The “guide” of this historical tour has spent decades pursuing, searching and conquering, creating each special collection. Mr. Tran Huu Tai, by fate, chose Hoi An as the place to place all his assets.
Dialogue with "Kieu"
In 2022, at the Vietnam Record Holders Reunion program, the Vietnam Record Organization (VietKings) established and awarded the record "The person with the largest collection of diverse publications and items related to the work Truyen Kieu" to Mr. Tran Huu Tai.
This man had many special emotions when his name was called. Not only his fortune, but also the publications and items related to the Tale of Kieu are as important as the breath in his life.
Tran Huu Tai said he was happy every time he collected special relics related to the works of Mr. Tien Dien. At CSO Gallery, in the first space, a collection of more than 1,000 editions of Truyen Kieu in Nom script, Quoc Ngu script and many languages published in the country and some countries around the world is displayed. This number is not all the publications that Mr. Tran Huu Tai has collected. If accurate, his collection of Truyen Kieu publications has up to 1,630 editions.
Among these are very famous copies, which have been considered “treasures” by book collectors of the past and present. Mr. Vuong Hong Sen once mentioned in his work “Book Collecting”: “The collection I have wanted for a long time and have not been able to find is the collection “Kim Tuy Tinh Tu” by Mr. Pham Kim Chi, published in 1917 in Saigon”.
And strangely enough, this is also the version that Tran Huu Tai had the chance to find and bring back to his collection. In addition, Mr. Tai's collection of Tale of Kieu also includes the Nom version of "Truyen Kieu" in 1906 by Lieu Van Duong printing house (Hanoi), "Van Tap Kieu Cua Co B" in 1930, "Tap Van Hoa commemorating Nguyen Du" in 1942...
Not to mention, other publications related to The Tale of Kieu, including articles in magazines and newspapers published since the early 20th century such as Nong Co Min Dam (1916), Nam Phong (1919), Trung Bac Tan Van (1924), Nam Ky (1942) were also collected by this Southern man.
The space of Truyen Kieu displayed at CSO Gallery also has 30 paintings of Kieu by famous artists. Even the vases, ancient porcelain plates illustrating Truyen Kieu, music sheets or art calendar publications about Truyen Kieu have become items in his collection.
“I always think that everything, every encounter that comes to me is a fate, a deliberate arrangement of fate. For example, while searching for copies of The Tale of Kieu in an old bookstore, I talked to the bookstore owner. From him, I had the chance to meet his teacher and collect many ancient editions of the masterpiece of the great poet Nguyen Du,” said Mr. Tran Huu Tai.
Preserving culture
Treasures, if kept for oneself, only one knows their value. The hobby of collecting antiques, more deeply, is the desire to preserve the precious capital that the ancients have worked hard to cultivate... That is why the most prestigious antique collector in Vietnam - Vuong Hong Sen, once sent a message to antique collectors, that they should live with professional ethics.
If we know how to appreciate and preserve the historical, cultural and artistic values of our ancestors in each antique, the collector himself will calm his mind and turn to goodness.
Antiques carry cultural value, a message of the era that gave birth to them. Each antique has its own “voice” of a historical period. And the spirit of giving is what Tran Huu Tai chose when he decided to bring the items he collected over more than 20 years of his life to open a gallery.
According to him, Hoi An was chosen because this land is a convergence of many different cultures, through the current number of tourists and its historical journey. A mission to connect the world's culture, history, and knowledge with love from the collections was started.
The representative of CSO said, in the vast world of collections with many themes, CSO Gallery has chosen its own path. The guiding principle is to preserve the culture of our ancestors and explore world history. Like a journey back in time through historical stories, stories of life and artifacts, the past appears vividly.
If the space of the Tale of Kieu is a respect for the precious capital of our ancestors, then the coins stained with time through the ups and downs of the nation's dynasties, and the paper money from countries around the world open up another dimension in approaching history.
Mr. Tran Huu Tai told the audience the story of the Maria Theresa Thaler silver coin in the coin collection on display. Accordingly, the Maria Theresa Thaler silver coin is named after Queen Maria Theresa (born 1717 in Vienna, Austria).
She was the daughter of Emperor Karl VI - the first and only queen to rule the powerful Habsburg empire in 18th century Europe. This coin was first minted under her rule in 1741, quickly becoming the most trusted silver coin in the Middle East and Africa.
And that is just one of the many stories that the exhibits carry, waiting for people to discover...
Nearly a year since its opening, CSO has become a special destination in the journey of discovering Hoi An for tourists. CSO currently has 6 exhibition areas including 77 collections with more than 20,000 items, dating from 50 years to more than 2,000 years. The three main contents of the collections are the national treasure Tale of Kieu; coins, banknotes and stamps of Vietnam and other countries in the world.
Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/mot-chuyen-tham-quan-lich-su-3147343.html
Comment (0)