Department of Cultural Heritage speaks out about the renewal of the royal decree at Van Cat Palace (Nam Dinh)

The Department of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) has just sent a document to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nam Dinh province regarding the receipt of the restored royal decree at Van Cat Palace, Kim Thai commune, Vu Ban district, Nam Dinh province.

Making copies of national relics, antiques and treasures must be based on the original.

Accordingly, the Department of Cultural Heritage received Official Dispatch No. 1566/SVHTTDL-QLDSVH dated September 12, 2024 of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nam Dinh province requesting the Department to give its opinion on receiving the restored copies of the royal decrees at Phu Van Cat by the Institute of Han Nom Studies (expected to be received on September 17, 2024), with the attached documents including Official Dispatches No. 1040/UBND-VHTT dated September 10, 2024 of the People's Committee of Vu Ban district; No. 33/UBND-VHTT dated September 9, 2024 of the People's Committee of Kim Thai commune and the Request dated September 6, 2024 of Mr. Tran Van Cuong - the head of Phu Van Cat.

One of the unverified royal decrees in Phu Van Cat

Regarding this, the Department of Cultural Heritage has the following comments: The Department of Cultural Heritage welcomes the responsibility and awareness of the people, the head of Phu Van Cat temple, the local government of Kim Thai commune, Vu Ban district and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nam Dinh province in their efforts to search for artifacts and documents to consolidate the scientific value related to the relic, contributing to the management, protection and promotion of the value of Phu Day relic. However, the implementation must ensure compliance with the provisions of the law on cultural heritage.

Regarding the restoration of royal decrees related to Phu Van Cat, the Department of Cultural Heritage stated that Phu Van Cat belongs to the architectural and artistic relic of Phu Day, Kim Thai commune, Vu Ban district, Nam Dinh province, which was ranked as a national relic by the Minister of Culture (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in Decision No. 09-VH/QD dated February 21, 1975, and its name was amended in Decision No. 488/QD-BVHTTDL dated January 28, 2021. According to the scientific records of the relic ranking (stipulated in Circular No. 09/2011/TT-BVHTTDL dated July 14, 2011 of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stipulating the content of scientific records for ranking historical - cultural relics and scenic spots), the Inventory of artifacts of Phu Van Cat relic does not include royal decrees.

Therefore, regarding the restoration of the royal decrees related to Phu Van Cat, based on the provisions of the Law on Cultural Heritage:

For relics, antiques and national treasures, the law on cultural heritage stipulates the making of copies, specifically in: Clause 8, Article 4 of the 2001 Law on Cultural Heritage (amended and supplemented in 2009) stipulates: " A copy of a relic, antique or national treasure is a product made to be identical to the original in shape, size, material, color, decoration and other characteristics ".

Article 46 of the 2001 Law on Cultural Heritage stipulates that " Making copies of national relics, antiques and treasures must ensure the following conditions: ( 1) Having a clear purpose; ( 2) Having the original for comparison; ( 3) Having a separate mark to distinguish it from the original; ( 4) Having the consent of the owner of the national relics, antiques and treasures; ( 5) Having a license from the competent state agency of culture, sports and tourism ".

Thus, the Law on Cultural Heritage stipulates that making copies of relics, antiquities, and national treasures must be based on the original, must have the original for comparison, and must have a license from the competent authority of culture, sports, and tourism.

Regarding the regulation on "restoration", the law on cultural heritage only has regulations on the restoration of historical - cultural relics and scenic spots, specifically at: Clause 13, Article 4 of the Law on Cultural Heritage 2001 (amended and supplemented in 2009) stipulates: " Restoration of historical - cultural relics and scenic spots is an activity aimed at reviving historical - cultural relics and scenic spots that have been destroyed on the basis of scientific data on such historical - cultural relics and scenic spots ".

Article 34 of the 2001 Law on Cultural Heritage (amended and supplemented in 2009) stipulates: " The preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of relics must be developed into a project submitted to a competent state agency for approval and must ensure maximum preservation of the original elements of the relic.

The Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism promulgates regulations on preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of relics ".

Article 35 of the 2001 Law on Cultural Heritage (amended and supplemented in 2009) stipulates: " The authority to approve projects for the preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of relics shall be implemented in accordance with this Law and the provisions of law on construction. When approving projects for the preservation, restoration and rehabilitation of relics, there must be written appraisal opinions from competent state agencies of culture, sports and tourism. ".

Accordingly, the Law on Cultural Heritage only regulates the restoration of historical and cultural relics, not the restoration of national relics, antiques, and treasures.

Stop cooperating with the Institute of Han Nom Studies in renewing royal decrees.

The Department of Cultural Heritage affirms that the implementation of renewing royal decrees to serve, protect and promote the value of relics without complying with the provisions of the Law on Cultural Heritage may violate prohibited acts according to the provisions of the Law, specifically:

Clause 1 and Clause 5, Article 13 of the 2001 Law on Cultural Heritage (amended and supplemented in 2009): " The following acts are strictly prohibited: ( 1 ) Appropriating or distorting cultural heritage; ( 5 ) Taking advantage of the protection and promotion of cultural heritage values ​​for personal gain, engaging in superstitious activities and committing other illegal acts. ".

Point a, Clause 1, Article 4, Decree No. 98/2010/ND-CP dated September 21, 2010: " Acts of violation that distort or destroy cultural heritage : ( 1 ) Acts that distort relics: ( a) Changing the original elements of the relic such as adding, moving, changing artifacts in the relic or renovating, restoring not in accordance with the original elements of the relic and other acts without permission from the competent state agency of culture, sports and tourism, propagating, introducing incorrectly the content and value of the relic. ".

The Department of Cultural Heritage requests the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nam Dinh province to stop coordinating with the Institute of Han Nom Studies in renewing the above-mentioned royal decrees and direct competent agencies to instruct local authorities not to organize the reception of these renewed artifacts into relics, or to use them for the purpose of protecting and promoting the value of the relics. In case the new royal decrees have been completed, the Department is requested to direct specialized agencies to conduct inspections and cancel them so as not to distort the cultural heritage.

In order to supplement documents to consolidate the history and value of the relic according to the wishes and proposals of the head of the temple, the local government and people, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nam Dinh province can propose and coordinate with the research agency (Institute of Han Nom Studies) to provide copies of documents with the stamp of true copy for storage and reference. However, the use of these documents in the work of protecting and promoting the value of the relic must be verified in writing by the relevant research agencies and scientists and must have the opinion of the competent authority in accordance with the provisions of the law on cultural heritage./.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/cuc-di-san-van-hoa-len-tieng-ve-viec-lam-moi-dao-sac-phong-o-phu-van-cat-nam-dinh-20240917104812861.htm