Discovered the oldest stone stele in Vietnam

Stone steles dating from 314 and 450 have just been discovered in Thuan Thanh, Bac Ninh. This is considered the oldest stone steles discovered in Vietnam to date.

Recently, Dr. Le Viet Nga, Director of Bac Ninh Provincial Museum said: "Bac Ninh has just discovered a stone stele dating from 314 to 450 in Thanh Hoai village, Thanh Khuong commune, Thuan Thanh district (Bac Ninh). This is considered the oldest stone stele in Vietnam discovered to date."

The newly discovered stone stele is a pointed type, with a special shape, unlike any stele found before. The structure of the stele consists of two parts: the stele body and the stele base. The stele body is made of a large stone slab, the forehead of the stele is chiseled at both ends into a triangle shape. The stele base is a rectangular block of stone. It is possible that due to the strong shock of bombs during the war, the stele was broken in half. If the stele is still intact as it was originally, the size of the stele body is nearly 2m high, nearly 1m wide, 15cm thick; the stele base is 1.36m long, 1m wide, 30cm high.

Newly discovered ancient stone tablet.

Due to its early date, the stele is old and pitted. Currently, there are about 300 characters still readable on both sides of the stele. Each side is written in a different style. The first side has the date Kien Hung 2nd year (314) with about 120 characters written in Le Thu style; the second side has the date Tong Nguyen Gia Chap 7th year (450) with about 150 characters written in Khai Thu style. The characters on both sides are deeply and clearly engraved.

Previously, in 2012, also in Bac Ninh, a stele of relics dating back 601 years was discovered.

According to some officials of the Research and Collection Department of Bac Ninh Museum, in 2004, when Mr. Nguyen Van Duc - a resident of Xuan Quan village (Tri Qua commune, Thuan Thanh, Bac Ninh) was digging for bricks at a depth of about 2m in the area behind Dong Quan pagoda, he found the above-mentioned ancient stele. According to Mr. Duc, when they were first brought up, the two stele were placed close together and bonded by a special material, and it took a lot of effort to separate them with a spade. And in 2012, the stele was handed over to Bac Ninh Museum by Hue Trach pagoda and Mr. Duc.

That stele is a unique tangible cultural heritage engraved about Thien Chung pagoda, a place name of Long Bien district, Giao Chau land, contributing significantly to proving the identification of the place name Long Bien as well as the name Thien Chung pagoda appearing under the Northern domination in the 7th century.

According to historians, these are the two oldest steles in Vietnam and have great cultural and historical value.

Many researchers believe that the successive discovery of ancient stone steles dating back to earlier times further confirms that the land of Bac Ninh today, which was formerly Kinh Bac, is the cradle of Vietnamese culture.

According to Baomoi.Com