Ha Tinh (VNA) – The People’s Committee of central Ha Tinh provinceheld a ceremony on October 16 to receive a certificate recognising "HoangHoa su trinh do” (The Envoy’s Journey to China) as one of documentary heritagein Asia and the Pacific under UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme.

"Hoang Hoa su trinh do” (literally translated as mapsand itinerary of the envoy’s journey to China) belongs to the Nguyen Huy familyin Truong Luu village (now Truong Loc commune, Can Loc district).

With writings, drawings and maps, the book recorded thediplomatic relationship between Vietnam and China in the 18th century throughjourneys of Vietnamese envoys. It was compiled and edited by Nguyen Huy Oanh(1713-1789) based on documents of previous envoys and historical records aswell as notes from his own journey in 1766-1767, during which he worked as themain envoy of the Vietnamese delegation.

According to Professor Nguyen Huy My, the 16th descendant ofthe Nguyen Huy family, the book was copied by Nguyen Huy Trien in 1887 from theoriginal version. The manuscript has 30cm in length, 20cm in width and 2cm inthickness. The main content is a journey map with detailed notes covering 204pages, describing mountains, rivers, villages, citadels, relic sites andnatural landscapes and communication activities between envoys and localauthorities and residents.

From May 29-31, 2018, the UNESCO Memory of the Worldprogramme held its 8th Plenary Meeting in Gwangju, the Republic of Korea (RoK),attracting 125 participants from 28 countries.

Dossiers of eight countries, including Tuvalu, Myanmar,China, the Philippines, RoK, Australia, Vietnam, and Solomon Islands wereconsidered at the event.

The dossier of the book received 17 votes from 17 members ofthe panel. It meets all the criteria to be recognised as documentary heritageof the Memory of the World programme.

Vietnam has so far had four documentary heritage recognisedat the Asia-Pacific region level, including the “Buddhist Sutra Woodblocks ofTruc Lam Zen at Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, in Yen Dung district of the northernprovince of Bac Giang; the "Royal Literature on Hue Royal Architecture”;and the “Woodblocks of Phuc Giang School” (Truong Luu woodblocks), and"Hoang Hoa su trinh do” in Ha Tinh.

Especially, "Hoang Hoa su trinh do" and"Truong Luu woodblocks" were made and kept by descendants of theNguyen Huy family in Ha Tinh.

The Memory of the World Programme is an internationalprogramme aimed at safeguarding, preserving and facilitating access to and theuse of documentary heritage. UNESCO launched the programme in 1992. It includesthe inscription of significant documentary heritage on national, regional andinternational registers.-VNA