In the recent years, hundreds of precious and rare documents stored at the shrines across Khanh Hoa have been acknowledged for their cultural and historical significance.
In the recent years, hundreds of precious and rare documents stored at the shrines across Khanh Hoa have been acknowledged for their cultural and historical significance.
Lu Cam Communal House (Ngoc Hiep Ward, Nha Trang) was built in 1874 to worship the ancestor of pottery trade, Gods of the region, and local revolutionary war martyrs. It was recognized as the provincial level monument of history and culture in 2007. Recently, the three conferment certificates conferred by Kings Thanh Thai, Duy Tan, and Khai Dinh were recognized as the particularly precious and rare documents. Lu Cam Communal House will be provided funds for preserving these documents.
As reported by Tran Van Chi, Head of Managing Committee of Lu Cam Communal House, these conferment certificates were conferred in 1903, 1909, and 1924. They have been considered as the historical treasures of the locality and have only been opened on the occasions of worshipping rites. The open of these precious documents have to be approved by the village seniors and be solemnly carried out in a ceremony. Nowadays, the three conferment certificates’ covers have been shabby because of poor preserving conditions.
|
According to Nguyen Van Ba, Deputy Head of Khanh Hoa Provincial Branch of Archives, most of the documents stored at the communal houses and shrines are the conferment certificates conferred by the kings to these places, clans, and families. It is has been very difficult to open these documents to check and verify due to the spiritual elements. Therefore, except for the documents which have accessible reliable evidences, it often takes time to get the approval or agreement of the shrines and families for verifying the documents. Recently, thanks to the support from the shrines’ managing committees, the process of checking and verifying has been carried out more conveniently.
Reportedly, the funds provided for preserving the recognized documents is not much and has often been used to buy preserving facilities. However, the acknowledgement of the value of the documents by the local authorities has made the locals to be more proud of these documents.
Besides the three documents of Lu Cam Communal House, 87 conferment certificates of 13 other worshipping places in Nha Trang, Ninh Hoa Town, and Dien Khanh District were recognized as the precious and rare ones, according to the Decision No. 1972 of Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee. As of now, Khanh Hoa has had 489 recognized documents, in which 21 ones are particularly precious and rare. These documents are being preserved at 82 shrines and private houses in many localities of the province. The total allocated funds to preserve these documents was more than VND204 million.
In September, Khanh Hoa Provincial Branch of Archives will introduce to the public two sets of documents which were recognized by the provincial People’s Committee as the particularly precious and rare documents. These are the documents about the appointment of the two noblemen in the Nguyen dynasty, Ton That Linh and Nguyen Xuan Thuc.
Giang Đinh
Translated by H.N
