting the value of the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks through innovating and expanding forms of promotion, propaganda, and wide introduction, helping the public at home and abroad access and learn about the content and meaning of this precious documentary heritage, serving historical research, contributing to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland.

Implementing that policy, currently, the entire volume of documents (being preserved at the National Archives Center IV under the Department of State Records and Archives, Da Lat city, Lam Dong province) has been classified, scientifically edited, printed on Do paper and digitized, software created... to facilitate management, exploitation, use, and value promotion.

In particular, in recent years, the public has been interested in and focused on the introduction of the value of the precious Woodblocks of the Nguyen Dynasty to the public. Every year, many exhibitions and displays introducing the value of the Woodblocks of the Nguyen Dynasty have been jointly organized by the State Records and Archives Department, including a number of thematic exhibitions and displays with profound significance, creating a positive ripple effect, such as: Exhibition "National Name and Capital of Vietnam in Woodblocks of the Nguyen Dynasty"; Exhibition "Vietnamese Imperial Examinations in Feudal Periods through World Documentary Heritage"; Exhibition "World Documentary Heritage on State Organization through Periods"...

UNESCO's recognition and honoring of the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks as a World Documentary Heritage not only brings pride but also sets the responsibility for all levels, sectors, localities and social communities in preserving, conserving and promoting the precious traditional cultural assets of the nation.

The Vinh (Synthesis)

Source: https://baohanam.com.vn/van-hoa/di-san/di-san-tu-lieu-vo-gia-ve-lich-su-van-hoa-dan-toc-131559.html