After three years of comprehensive restoration, the Thai Hoa Palace in the Hue Imperial City (Thua Thien - Hue) has been completed and opened to visitors on the occasion of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day on November 23. Many relics after restoration have been criticized for "renovating relics", but the restoration of Thai Hoa Palace has been praised.
Thai Hoa Palace on the day of announcement of completion of restoration
As Thanh Nien reported, on the afternoon of November 23, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center held a ceremony to announce the completion of the conservation and restoration project of Thai Hoa Palace, "returning" the splendid golden appearance of the work symbolizing the power of the Nguyen Dynasty.
After the news and images of the completed temple were reported by the press, most public opinion expressed admiration and praise for the perfection of the restoration work of the relic in the ancient capital of Hue.
After restoration, Thai Hoa Palace has a pair of monolithic dragons (previously placed in Duyet Thi Duong yard, now appearing here).
There are some small questions, such as why were the pair of bronze dragon statues, previously placed in Duyet Thi Duong courtyard, brought to Thai Hoa Palace?
Regarding this question, Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Hai Trung, Deputy Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, responded: "These two dragons were originally placed on both sides of the Can Thanh Palace's steps. After the Can Thanh Palace collapsed, it is unclear when they were moved to both sides of the Duyet Thi Duong courtyard. These are two bronze dragons, the only monoliths made by the Nguyen Dynasty's statue bureau in 1842, and are now recognized as national treasures. Therefore, the general view is to put them in Thai Hoa Palace to both display and introduce the treasures and to preserve them better. After 4 years, when Can Chanh Palace is restored, they will continue to be displayed on both sides of Can Chanh Palace."
Hue restores Thai Hoa Palace 'standard and experienced'
Mr. Ho Huu Hanh, Director of Hue Monuments Restoration Joint Stock Company (the unit carrying out the relic restoration), said that Thai Hoa Palace has existed for more than 200 years and is a typical architectural work of the Hue ancient capital relic that has been preserved intact to this day.
Thai Hoa Palace is not only an architectural work but also a place to preserve textual and artistic documents through the system of literature and poetry on the relic in the form of decorative paintings, which has been recognized by UNESCO as a Documentary Heritage under the Memory of the World Program in the Asia-Pacific region.
Therefore, the restoration process was carried out with special care. Every step was carried out according to the procedures approved by the Scientific Council for Monument Restoration, under the close supervision of the investor and the public.
Researcher Nguyen Xuan Hoa (right cover) and cultural and historical researchers on the day of announcing the completion of the Thai Hoa Palace restoration project.
Over the past 3 years, to restore Thai Hoa Palace in Hue Imperial City, hundreds of artisans and skilled workers from many traditional craft villages have been recruited to "enter the palace". Among them, carpenters were recruited from Ly Nhan District, Ha Nam; the enamel restorers were engineers and painters from Hue.
The team that painted gold, inlaid porcelain, and restored the dragon and phoenix figures on the roof are also artisans who have decades of experience in Hue's restoration work...
Artisans meticulously work on every detail of the dragon and phoenix porcelain inlay on the roof of Thai Hoa Palace.
According to Mr. Hanh, during the demolition process, all components and materials after dismantling were marked, classified and put into storage for reuse. Only wooden components and tiles that were damaged, rotten, broken... and could not be used were replaced with restoration products of the same type.
In addition, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center also conducted 3D scanning of all data collected from the surface of the building; used drones to scan the architecture above, digitizing all 3D images of Thai Hoa Palace with realistic images to serve the restoration and archiving work.
Re-enactment of the court ceremony on the occasion of the announcement of the completion of the Thai Hoa Palace restoration project
It can be said that although the restoration of Thai Hoa Palace is almost completely new, all stages and technical processes comply with standards and restoration procedures to ensure the original value of the heritage.
Commenting on the restoration of Hue ancient capital relics in general and Thai Hoa Palace in particular, researcher Nguyen Xuan Hoa (former Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thua Thien - Hue province) said that the overall restoration by dismantling and then reconstructing is very difficult and prone to errors. Therefore, the Thai Hoa Palace restoration project must be done very carefully, with the contribution of scientists and skilled workers from the beginning; the dismantling process is recorded, digitized, and stored in 3D images very carefully.
During the restoration, there was daily supervision by experts; the work was carried out by highly skilled workers with experience in royal architecture. The Hue public also followed closely... According to Mr. Hoa, perhaps thanks to that, despite "wearing a new coat", Thai Hoa Palace still retains its old appearance and is somewhat more splendid.
The artisans pay meticulous attention to every detail in the gold lacquering process.
At the ceremony to announce the completion of the Thai Hoa Palace conservation and restoration project and to receive the UNESCO recognition of the documentary heritage for the relief panels on the nine bronze cauldrons (Cuu Dinh), Mr. Jonathan Wallace Baker, UNESCO Representative in Vietnam, said: "UNESCO highly appreciates the long-term partnership with Thua Thien - Hue, where the conservation of Hue monuments has been carried out with great enthusiasm and achieved remarkable results."
When Thanh Nien reporters discussed the restoration issue, Mr. Hoang Viet Trung, Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, also appeared very receptive, asking for everyone's feedback and continuing to listen to and absorb public opinions.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ly-do-dien-thai-hoa-nhan-nhieu-ngoi-khen-sau-khi-trung-tu-185241125111535171.htm
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