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A
dministrative
documents
signed by the Nguyen Kings
(1802-1945) have received the
certificate of the Asia-Pacific Re-
gion’s Memory of the World Programme.
The decision was approved at the
second session of the sixth plenary meet-
ing of the World Regional Committee for
the Asia-Pacific (MOWCAP), which was
held in Guangzhou, China, in May.
This is the fourth Vietnamese entry
to be registered in UNESCO’s Memory
of the World Programme so far. The
other three Vietnamese entries are the
82 doctoral stone steles in Hanoi’s Tem-
ple of Literature which record the names
of noted contemporary doctors; wood-
blocks of the Nguyen Dynasty; and a col-
lection of woodblocks carved with Bud-
dhist sutras at the Vinh Nghiem pagoda
in the northern province of Bac Giang.
The documents, numbering nearly
200,000 pages, include those on laws,
decrees, edicts and instructions for re-
solving problems in various fields such
as politics, military affairs, foreign af-
fairs, economy, society and culture.
The information reflects all aspects
in Vietnam’s social life from early the
19th century to the middle of the 20th
century. Among these valuable docu-
ments are also those that affirmed Viet-
nam’s sacred sovereignty over the Para-
cel and Spratly archipelagos.
Professor Phan Huy Le, chairman
of the Vietnam Association of Histor-
ical Science, said: “The royal docu-
ments clearly show that Hoang Sa
area, including Truong Sa and Hoang
Sa archipelago, belongs to Vietnam.
This is a sea border with rough geo-
graphic conditions. Moreover, those
archipelagos were under the control
of the Nguyen Kings”.
Katherine Muller Marin, chief rep-
resentative of UNESCO in Vietnam,
granted the certificate to the Minis-
ter of Home Affairs, Nguyen Thai Binh.
The Nguyen Dynasty’s royal documents
were recognised for their diversity,
uniqueness and great impact in the re-
gion and the world.
At the ceremony, Minister of Culture,
Sport and Tourism, Hoang Tuan Anh said
that the recognition once again affirms
Vietnam’s sacred sovereignty over the
Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.
Nguyen Dynasty UNESCO documents