Hue invests in renovating Nguyen Dynasty's 'national university'

In early January, the Hue City Museum of History moved out of the Di Luan Duong relic and the surrounding area to hand over the space of the Nguyen Dynasty's Imperial Academy (No. 1, 23/8 Street, Phu Xuan Ward, Hue) to the Hue Monuments Conservation Center for management, restoration, and promotion of its value.

This is the place that for more than 40 years has been used as a historical museum "reluctantly", to preserve and maintain more than 32,000 historical, cultural and revolutionary artifacts. Among them, there are artifacts that are national treasures.

After the Di Luan Duong relic and surrounding areas of the Imperial Academy were handed over by the Hue City Museum of History, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center has taken steps to prepare for the restoration and embellishment of one of the valuable cultural and historical relics of the Hue Ancient Capital.

Notably, before the handover, many structures belonging to the Quoc Tu Giam relic site had been seriously degraded. The quality inspection results of the Hue City Department of Construction showed that Di Luan Duong and its items had seriously degraded, classified as level C danger, with many structures no longer able to withstand the load.

Based on that situation, the People's Committee of Hue City has approved the project to preserve and adapt the Quoc Tu Giam relic, with a total investment of 108 billion VND. The project is invested by the Hue Monuments Conservation Center. The project is expected to start in mid-November, take 24 months to complete and be completed by the end of 2027.

The project focuses on renovating Di Luan Duong with an area of 574.7 m2, two school buildings on the left (628.6 m2) and right (562 m2). The roofs, rafters, and walls built incorrectly from the original will be dismantled when renovating the relic.

The two left (309.6 m2) and right (308.5 m2) student houses will also have their entire roof and wooden frame systems demolished. The kitchen (172.3 m2) will have its encroaching structure demolished.

The three Chinese characters “Quoc Tu Giam” at the main gate will also be restored in ceramic. Along with that, the gate pillars will be repaired and a galvanized steel gate will be erected.

The renovation and embellishment process also synchronizes the technical infrastructure system including yard, walking path, trees, lighting, water supply and drainage, security camera system, fire prevention and fighting, parking lot...

According to the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, during the restoration process, the unit strives to preserve as much of the original elements and values as possible, so that after completing the project, this place will be a worthy destination in the Hue Monuments Heritage Complex.

After completing the restoration and embellishment, the Imperial Academy relic will not only be a new attraction, attracting tourists to the ancient capital of Hue, but it is also expected to become a museum of traditional education and examinations, a place to recreate the tradition of studiousness, pay tribute to ancestors, organize activities to encourage learning, encourage talent, and honor talented people...

The Imperial Academy of the Nguyen Dynasty was built by King Gia Long in 1803 with the original name of Doc Hoc Duong. In March 1820, King Minh Mang changed the name of the school to Quoc Tu Giam. This was considered a national university under the Nguyen Dynasty to train talents for the country. The school is located in An Ninh Thuong village (old Huong Tra district, Hue city), about 5 km west of Hue Citadel, facing the Huong River. Because the school was quite far from Hue Citadel, in 1908 (under King Duy Tan), the Nguyen Dynasty moved Quoc Tu Giam school to the land in the southeast corner of Hue Citadel as it is today.

Source: https://tienphong.vn/hue-dau-tu-trung-tu-dai-hoc-quoc-gia-cua-trieu-nguyen-post1778387.tpo