He is an elderly man who is 106 years old, still living in Hue. It is extremely rare for a witness of the abdication of the last emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty 79 years ago to still be alive today. Not only that, he also participated in photographing Emperor Bao Dai.

An Lang (An Mausoleum), the shared mausoleum of three regal generations of the Nguyen Dynasty, including Emperor Duc Duc (the father), Emperor Thanh Thai (the son), and Emperor Duy Tan (the grandson), is located on Duy Tan Street, An Cuu Ward, Hue City.

History books of Nguyen Dynasty record that after ascending the throne in 1802, Emperor Gia Long established the medicine agency to serve the court. However, it was not until the reign of Emperor Minh Mang that the structure of Thai Y Vien (Imperial Medicine Institute) was gradually completed. From then on, the recruitment of personnel to Thai Y Vien was extremely tight and serious.

Among many mausoleums of the Nguyen Dynasty, recognized by the UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage in 1993, Emperor Gia Long's mausoleum is a magnificent painting of the coordination between nature and architecture; in which, nature is the main factor creating the grandeur of the architectural structure.

The following are some photos taken by Nguyen Phuc Bao Minh, a photographer, during a visit to the Nam Hong Royal Museum (Tu Son, Bac Ninh), with a working group of Hue Monuments Conservation Center, where the “Emperor’s Treasure” golden seal is displayed by Mr. Nguyen The Hong, a businessman.

As the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced, on November 18th, Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr. Dinh Toan Thang, Vietnamese Ambassador to France, Ms. Le Thi Hong Van, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Vietnam to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Ms. Le Thi Thu Hien, Director General of the Department of Cultural Heritage, together with representatives from Ministry of Public Security (Vietnam), the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, and UNESCO, witnessed the transfer ceremony of the ‘Emperor’s Treasure’ golden seal to Vietnam on the afternoon of November 16th at the Vietnamese Embassy in France.

Thai Hoa Palace, the symbol of imperial power of the Nguyen dynasty, set to be built by Emperor Gia Long in 1805, is currently being undergoing a restoration funded by nearly 130 billion Vietnamese dong from the state budget. The comprehensive conservation and restoration project of Thai Hoa Palace relic began in late 2021 and is scheduled for completion in 2025.

While Hue Imperial City and the mausoleums of the Nguyen emperors are remnants of a far-off dynasty, the old quarters of Bao Vinh and Gia Hoi are the unfaded imprints of inhabitants’ life of the ancient capital.

Kham Thien Giam - an institution specialized in observing and studying astronomy, weather forecasting, calendar making, and timekeeping to determine the agricultural seasons for the people, was constructed by the Nguyen dynasty during the reign of Emperor Gia Long.

"Emperor Minh Mang’s art of rulership – evidence from the Imperial Archives of the Nguyen Dynasty" is the theme of an exhibition organized by Hue Monuments Conservation Center in collaboration with the National Archives Center I. The exhibition just opened on the afternoon of June 9 at Thiệu Phương royal garden, inside the Imperial Citadel.