Exhibition of the manuscript of the Tale of Kieu of the Nguyen royal family

Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Hai Trung, Deputy Director of Hue Monuments Conservation Center introducingthe exhibition

The exhibition introduces and describes the characteristics and properties of the manuscript of the Tale of Kieu of the Nguyen royal family through 36 panels designed to suit the exhibition space.

Introducing the exhibition, Mr. Nguyen Phuoc Hai Trung, Deputy Director of Hue Monuments Conservation Center, said that this was the version of the Nguyen royal family with the first prominent feature being the book cover. The cover decoration of this Tale of Kieu is perfectly suited to the royal style. Made of yellow fabric, the cover has a woven dragon with a horizontal face, a meandering bodyand five-clawed feet clinging to five-colored clouds, with decorations of a woven motif of the eight precious objects (bat buu) surrounding the background. The nature of the five-clawed dragon motif entails that this is the version submitted to “royal examination”.

According to the information given at the exhibition, this ancient manuscript was sold at an antique bookstore in Paris. It was later collected by the British Library and became a directory in the library's collection of ancient manuscripts from 1894.

By MINH HIEN