In addition to the documents published and preserved by local cultural and conservation agencies, there are still many Chinese documents preserved in families, clans as well as in the field in Nui Thanh, Phu Ninh districts and Tam Ky city. These documents are associated with the names of some ancient villages in Ha Dong district, Tam Ky prefecture during the feudal period.
The documents mentioned here are royal decrees, certificates, administrative transaction documents, land deeds, land registers and clan records; stone and wood carvings in communal houses, temples, pagodas, clan churches, and most of all on ancient tombs...
In Nui Thanh
In the ancient villages/communes of Tich An Dong, Phu Hung, Khuong My, Bich Ngo, and Thach Kieu (now Tam Xuan 1 and Tam Xuan 2 communes), there are very remarkable Chinese documents.
The collection of documents in Tich An Dong village includes many documents related to the activities of "Chu Tuong" (boat building village) from the Gia Long period to the Tu Duc period. Through this collection of documents, we can also know the situation of mobilizing local people to participate in "tuong binh" (soldiers and boat builders) in the "Chu Tuong thuoc" in the locality and the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty. This collection of documents also shows the process of forming "Tich An Dong ward" to "Tich An Dong commune" (belonging to Chu Tuong) which was later changed to Tich Dong village/commune after the establishment of Tam Ky prefecture (1906).
In Phu Binh hamlet, Phu Hung village, there are still four steles engraved with the content of the royal decree "Phu Hung village's ancestors" on the graves of four ancestors Nguyen, Tran, Le, Do. The Tran clan temple (Phu Binh hamlet, Tam Xuan 1 commune) is preserving the original royal decree issued by the Duy Tan dynasty to the ancestors of the Tran family. This is the only original royal decree found in the land south of the Tam Ky river.
The collection of documents in Khuong My village has more than 20 documents including degrees, royal decrees, and documents about the career of a villager (Mr. Tran Hung Nhuong) during the reigns of the kings Minh Mang, Thieu Tri, and Tu Duc. Notably, in this collection of documents, there are two poems written by Prince Hong Nham (later King Tu Duc) himself for Mr. Nhuong - who was once his teacher.
In Phu Ninh
On the land of the old Khanh Tho village (now in Tam Thai commune and part of Tam Dan commune), in addition to the stele telling the story of the establishment of Bao Thuan pagoda in Khanh Tho village and the stele engraved with the mother's mourning text by Royal Historian Phan Van Xuong (introduced on Quang Nam weekend on May 13-14, 2023), there is also a large stone stele on the head of the grave of Mrs. Pham Thi Luc, born in the year of At Hoi - 1755 and died in the year of Dinh Mao - 1807.
This stele has a 17-line inscription of about 384 Chinese characters stating that she was the wife of the Hiep Thu officer who managed Hiep Hoa port (An Hoa gate) during the Nguyen Dynasty. The inscription also provides some information about the situation of the people in Ha Dong - Tam Ky region in the years 1788 - 1789 (Tay Son Dynasty).
In Gia Tho hamlet, Tu Trang village (now Tam An 2 commune), on the wall of the ancient temple "Tuong Quan Tu" (general's temple) there is a wooden board engraved with an article telling the story of changing the name of Cay Dua hamlet to Gia Tho and talking about the customs and success of the villagers, especially the family of the Vice-Chancellor Nguyen Duc.
In Chien Dan village (now Tam Dan commune), in addition to the inscriptions on stone steles and wooden boards erected at the village's Temple of Literature (later brought to Tam Ky Confucius Temple for preservation), there are also horizontal lacquered boards and parallel sentences placed in the Chien Dan inner temple and especially a wooden board in the nearby "White Temple". Through this merit board, we can know more or less about the population situation of Chien Dan village in the mid-19th century.
At the house of the descendant of Nguyen Duc (now in Quan Ruong, Tam Dan commune), there is a horizontal lacquered board, hanging in front of the altar, engraved with a seven-word quatrain poem. According to the author of this article's research, it is possible that this was composed by Nguyen when he was preparing to retire in his hometown after his time as a mandarin in the royal court.
In An Thien village, Tam An commune, there is a family that still keeps a very beautiful horizontal plaque "Tiet hanh kha phong".
In Tam Ky
Stone carvings in the inner city of Tam Ky (formerly Tam Ky commune, Tu Ban hamlet and neighboring villages/communes) are found quite a lot on ancient tombs such as Mrs. Thuc Duc's tomb, Mr. Ho Duc Bao's tomb, and Mr. Nguyen Dai Lang's tomb (these three tombs have been relocated due to residential planning). Currently, two very good quatrains are still found on the tomb of Mr. and Mrs. Huynh Hoan Nhan in Binh An Bach Cau village (later changed to Duong An village, now in An Son ward).
The area of Phu Quy Thuong village (now Quy Thuong hamlet, Tam Phu commune) still has inscriptions on a stone stele erected during the reign of King Tu Duc (now erected in the newly built communal house on the old relic site), the content not only shows the living conditions of the people, but also has two details: the village had a naval officer who once held the position of Tan Thu Tan Bien Da Nang and a civil officer with a bachelor's degree who worked in the Hue Imperial Academy. Both of these men lived and worked in the mid-19th century, during the reign of King Tu Duc.
The Chinese script documents preserved in the village communal house, family church and private houses in Tam Ky city are quite rich. In addition to the horizontal boards engraved with the content of the Nguyen Dynasty's royal decrees of praise such as "Thuong Dang Than" (for the Thanh Hoang of Phuong Hoa village), "Tho Dan" (in Tra Cai hamlet and Doan Trai village), there are also royal decrees of the Nguyen Dynasty granted to famous figures such as Mr. Doan Van Xuan - the first mandarin of Ha Dong land (Quang Phu village), Mr. Nguyen Van Xan - who held the position of Son Phong Su of Quang Nam (Quang Phu village).
In a private house in Hoa Huong ward, there are still many administrative documents of Tam Ky commune and Tu Ban village (Van market area - Tam Ky in the past), through which we know many aspects of the commercial, cultural and administrative activities of the residents in the center of the old Tam Ky prefecture.
And documents about naval officers
In Nui Thanh, in addition to the famous documents about Mr. Tran Van Thai - a senior naval officer of the Tay Son and Gia Long dynasties, there are also documents about two naval officers of the Nguyen dynasty, Mr. Vo Viet Kiem (whose descendants are worshiped in Tam Anh Nam commune) and Mr. Le Van Ung (whose descendants are worshiped in Tam Xuan 2 commune).
In the eastern region of Tam Ky, descendants are preserving documents about naval officers Vo Van Tay (from Phu Quy Ha village), three officers with the Truong family name (all from Ngoc My village) and officer Tran Sai (from Phu Quy Thuong village).
Most notably, documents about naval officer Le Van Uoc (from Hoa Thanh Ha village) after retirement were still mobilized by the royal court to participate in commanding militia groups of four localities from Vinh Giang ward (Thang Binh) to Hoa Thanh commune (Tam Ky) with the task of guarding the sea after 1860 - after the French colonialists attempted to invade Da Nang.
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