On the afternoon of October 9, at the regular press conference of the third quarter of 2023 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST), Ms. Le Thi Thu Hien - Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage continued to inform about the process of repatriating the Emperor's golden seal.
Ms. Le Thi Thu Hien - Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage spoke at the press conference. Photo: Huan Tran.
According to Ms. Le Thi Thu Hien, from October 19, 2022 to now, we have taken all measures and made efforts to negotiate through diplomatic channels. Up to now, the Vietnamese side is completing legal documents to prove that the Emperor's golden seal belongs to the Vietnamese state.
"We have negotiated and reached an agreement based on compensation for the rights of the parties involved in property ownership according to French Civil Law. Specifically, according to French Civil Law, those who have owned a property for a long time without any dispute, this property belongs to that person.
That is, to repatriate the gold seal to Vietnam, we must not only comply with the provisions of Vietnamese law but also comply with the provisions of the law of the host country, specifically France.
Currently, we have just completed the license to export antiques out of France and Europe. Through lawyers, the parties are completing the legal documents related to the gold seal and the rights of the related parties, before handing over the original documents so that we have a basis to carry out legal procedures in Vietnam.
It is expected that by the end of October 2023, the legal procedures related to the gold seal in France will be completed. The leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will direct the Department of Cultural Heritage and specialized agencies to coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to carry out legal procedures on the Vietnamese side to bring the gold seal back to the country," Ms. Le Thi Thu Hien informed.
Image of the Emperor's Seal.
In October 2022, Millon auction house offered the gold seal of King Minh Mang for 2-3 million euros (48 to 72 billion VND).
The artifact is named the rare golden seal Kim bao ty of Emperor Minh Mang (1791-1841), 10.4 cm high, weighs 10.78 kg, square face, size 13.8x13.7 cm.
Immediately after the information was shared, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice , the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Public Security and relevant agencies and organizations, sought solutions to repatriate the Emperor's golden seal back to the country.
The "Hoang De Chi Bao" seal was identified by experts as an original, accurate artifact, cast in the 4th year of Minh Mang (1823) as recorded in historical books (Dai Nam Thuc Luc, Kham Dinh Dai Nam Hoi Dien Su Le) and in the minutes and images of the handover of the seal and sword from the French colonial government to Head of State Bao Dai on March 8, 1952, currently kept at National Archives Center I.
The seal handle is cast in the shape of a winding dragon, head raised high, eyes looking forward, steady posture; the dragon's forehead is engraved with the word 王 (vương: king), the dragon's dorsal fin and tail are upright, the tail fin is curved forward, the dragon's four legs are clearly cast with five claws.
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