UNESCO 'green lights' restoration of Kinh Thien Palace

Information from India said that UNESCO approved the dossier to preserve and promote the value of the World Heritage Site of the Central Area of ​​the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, moving towards restoring the space and main hall of Kinh Thien.

Will the Operations Department building no longer exist?

On July 24, at the Bharat Mandapam Convention Center (New Delhi, India), UNESCO approved Decision No. 46 COM 7B.43, agreeing with Vietnam's proposed contents on the orientation, vision for research, conservation and development of the World Heritage Site of the Central Area of ​​the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. The approval of the Dossier for conservation and promotion of the value of the World Heritage Site of the Central Area of ​​the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long has opened up the way to clear the zodiac axis, moving towards restoring the space and the main hall of Kinh Thien.

Dien Kinh Thien according to French documents. TL

The reclamation of this zodiac axis has been discussed for many years, associated with the building of the Department of Operations. This is a two-story building, where the Department of Operations (Ministry of National Defense) used to work. The building is included in the UNESCO heritage dossier of the Central Area of ​​the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long. The building is located on the zodiac axis of the heritage site and there are opinions that there will have to be changes to the building to have a reclamation axis, thereby restoring the space and the main hall of Kinh Thien. It must also be said that Hanoi has been pursuing the goal of renovating Kinh Thien Palace for many years. Recently, according to Resolution No. 21 dated September 23, 2021 and Resolution No. 28 dated December 28, 2022 of the Hanoi People's Council, the city will spend 1,800 billion VND to implement the project of renovating Kinh Thien Palace. How to deal with the Department of Operations building when renovating Kinh Thien Palace has also been calculated over many years. In 2012, when discussing how to achieve the continuity of the central axis from Doan Mon to Kinh Thien Palace, many scientists consulted chose to move the Operations Department building to another location. One of the options proposed by Associate Professor, Dr. Phan Y Thuan (Hanoi University of Construction) proposed that another building be demolished to make room for the relocation of the Operations Department building there. The demolished building is a level 4 house on the demolition list of the project to dismantle 58 houses with no historical value in Hanoi Citadel. The survey results in 2007 showed that this is not a historical relic and has no use value. However, this option is considered difficult to implement technically.

Slow down to study

As a researcher who has been involved with the Thang Long Imperial Citadel since its excavation, Associate Professor, Dr. Tong Trung Tin, Chairman of the Vietnam Archaeological Association, said that the excavation has provided many documents about the heritage site. For example, the 2022 excavation discovered over 70 wooden architectural structures gilded with 9999 gold of a high-rise wooden structure from the early Le Dynasty. The excavation also discovered a system of blue and gold-glazed dragon tiles depicted as a unique embossed dragon found only in Thang Long and only in Vietnam. The bronze card "Cung nu xuat mai bai" was a card issued to palace maids who were allowed to enter and exit the inner palace to buy and sell, also showing a part of the life of the Thang Long forbidden palace in the 15th century. Associate Professor, Dr. Tong Trung Tin said that scientists have gone 60% of the way to understanding the restoration of Kinh Thien Palace.

Reconstructing the architectural form of Kinh Thien Palace - INSTITUTE OF IMPERIAL CITY STUDIES

Since 2012, when the issue of restoring Kinh Thien Palace was raised, researchers also raised another issue of gradually restoring the activities at this palace. A poll at that time proposed: "Restoring Kinh Thien Palace in the imperial citadel must be placed within the overall program of preserving and promoting the tangible and intangible cultural values ​​of a world cultural heritage." Therefore, many people mentioned the Quang Chieu Lantern Festival. With the appearance of a spiritual architecture in the Rose Garden area of ​​Thang Long Imperial Citadel in 2014, scientists had more reason to talk about this festival. Professor Luu Tran Tieu, Chairman of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association, at that time also said that this architecture was related to the Quang Chieu platform and lanterns in the Quang Chieu Lantern Festival. However, up to now, there has been no new progress in restoring this Buddhist festival. The recently published research of Associate Professor Dr. Bui Minh Tri, Director of the Institute of Imperial Citadel Studies, also provided some images of Kinh Thien Palace. Accordingly, based on comparative research with architecture in China and Japan, plus archaeological documents, Mr. Tri presented models of Kinh Thien Palace during the Le and Ly dynasties. However, Associate Professor Dr. Tri still shared: "I have no intention of using this research result to restore Kinh Thien Palace" for the reason that a carefully made model would bring a better image and feeling to the public. Based on such research results, even with the "green light" from UNESCO for the restoration of Kinh Thien Palace space, this restoration should still be further studied. We should not forget how the reconstruction of Lam Kinh was opposed, and how it had to be hidden in the word "imitation" due to many details lacking scientific basis. With Thang Long Imperial Citadel and Kinh Thien Palace, we need to be even more careful. Source: https://thanhnien.vn/unesco-bat-den-xanh-khoi-phuc-dien-kinh-thien-185240725233354051.htm