Society

The family temple in Thanh Chuong preserves 9 ancient royal documents of the Nguyen Dynasty.

Huy Thu • March 12, 2025 17:43

The Nguyen family temple in Thanh Lam commune (Thanh Chuong) is preserving nearly ten royal decrees from the Nguyen Dynasty, which are valuable artifacts in many aspects in researching and learning about genealogy, relics, history...

bna_1(1).jpg — The Nguyen family temple in hamlet 2, Thanh Lam commune was built a long time ago to worship the ancestor Nguyen Sy Hoat and the ancestors of the family (up to now, 11 generations). Photo: Huy Thu

bna_2(1).jpg — This Nguyen family temple still preserves many ancient artifacts and sacrificial objects, especially many ancient royal decrees issued by the Vietnamese feudal dynasty. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_3(1).jpg — The royal decrees were placed in bamboo tubes and tied tightly with plastic bags. Some of the bamboo tubes containing the decrees were intact, while others were broken. To see the royal decrees, one had to carefully remove the plastic wrapping. Photo: Huy Thu

bna_4(1).jpg — Ms. Phan Thi Xoan, daughter-in-law of the Nguyen family who lives next to the church, said: These royal decrees were left by her grandparents and were carefully kept by her husband. Photo: Huy Thu

Through counting, it was determined that there are currently 9 relatively intact royal decrees. The royal decrees were all issued by the Nguyen Dynasty under the reigns of Kings Tu Duc, Dong Khanh, Thanh Thai, and Duy Tan. The royal decree with the oldest date is "Tu Duc Luc Nien" (1852). Photo: Huy Thu

Existing for about 150 years, but the Chinese characters on the royal decrees are still sharp. In the decree for the god Cao Son Cao Cac, it is written: "The decree of Nghe An province, Thanh Chuong district, Vu Nguyen commune, formerly serving the sacred, majestic, handsome and majestic Cao Son Cao Cac, the supreme god...". Photo: Huy Thu

The royal decrees were torn in many places, but the year of issuance was still readable. Mr. Nguyen Van Son (69 years old), the head of the Nguyen family, shared: The elders in the family recounted that during the land reform, many temples and shrines in the area were dismantled to make way for civil works. The descendants of the Nguyen family brought the royal decrees and some sacrificial objects to the family temple and have kept them until today. Mr. Nguyen Van Son added: To preserve the ancient royal decrees, in the future, the brothers in the family will find more careful storage methods, such as avoiding rolling the decrees into tight bamboo tubes, which can easily damage the decrees. Photo: Huy Thu

According to Mr. Son, in the past, the Nguyen family temple kept many boxes containing royal decrees and a book in Chinese characters. Over time, some royal decrees were damaged and rotten, the ancient book was lost, and some royal decrees were just torn pieces of paper. Photo: Huy Thu

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tho - Secretary of the Party Cell of Hamlet 2, Thanh Lam Commune, added: The descendants of the Nguyen family have contributed to preserving and maintaining the ancient royal decrees. These are not only precious artifacts of the family but also of the whole locality. Based on this royal decree, the Bao Son Temple in the hamlet, which only has the vestiges of the courtyard, has been restored and renovated by the local people. Photo: Huy Thu

Huy Thu