Suggestions for preserving and exploiting ancient Han Nom documents with unique value

Unique value of ancient documents

The Han Nom document warehouse currently kept at the Social Sciences Library is of high value in terms of the richness of document types. It is a collection of ancient documents with most of the documents dating back nearly 100 years. It is a large collection of Han Nom documents in Vietnam, containing documents that are not available elsewhere (unique value), and has the value of supplementing, comparing, and contrasting with corresponding documents in other archives.

 

  Delegates chairing the workshop

In order to promote and preserve this archive, the Institute of Social Science Information (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) organized the international scientific conference "Han Nom documents: collection, preservation, research and exploitation".

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Associate Professor Dr. Vu Hung Cuong, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Social Sciences Information (VASS), said that in 1954, when the headquarters of the French School of the Far East (EFEO, France) moved to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), the Han Nom documents along with ancient Chinese and Japanese documents collected by EFEO members were left in Hanoi and then handed over to the Social Sciences Library for preservation and management.

In 1980, after the Institute of Han Nom Studies was established, most of the Han Nom books (about more than 16,000 volumes) were handed over by the Institute of Social Sciences Information to the Institute of Han Nom Studies.

The remaining Han Nom documents at the Social Sciences Library currently include 7,029 document units, mainly documents on divine relics, village regulations, statistics on divine relics and some unregistered Han Nom documents. Of these, the Han Nom Divine Relics and Han Nom Village Regulations are the document repositories with the largest number of readers of the Library, accounting for 50% of the number of readers coming to the library every year.

According to expert assessment of document value, artifact value and archival value, the Han Nom document warehouse currently kept at the Social Sciences Library has high value in terms of the richness of document types, is a collection of ancient documents with most of the documents dating back nearly 100 years, is a large collection of Han Nom documents in Vietnam, containing documents that are not available elsewhere (unique value), has additional value, comparison and comparison with corresponding documents in other archives.

With the desire to bring the Han Nom Document Repository into life, serve research activities in the field of social sciences and humanities, expand the ability to connect databases of Han Nom documents stored in many places around the world, improve the ability to exploit and promote Han Nom documents, the Directors of 4 agencies: the Institute of Social Sciences Information, the Institute of Han Nom Studies, the Institute of Philosophy under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the Chinese Literature and Philosophy Research Institute (under the Central Research Institute of Taiwan (China)) have agreed on the policy of organizing a series of annual international seminars on Han Nom documents alternately between the 4 agencies, with the priority given to the Institute of Social Sciences Information to host the first seminar to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Institute of Social Sciences Information (May 8, 1975 - May 8, 2025).

Mr. Vu Hung Cuong said that the Organizing Committee of the workshop "Han Nom documents: collection, preservation, research and exploitation" is aware that this is a rare document repository but there is a limited number of researchers capable of exploiting it in depth.

 

Conference Scene

The conference attracted nearly 40 articles from researchers, scholars, and experts in Vietnam and internationally from many prestigious research institutes and universities in countries around the world and different regions in Vietnam.

The workshop is divided into sessions including: Plenary session, Session "Research on Confucian Han Nom documents and history - geography" and Session "Collecting, preserving, and exploiting Han Nom documents" held in parallel in the morning.

The session "Research on Sino-Nom Buddhist and Taoist documents" and the session "Research on Sino-Nom literature, customs, legends - sacred images and steles" were held in parallel in the afternoon to maximize opportunities for researchers to present papers and exchange and discuss at the workshop.

Through the workshop, the diversity in approaches of scholars and experts through their presentations has initially created a colorful picture of the value of the Han Nom archives being kept at the Social Sciences Library and other places in Vietnam and around the world.

Overcoming difficulties in accessing documents, many scholars have conducted general research or chosen to conduct in-depth research on the value of a book or a set of books, and have conducted comparative research on Han Nom documents stored in different places, showing that the value of exploitation, comparison, supplementation, and the ability to connect Han Nom document databases in the world is enormous.

“The Organizing Committee of the workshop hopes that, with enthusiasm and passion for science, with practical experience in collecting, preserving, researching, and exploiting Han Nom documents, the presentations and speeches exchanged at the workshop will contribute to clarifying the unique values ​​of the Han Nom document repository, assessing the potential and possibilities for cooperation and connection between agencies and organizations in Vietnam and around the world that are preserving Han Nom document databases, forming research groups to cooperate, exploit, and promote the Han Nom document repository preserved at the Institute of Social Sciences Information in particular and in the world in general” - Associate Professor, Dr. Vu Hung Cuong shared.

 

An ancient Han Nom document

Effective preservation of precious heritage

Delegates identified that Han Nom documents are a valuable cultural heritage of Vietnam, with unique historical, literary and intellectual values. Preserving and promoting the value of this heritage needs attention.

MSc. Nguyen Thi Minh Trung, Vietnam Institute of Social Sciences Information, said that over the years, the Institute has had many international cooperation projects in preserving and exploiting Han Nom archives.

On May 7, in Hanoi, the Institute of Social Science Information (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) organized an international scientific conference “Han Nom documents: collection, preservation, research and exploitation”. The conference was attended by many scholars and researchers from domestic and international research institutes.

According to Ms. Minh Trung, a number of international cooperation projects in the preservation and exploitation of rare ancient documents have been carried out between the Institute and foreign organizations and universities over the past two decades, such as the VALEASE Project (France) to digitize French documents; the Project to Evaluate and Preserve Han Nom Document Heritage of EFEO (Temple University, USA); the Data Exchange Cooperation Program with the Southeast Asian Research Center, Kyoto University (Japan); the Digital Photo Library Project in cooperation with EFEO Paris (France)... have effectively contributed to the preservation and promotion of the value of ancient documents.

Based on the discussion of the results and lessons learned, Ms. Minh Trung made suggestions on how to develop international cooperation activities and seek future funding sources to preserve and promote the value of rare ancient documents, including the Institute's Han Nom Document Repository.

Highly appreciating the value of Han Nom documents, Dr. Nguyen To Lan, Institute of Philosophy, said that the Institute of Social Science Information under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences is assigned to manage a system of Han Nom documents including sacred records - sacred decrees, village covenants, royal decrees and Han Nom books.

 

MSc. Nguyen Thi Minh Trung shared at the Workshop

Dr. Nguyen To Lan introduced the history of the Han Nom book collection at the Institute of Social Sciences Information and its current storage status. The Han Nom book collection was formed from two main sources: the remaining part of the French School of the Far East after transferring most of it to the Institute of Han Nom Studies and books donated by Professor Nguyen Si Lam later. There are about 3,500 documents from both sources.

Dr. Nguyen To Lan published analytical studies excluding books that are not in the scope of Han Nom books such as Chinese and Japanese books and other documents that are not books in this collection.

On that basis, she compared with other Han Nom book collections currently stored at Vietnamese public units such as other research institutes at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (except the Han Nom Research Institute), universities, national archives centers, provincial museums... to make comments on the aspect of archiving and managing documents between the Institute of Social Sciences Information and these units.

Article and photos: HA AN

Source: https://baotanglichsu.vn/vi/Articles/3091/75431/hien-ke-bao-quan-khai-thac-kho-tu-lieu-han-nom-co-co-gia-tri-djoc-ban.html