Researcher Ho Vinh introducing his studies on Hue Citadel

After years of investigating Hue Citadel, researcher Ho Vinh has provided valuable documents on the history, the construction and restoration processes, and the impacts of natural disasters, war and invasion of local residents on the monuments.

According to researcher Ho Vinh’s data, whereas there were more than 2,800 households living in the relics zone I in 1998, this figure has increased to over 4,000 households after 20 years.

Many years ago, he found a record-setting certificate (merit award) during the Citadel’s renovation under the reign of King Minh Mang, cannonballs at the fortress, ancient bricks with cultural information expressed in flowers, characters and etc.

During his studies, researcher Ho Vinh kept a journal. He has nearly 30 years of extensive fieldwork, collecting and recording documents related to Hue Citadel in 18 journal notebooks that are more than 1,000 pages thick. The materials he provided through the talk were the results of his collecting and learning about Hue Citadel relics through his journal pages.

Story and photo: Minh Hien