"It is necessary to do both propaganda and restoration of Yen Tu relics in parallel"

After completion, the official dossier nominating the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac Monuments and Landscape Complex (abbreviated as Yen Tu dossier) was sent to the UNESCO World Heritage Center at the end of January. Since then, the three localities in the heritage area, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, and Bac Giang, have embarked on a series of tasks, such as communication work, restoration of the monuments, construction of signs, regulations, rules, etc., to prepare for the arrival of a delegation of experts from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) for on-site assessment, scheduled for this coming August.

Attending the conference to promote the value of the large-scale nominated heritage complex at Yen Tu relic and scenic area (Uong Bi city) last May, Associate Professor, Dr. Tong Trung Tin (photo), Chairman of the Vietnam Archaeological Association, representative of the consulting unit to build the Yen Tu dossier, had an interview with reporters about the necessary tasks at this time.

- Sir, it can be seen that the task of propagating heritage values to a wide range of subjects, from leaders at all levels to cadres, employees of relic management boards, monks, Buddhists and people in heritage areas, is highly appreciated by experts in the current period?

+ Yes, in preparation for this important field assessment, so that UNESCO experts can properly and comprehensively assess the outstanding global values, integrity and authenticity of the heritage complex, it is necessary to have extensive information campaigns about the heritage values to many different audiences, from provincial leaders to district and commune levels in the three provinces, thereby continuing to propagate and spread this content to people, tourists, agencies and units supporting the heritage, contributing to protecting the success of the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac World Heritage dossier.

- According to experts, propaganda needs to be divided into different levels with different requirements. Why is that?

+ At the recent conference, as Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Tan Van also analyzed, he divided it into 4 subjects. In which, the first level is the leaders, authorities at all levels need to basically grasp the summary of the dossier, the heritage story, the number of relics, and the component relic clusters in the chain heritage dossier of Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac; the selected criteria; the requirements for protection and management; the management pressures on this complex of relics and scenic spots as well as some details about the management apparatus.

Survey experts at Sinh Temple, part of the Tran Dynasty relic site in Dong Trieu. Photo taken from the local website.

Second, for the local community, monks living near relics need to prepare at least a preliminary understanding of the heritage story, the component relics where they are abbots and live, the accompanying intangible cultural heritages, and the attitudes and responsibilities of individuals and communities towards those relics and relic clusters.

Third is the relic site management board, this is the subject directly involved in the management and conservation of relics, so the level of requirement is at least to grasp the same issues as subject 1. In addition, grasp the characteristics of the relic cluster, the relics they manage, the integrity, authenticity, area of the relic cluster and the work of zoning and protecting heritage, the coordination mechanism in management between the 3 provinces.

Fourth, the group of consultants will accompany the UNESCO reviewer to demonstrate, explain, and answer their questions, so they are required to grasp all the above contents according to their expertise.

Young generation offers incense to commemorate ancestors at Tran Hung Dao Temple - Vua Ba Temple, part of Bach Dang historical relic site (Quang Yen). Photo: Pham Chien Thang (Contributor)

The Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem - Con Son, Kiep Bac heritage complex is a continuous chain, spread over the area of 3 provinces, belonging to 6 national and special national relic sites. The story of heritage is really difficult, even many researchers do not fully understand it if they do not go deep, do not pay attention to research and study. Therefore, propaganda must be divided into different levels as I just mentioned above, to grasp, so that we can protect our relics and when UNESCO experts come to inspect and want to ask how we understand the relic, what we know about the value of the relic, we know the basic information to answer.

To do that, first of all, the relic management boards must have a firm grasp of which periods the relics they manage belong to, which types they belong to, or what they contribute to the world heritage story of Yen Tu. The relic management boards, in conjunction with experts and with the direction of superiors, need to immediately re-draft those things, then print leaflets, write simple articles about the value, about heritage identification, etc. to propagate to the people. Or we can organize training courses with concise, simple, yet complete and easy-to-understand information and propaganda knowledge.

Ancient tower in Hue Quang tower garden in Yen Tu relic and scenic area (Uong Bi city).

- So what is the current mindset of experts like you?

+ The consultants will accompany the UNESCO experts to demonstrate, explain, and answer their questions. Up to now, the experts have had no problems, they are all very ready, like me, for example, I am ready to "fight" at all levels. They have to ask us and we have nothing to fear.

But the most worrying thing is that the protection of the relics is messy, the arrangements are messy, and many strange artifacts are brought in for worship, that is the most worrying thing. Many large relics in the Yen Tu heritage complex have also been well managed and protected by the management units, such as Yen Tu, Con Son, Kiep Bac, Vinh Nghiem... When we go to see them directly, real people - real events - real words - real relics, I will make comments and assessments immediately.

Youth Union members of Dong Trieu town organized an environmental cleaning at Ho Thien pagoda relic, part of the Tran dynasty relic site in the area. Photo taken from the local website.

Current reality shows that there are two things that need to be done immediately. Localities need to review and re-examine all their relics and artifacts to protect them and keep them in accordance with current laws and the spirit of UNESCO. If you come to a relic and find it messy and sloppy, rearrange it. If the signs are not standard or the English is not standard, rearrange it. If you keep bringing in strange objects for worship, you also need to consider rearranging them.

Propaganda is also very necessary, as today's big conference is very practical for enhancing understanding of Truc Lam's history, of Truc Lam relics, of Truc Lam's value, of the story that our ancestors' heritage left for us, for our future generations as well as for humanity.

Thus, propaganda and restoration of relics are two things that need to be done directly now, both of which need to be done in parallel. Those are also simple, each unit and locality should do it according to reality, according to their functions and tasks.

- Thank you for the conversation!

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