The southern coastal province of Binh Dinh will restore a seal used under its indigenous commander and emperor Quang Trung, an official said Saturday.
Vu Hoang Ha, Secretary of Binh Dinh Provincial Party Committee, said at a conference that the province will collect antiques related to the peasant hero, who led the Tay Son troops in what is Binh Dinh Province today to defeat the 200,000-strong army of the Qing Dynasty in the spring of 1789.
Under the leadership of Quang Trung, originally named Nguyen Hue, and his two brothers Nguyen Lu and Nguyen Nhac, peasants from central Vietnam overthrew the feudal lord Trinh who ruled over the north as well as the Nguyen dynasty in the south. They implemented egalitarian reforms across a more unified Vietnam.
The newly-crowned Emperor Quang Trung and his troops then subdued a Chinese invasion.
Nguyen Dinh Chien, deputy director of Vietnam History Museum, said among the imperial seals remaining in Vietnam, four are from the Tay Son Dynasty (used to refer to the reign of the peasant brothers).
One of them was used to stamp on the king’s decree, another on honors conferred to people for making significant contributions to the dynasty, one on important administrative documents and another on documents that conferred the village diety status.
Some experts have suggested that the first seal be restored in bold or bronze.
Tran Bac Ha, president of Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam, said the seal should be cast in bronze and gilded with gold to save money.
He said it will cost dozens of billions of dong to cast the seal, weighing 6-7 kilograms, completely in gold.
Meanwhile, the famous ceramic village of Bat Trang in Hanoi’s Gia Lam District has sent Binh Dinh two honor-conferring diplomas dating back to the Tay Son Dynasty. The northern village has 16 such diplomas.
Ha said at the conference that historical relics and documents from the Tay Son Dynasty are limited as they were lost through the wear and tear of time and also destroyed by the revengeful Nguyen Gia Long, a nephew of the last Nguyen Lord who regained the throne with French support in 1802.
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