The Go Sanh pottery museum has displayed a conferring decree by King Quang Trung. The most noticeable thing of the conferring decree is that it had been promulgated one day before he passed away.
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The conferring decree promulgated by King Quang Trung. Photo K.N
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The conferring decree is rectangular, written in the demotic script called Nom. It was about the bell in a pagoda in Thach That district of Ha Tay province. The museum received the conferring decree from the daughter of Gerenal Nguyen Chi Thanh, Mrs. Nguyen Thanh Ha.
The decree is designed with geometric patterns in which the image of a dragon in the cloud is the main theme. The cloud was adorned with round dots, combining with the image of the dragon to make the design sophisticated. The dragon faces the red square seal with the word “Tho” stylized inside and the word “Sac” is put in a seperated line. The word “Quang Trung” is seal in vermillion above the written date of the conferring decree.
According to the date written on the decree, it was promulgate in the fifth year of July 28 in 1792. The research of Prof. Hoang Xuan Han states King Quang Trung passed away on July 29, 1972; meanwhile, according to Dr. Do Bang, King Quang Trung left the world in the early morning of the same day. If the research is accurate, it means that the conferring decree had been promulgated one day before he died. This may be, therefore, one of the last decree by King Quang Trung.
In fact, the conferring decrees under the Tay Son dynasty are very precious. The decrees promulgated by King Quang Trung are more valuable because he seldom promulgated conferring decrees. The decree, therefore, displayed in the Go Sanh pottery museum is a very valuable historical relic that needs to be studied carefully. Besides, the accurate and reliable date of the decree allows us to clearly identify the art style under the Tay Son dynasty, compared with decrees of previous dynasties.
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The date of the conferring decree. Photo K.N |
The decree conferring a title on god or village’s tutelary god is a kind of Chinese-transcribed Vietnamese document. It hasn’t been studied systematically to know more about such distinctive features as the design, printing, material, or procedures for conferring a title. The location written on the decree provides the important information on changes of names of villages through different periods. Currently, conferring decrees only exist in Vietnam, China, and Japan. According to Japanese researchers, Vietnam is the country possessing the most ancient conferring decrees. | | 
