On February 25th, 2013, at No. 25, Tong Dan Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, The Vietnam National Museum of History (VNMH) held an opening ceremony of the special exhibition titled “Vietnamese Buddhist Cultural Heritage” that introduced the Buddhism collection of the museum to all visitors.
Attending the ceremony, there were Prof. Dr. Luu Tran Tieu, the Former Deputy Minister of the (old) Ministry of Culture and Information and the Chairman of National Cultural Heritage Council; Mr. Tran Chien Thang, the Former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and presentations from offices of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, national and local museums and Works Assembly. From the VNHM, there were Dr. Nguyen Van Cuong, the Secretary of the Party of the museum, the Director and the Chief of the Board of Construction of content and display of the VNHM; the Board of Directors; retired officers; all officers and collaborators of the museum; and the visiting of reporters from national and local press agencies.
Photo: The ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the exhibition “Vietnamese Buddhist cultural heritage” at the VNMH
Buddhism came to Vietnam from the early time and quickly has been accepted by the Vietnamese people. The religion is humanistic that suitable for the indigenous culture of Vietnam. So, Buddhism is one important part of cultural – social structure in the history of developing thought and civilization of human.
Photo: Bodhidharma statue (the 28th Great monk of Indian Zen Buddhism). Lacquered wood. The Le Trung Hung Dynasty, the 17th – 18th century.
The exhibition shows about 200 documents and objects that dated back to the early years of the Common Era to the Nguyen Dynasty. The artifacts includes: pictures, Buddha statues, bronze bells, stupa models, decoration patterns on pagodas and stupas, worship objects (candlesticks, thurible), music instruments, horizontal lacquered boards, wooden gongs (or wooden bells) and printing boards for printing Buddist scriptures, ect. Particularly, there is the Canh Thinh bronze drum, made in the Tay Son Dynasty that has been decided to be the Vietnamese National Treasure in October, 2012 by the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.
Photo: Canh Thinh bronze drum. Bronze. The Tay Son Dynasty, 1800
In the speech to open the exhibition, Dr. Nguyen Van Cuong, the Director of the VNMH, emphasized: “Through nearly 200 documents and objects, we want to bring a basic insight on the space and time of Buddhist cultural heritages from the early time of the Common Era to the Nguyen Dynasty, from Oc Eo – Phu Nam Culture to Champa and Dai Viet to visitors. After visiting the exhibition, we may have deeper knowledge about the value of Buddhist cultural heritages and the main meaning of Buddhism on compassion, charity and clemency.”
Photo: Dr. Nguyen Van Cuong, the Director of the VNMH, speaks at the ceremony
Visiting the exhibition space “Vietnamese Buddhist Cultural Heritage” (Collection of The Vietnam National Museum of History), domestic and foreign visitors can understand about the origin and history of Buddhism in Vietnam, Buddhist characteristics and art styles through historic periods, ect. And the important target we aim to is building consciousness of protecting the national cultural heritages, conserving and developing the traditional value of the Vietnamese culture for all visitors.
The exhibition is open to the public from February to August, 2013.
Photos and information: Le Khiem
Mai An (translated)