Ho Chi Minh City restores statue of King Le Loi, casts new statue of Tran Nguyen Han

Panoramic view of Quach Thi Trang roundabout in front of Ben Thanh market, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City (photo taken on July 12, 2004). The city is planning to put the statue of Tran Nguyen Han back in its original place - Photo: NGUYEN CONG THANH

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has just issued a document approving the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports to restore the statue of King Le Loi to its original state and hand it over to District 6 for display at the district's proposed location; restore the statue of Tran Nguyen Han to its original state and hand it over to the management board of the National Historical and Cultural Park for preservation and storage.

At the same time, molds were made to create a negative copy of the statue of Tran Nguyen Han to serve the casting of new statues when directed by the City People's Committee.

The City People's Committee assigned the District 6 People's Committee to receive the statue of King Le Loi after restoration and preside over coordination with units to place the statue and construct the pedestal according to regulations, ensuring harmony and suitability with the architectural space and landscape of the area at a suitable location in the district.

The city also assigned the management board of the National Historical and Cultural Park to receive the statue of Tran Nguyen Han and preserve and store it to ensure historical, solemn and scientific factors.

Previously, the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City reported to the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on the quality inspection of the statue of King Le Loi and the statue of Tran Nguyen Han.

Overall, the statue of King Le Loi is intact. The outer surface shows signs of light weathering. The surface layer of the statue is locally cracked, some places expose rusty steel and many small cracks appear on the surface of the statue. Small cracks (crow's feet) on the entire statue...

Apart from the local damage as above, the statue overall has a solid concrete layer. Therefore, according to the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City, the statue of King Le Loi has a solid structure and is completely eligible for restoration.

As for the Tran Nguyen Han statue, the overall statue is no longer intact. The outer surface shows signs of light weathering, and the surface layer of the statue is locally cracked.

Some places exposed rusted steel, many small cracks appeared on the surface of the statue. The right arm holding the dove was broken off, the sword and arm showed signs of being broken.

At the horse's feet, the iron bars were exposed and rotten... Due to the hollow structure of the statue, after a long time of being exposed to the sun and rain outdoors, the steel bars inside the statue were corroded by rainwater and rusted.

Therefore, the treatment of damaged statues is very complicated and costly. In case of restoration of statues, moving them to high pedestals, the impact of strong winds will not ensure safety.

Tran Nguyen Han statue before being relocated - Photo: NGUYEN CONG THANH

"The monument was built before 1965 with reinforced concrete structure. After a long time of being placed outdoors, it has shown signs of architectural degradation.

The load-bearing structure and steel reinforcement inside the statue are rusted, and many parts of the statue are in a dangerous state," the report of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports stated.

Therefore, the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City proposed to restore the statue of Tran Nguyen Han and display it permanently.

At the same time, the department will conduct mold casting to create a replica to serve the casting of a new Tran Nguyen Han statue to replace the existing monument with a statue with a more durable structure (cast in bronze, carved in stone...). This will be done after receiving the opinion of the competent authority.

Two statues are preserved at Phu Lam park.

Since 2013, the statue of King Le Loi was moved from Cay Go roundabout to Phu Lam park to hand over the construction site for the overpass at the roundabout.

Since December 2014, the statue of Tran Nguyen Han at the Ben Thanh market roundabout (District 1) has also been moved to Phu Lam park to implement the metro line 1 project.

After metro line 1 has cleared the site, the city is also implementing a project to renovate the landscape in front of Ben Thanh market and renovate Ben Thanh market. The city has a plan to move the statue of Tran Nguyen Han and the statue of Quach Thi Trang back to their original locations.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tp-hcm-phuc-dung-tuong-vua-le-loi-duc-moi-tuong-cu-tran-nguyen-han-20240329175253292.htm