On the afternoon of November 23, the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province held a ceremony to receive the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Documentary Heritage Certificate for "The reliefs on nine bronze cauldrons in the Hue Royal Palace", announced the completion of the "Project for the overall conservation and restoration of Thai Hoa Palace" and broke ground for the "Restoration and restoration of Can Chanh Palace". These events are a strong affirmation of the role of heritage in connecting the past, present and future, while spreading Vietnamese cultural values to the world.
Attending the event were Comrade Le Thanh Long, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister; Comrade Nguyen Khoa Diem, Former Member of the Politburo, Former Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Former Head of the Central Committee's Ideology and Culture Commission; Comrade Hoang Dao Cuong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Mr. Jonathan Wallace Baker, Chief Representative of the UNESCO Office in Vietnam; Comrade Le Truong Luu, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Comrade Nguyen Van Phuong, Chairman of the People's Committee of Thua Thien Hue province; ...
Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long participates in a series of events
Received UNESCO certificate
Hue is honored to be the first locality in the country to have a heritage recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage (Complex of Hue Monuments, 1993) and is also the place that owns the first intangible heritage of Vietnam to be included in the list of Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (Hue Royal Court Music, 2003). Up to now, Thua Thien Hue is the locality with the largest number of world heritages in Vietnam. This is a clear demonstration of the richness and diversity of the cultural heritage system of global value in the land of the ancient capital.
Mr. Nguyen Van Phuong pledged that Thua Thien Hue will continue to synchronously and effectively implement international programs and action plans and those of the Vietnamese Government on preserving and promoting the value of cultural heritage.
“UNESCO’s recognition of “The reliefs on the nine bronze cauldrons in the Hue Imperial Palace” as a World Documentary Heritage once again affirms the stature and historical value of the Nine Cauldrons in the world’s cultural heritage, and at the same time brings Thua Thien Hue the position of the only locality with 08 heritages recognized by UNESCO,” emphasized Chairman of the People’s Committee of Thua Thien Hue province Nguyen Van Phuong.
Chief Representative of UNESCO Office in Vietnam Jonathan Wallace Baker said that at the 10th Plenary Session of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia-Pacific in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Vietnam's "Nine Bronze Tripods in Hue Imperial City" was officially inscribed on the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Documentary Heritage List. This prestigious recognition has raised the total number of Vietnam's documentary heritages to ten, including three world documentary heritages and seven Asia-Pacific documentary heritages. The bronze castings on the Nine Tripods have preserved the values of exchange and interaction between the cultures of Vietnamese society and East Asian countries.
This is also the pride of Vietnam in general and Thua Thien Hue province in particular, contributing to enhancing the status of Hue heritage with the title "One destination, 8 heritages" and is the driving force to soon turn Thua Thien Hue province into a centrally-governed city in 2025 on the basis of preserving and promoting the value of Hue cultural heritage.
Coronation site renovation completed 9 months early
Mr. Hoang Viet Trung, Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, said that Thai Hoa Palace is the most important structure of the Hue Imperial Citadel. This is where the coronation ceremonies of 13 Nguyen Dynasty emperors were held; where the most important ceremonies of the royal court were held.
This palace was built in the spring of 1805 during the reign of Gia Long. During the reign of Minh Mang, the royal court ordered renovations and reconstruction at a new location from 1832, and it was completed in 1833.
Having gone through many historical events, under the impact of time, war, and harsh climate, the structure has seriously degraded. In particular, the storms at the end of 2020 put the temple at risk of needing to be rescued. Therefore, the restoration and embellishment of this structure is an urgent task.
Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long and delegates visit Thai Hoa Palace
On November 23, 2021, the groundbreaking ceremony of the "Overall conservation and restoration project of Thai Hoa Palace" was carried out with a total investment of nearly 129 billion VND. After 3 years of construction, with great efforts of the heritage conservation team, the project was completed 9 months ahead of schedule.
To carry out the procedures for implementing the Thai Hoa Palace restoration and rehabilitation project, Thua Thien Hue province has conducted a thorough and methodical research and preparation process and received great support from international organizations, central ministries, departments, and branches, and researchers and scientists in the process of collecting documents, images, and legal basis for implementation.
The court will be restored.
According to historical documents, Can Chanh Palace was built in the third year of Gia Long (1804), and is one of the three important palaces symbolizing the Nguyen Dynasty. Can Chanh Palace in the Forbidden City of Hue is where the king held court, often received foreign envoys, and held banquets for the royal family and the Nguyen Dynasty's court.
According to Du dia chi Thua Thien-Hue, Can Chanh palace is located on a nearly 1 meter high foundation, with brick and Thanh stone pavements, covering an area of nearly 1,000 square meters; the main palace has 5 compartments and 2 double wings, the front palace has 7 compartments and 2 single wings. The frame consists of 80 ironwood columns, most of the wooden structures are intricately and elaborately carved.
Can Chanh Palace now only has the foundation left.
In the palace, in the middle of the main house is the throne, on the columns on both sides hang mirror paintings depicting the beautiful scenery of the capital and maps of the provinces in the country. The palace is also a place to display many treasures of the Nguyen Dynasty. Under the Nguyen Dynasty, the palace was renovated in 1827, 1850, 1899 and under the reign of King Khai Dinh, it was repainted and gilded in the early 20th century.
Speaking at the launch of the project "Restoration, restoration and embellishment of Can Chanh Palace", Mr. Hoang Viet Trung said that in February 1947, the palace was completely destroyed, leaving only the foundation. After more than 60 years of research, especially from 2000 to 2024, the research and restoration of Can Chanh Palace has recorded many valuable contributions and documents from members of the National Heritage Council, UNESCO experts and domestic and foreign researchers.
The Can Chanh power plant restoration and rehabilitation project will last 4 years and cost nearly 200 billion VND.
Up to now, the research has had enough scientific basis and legal basis to implement the project to restore this important temple.
Mr. Hoang Viet Trung affirmed that the project will strive to restore the overall interior and exterior architecture and landscape of Can Chanh Palace with a nature close to the original. The project has a budget of nearly 200 billion VND and is expected to be completed in 4 years. The Hue Monuments Conservation Center will be determined and make efforts to implement the work of preserving and restoring Can Chanh Palace with the highest quality.
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