AMONG THE remarkable items on view in a new exhibition on Vietnam’s imperial past are a gilded book and seal by which Emperor Ham Nghi in 1889 formally designated his father’s mother as Queen Grandmother.

Honouring the will of Emperor Tu Duc, he bestowed this official status on Tu Du (1810-1902), born Pham Thi Hang and the wife of Emperor Thieu Tri. In youth gentle, virtuous and a good teacher of children, she was famed in later life for her tolerance and benevolence.

The Nguyen Dynasty’s only Queen Grandmother, Tu Du is remembered in the name of a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

The exhibition “Imperial Treasures – Gold Books of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945)” at the National Museum of History in Hanoi has on public display for the first time 22 golden books, 10 gold stamps and other precious imperial objects.

It provides an insight into the significance of these treasures, says the museum’s Nguyen Quoc Huu, as well as an historical, cultural and aesthetic appreciation of the dynasty.

The book proclaiming Tu Du Queen Grandmother contains just seven sheets, five of which detail her attributes. Its front and rear covers are decorated with dragons and clouds in patterns.

All of these dynastic books are made of precious materials and inscribed with imagery featuring a five-claw dragon, a phoenix and clouds and flowers. Some of the seals are carved in such a way as to honour the individuals for whom they were made, among them queens and princes.

Compiled by emperors or high-ranking mandarins and fashioned by artisans for the Ministry of Rituals, they record important events in state affairs, such as rulers ascending the throne, the coronation of royal family members and the bestowing of titles.

Until the National Museum of History was made adequately enough secure and climate-controlled to store the fragile, high-value books, they had long been kept at the Vietnam State Bank.

“Each of them contains valuable information about imperial history, morality, official regulations and ceremonies,” says Huu. “They portray the lives and careers of the emperors and other high officials.”

Museum officials have laboured in their research to uncover the context of the events recorded so they can better understand the content of the books and why they were so elaborately carved.

“We came to realise that the Nguyen kings always paid homage to their ancestors in gratitude,” Huu explains. “They expressed their respect to parents and grandparents and praised their high moral values.”

Among the first visitors to the exhibition, Almuth Meyer-Zollitsch, director of the Goethe Institut in Hanoi, can’t hide her admiration for the craftsmanship. “This is the work of high-ranking artisans,” she says.

“It’s a very impressive exhibition because, for the first time, these precious books are being shown to the public. They show the history, heritage and flourishing art of Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty.”

Meyer-Zollitsch expects that, in the near future, the researchers will be able to translate all of the books’ texts, which is written in Han script, into Vietnamese and other languages so that others can appreciate what they entail.

“The museum staff has presented the exhibition in the clearest way to introduce and explain the historical context of the artefacts in both Vietnamese and English. But I’m still curious to know what every word in the books means!”

TREASURES

OF OLD

– “Imperial Treasures – Gold Books of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945)” runs through July at the National Museum of History in Hanoi.

– For more details, check Baotanglichsu.vn