Royal handwritten version of 'Tale of Kieu' from Nguyen Dynasty displayed

The Hue Monuments Conservation Centre organised an exhibition to introduce the royal family's handwritten version of 'Tale of Kieu' from the Nguyen Dynasty at Dai Cung Mon (the Grate Palace) in Hue Imperial Citadel, on April 22.

Hue Monuments Conservation Centre has organised an exhibition to introduce the royal family's handwritten version of 'Tale of Kieu' from the Nguyen Dynasty.
Hue Monuments Conservation Centre has organised an exhibition to introduce the royal family's handwritten version of 'Tale of Kieu' from the Nguyen Dynasty.

The event aims to introduce to the public the value of a literary masterpiece of Vietnam, in response to the Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day 2022.

The exhibition introduces and describes the characteristics and properties of the royal 'Tale of Kieu' handwritten in the Nguyen Dynasty through 36 panels designed to suit the exhibition space.

The exhibition introduces and describes the characteristics and properties of the royal handwritten Ban Kieu of the Nguyen Dynasty through 36 panels designed to suit the exhibition space.

According to information from researcher Nguyen Khac Bao, the Nguyen Dynasty royal family’s Nom version of 'Tale of Kieu' was once sold at an antique bookstore in Paris (France), then collected by the British Library where it was entered the directory of the library's collection of ancient books from in 1894.

Addressing the event, Nguyen Phuoc Hai Trung, Deputy Director of Hue Monuments Conservation Centre said that this is the royal version of the Nguyen Dynasty, with the first outstanding feature being the book cover. The cover decoration of this book is completely in accordance with the royal style. The cover is made with yellow cloth, featuring a woven dragon, horizontal dragon face, meandering body, and five-clawed feet clinging to five-coloured clouds. The nature of the five-clawed dragon motif lead to comments that this is the version of the "royal" king.

Researchers and the public in Hue learn about the royal handwritten copy of "Tale of Kieu' from the Nguyen Dynasty.

Hue Monuments Conservation Centre designed 36 panels to introduce the Nguyen Dynasty royal family’s handwritten version of 'Tale of Kieu'.

The 'Tale of Kieu' version, which originated in Hue, has a very special meaning, above all its uniqueness. It was created meticulously with parts in Chinese and Nom characters and especially illustrations corresponding to each page drawn in great detail, worthy of being evaluated as an extremely rare and valuable Kieu manuscript for Hue culture associated with the name of the great poet Nguyen Du -a world cultural celebrity, as emphasised by Nguyen Phuoc Hai Trung.