Hue ancient capital: One destination - five world heritages
Being known as home of heritages, Vietnamese traditional rituals and culture, Hue is a must-visit place for anyone interested in national origin. So far, Hue is home to 5 UNESCO-recognized heritages of 3 different types i.e. The Complex of Hue Monuments (1993-tangible heritage); Court music - Vietnamese Royal Music (2003-intangible heritage); Woodblocks of Nguyen Dynasty (2009-documentary heritage); Documents of Nguyen Dynasty (2014-documentary heritage); and Royal Literature on Hue Royal Architecture (2016-documentary heritage). All of these heritages belong to Nguyen dynasty, the last Monarchy in Vietnam.
During 400 years (1558-1945), Nguyen dynasty left great cultural and historical heritages. Being the ancient capital of Nguyen dynasty, Hue is home to many priceless heritages.
The Complex of Hue Monuments is a diverse royal architecture including citadel, palaces, tombs, shrines, pagoda, urban areas, garden, etc. Monuments comprehensively reflect Eastern capital in its heyday. Despite war, natural disasters and time, they remain comparatively intact and are being well conserved thanks to the effort of Vietnamese and international friends.
The complex of Hue Monuments attracts far and near tourists
Court Music - Vietnamese Royal Music is also a unique heritage conserved in Hue. In late 1990s, court music was in danger due to the shortage of artists. Court music was then recovered thanks to unceasing efforts of conservation staff, love and enthusiasm of artists as well as UNESCO support. Today, the scholarly music is not only performed in its homeland but also introduced in many countries in the world. Court music is one of the main art forms performed in Hue festival seasons.
Court music - the intangible cultural heritage of the humanity
As Nguyen dynasty specially concerned about education and knowledge, Hue is home to great document treasure. According to late professor Tran Van Giau, the number of compiled works and printings made under Nguyen dynasty is more than the total number of those made under other dynasties. Woodblock, documents and royal literature carved on Hue royal architecture are priceless collections.
Through ups and downs, over 34.600 woodblocks of Nguyen dynasty are being stored at National Archive Center IV (Da Lat city); tens of thousands of document page are being stored at National Archives Center I (Hanoi city); Royal Literature on Hue Royal Architecture is stored in Hue. However, these heritages are specially conserved, developed and promoted. In recent years, Woodblocks and Documents of Nguyen Dynasty have impressively "returned" to Hue through various exhibitions held in Hue Citadel. These are great opportunities for tourists and locals to learn in further about Hue diverse heritage values.
“One destination - five world heritages” is not only the unique brand in the field of heritage conservation, but also a new slogan for local tourism. Hopefully, Hue will have further development by exploiting and promoting priceless heritages of ancestors.
(Source: http://congluan.vn)