Vietnamese heritage becomes heritage of humanity

Musician Hoang Van’s massive collection, which includes more than 700 musical works composed between 1951 and 2010, has become Vietnam’s 11th heritage to be inscribed in the Memory of the World Register by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This is the first time a personal music collection in Vietnam has received this honor.

This event is not only the pride of the musician's family but also affirms the new position of Vietnamese music in the intellectual heritage of humanity.

The work "Song of Transport" by musician Hoang Van. Photo: VNA

From personal memory to human memory

There are sounds that cannot be forgotten, there are melodies that are not only art, but also carry the vivid memories of a nation. Musician Hoang Van is one of the artists who composes not only to listen, to sing, but also to accompany and record a part of the nation's history in the most universal language: music.

Musician Hoang Van (birth name Le Van Ngo, 1930-2018) was not only a "wartime songwriter", but also a musical thinker, an "emotional architect" of the era. His works are a unique blend of European classical music with materials imbued with national spirit, from Vietnamese folk songs and poetry, to the lives of the working class and disadvantaged women; illustrating the symbiosis of European and Asian musical traditions as well as the transmission and exchange of knowledge between East and West. UNESCO highly appreciated the fact that Hoang Van's music "broke the rules, challenged many prejudices" that classical music was the privilege of the upper class. Hoang Van made classical music popular without losing its depth and touching sounds, by bringing into music "ordinary lives, everyday destinies, and disadvantaged classes in society". He recounted Vietnamese history through drum beats, strings and choruses, helping his works have a profound and lasting influence, with artistic value and valuable materials for research on Vietnamese culture, society and music history.

For more than half a century, from 1951 to 2010, musician Hoang Van left behind a massive collection of more than 700 musical works with a diversity of materials, forms, genres and contents, from art songs to current affairs songs, from heroic songs to praise songs, from industry songs to provincial songs, from love songs to folk songs, from folk songs to songs imbued with international sentiments from five continents... reflecting the important changes of the country in three major periods: the war for independence and national unification (1954-1973), peace (1974-1990) and the last years of his life (1990-2010), providing an important source of material for scientists researching Vietnam in a particularly turbulent historical period.

Since the 2000s, musician Hoang Van's family has proactively implemented a plan to collect, compile, digitize and preserve the musician's works. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the family and many experts, friends and fans, the collection of more than 700 works by musician Hoang Van has been digitized and posted on a multilingual website (Vietnamese, English, French, Spanish and Russian) at https://hoangvan.org , reaching more than one million visits by the end of 2024. The paper manuscripts have been stored at the National Archives Center III since 2022. The well-preserved collection, with high accessibility through a multilingual digital platform, further contributes to spreading Vietnamese cultural values ​​to the international community.

Out of 121 nominations, "Collection of works by musician Hoang Van" became one of 74 dossiers registered by UNESCO at the meeting on April 11, 2025 and was approved with an absolute rate (100%). Since then, the collection has moved from the personal space of a musician to become the collective memory of all humanity. This is not only a personal honor but also a big boost for the position of Vietnamese music on the world cultural map.

Dr. Lonán O'Briain (Nottingham, UK) commented: "... Hoang Van is certainly one of the most important Vietnamese composers of the late 20th century. His prolific career ranges from iconic songs to major symphonies. These compositions set a new standard for orchestral music in Vietnam, comparable to neighboring countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia. What sets him apart from some other composers of his time is that he was not motivated by honorary or political titles but first and foremost by his love for music."

Professor François Picard from Sorbonne University, Paris, France called the collection of musician Hoang Van an “archive for the future”; and Dr. Dana Rappoport affirmed: “This collection stands out not only for its richness in musicology but also for its importance as a database, archive and document… It contributes to preserving and promoting the musical specificity of Vietnam”.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ngo Le Van emphasized: "This is a vivid memory of a historical period, reflecting the soul, identity and aspirations of the nation through each melody."

Some important works of great value in musician Hoang Van's collection include:
Early 1960s manuscript and restored score of "Reminiscences";
Music collection won the first National Congress of Arts and Literature in 1955, including the first prize-winning work "Ho keo phao"; Recordings (1959-1960) and manuscript of the poetic symphony "Thanh dong To quoc", one of the first poetic symphonies of Vietnam, along with the performance program in 1961;

The score of the ballet "Chi Su" (Ho Chi Minh Award); and about 100 love songs never published or recorded.

The collection of documents by musician Hoang Van (1930-2018) is the 11th documentary heritage of Vietnam to be recognized by UNESCO. The 10 previously recognized heritages include 3 World Documentary Heritages and 7 Asia-Pacific Documentary Heritages:

Three World Documentary Heritages

1. Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks (2009)

Recognized in 2009, the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks are Vietnam's first World Documentary Heritage recognized by UNESCO, consisting of 34,555 woodblocks, which are "prints" of 152 books with many different topics, such as: history, geography, socio-politics, military, law, education, literature... The content of the Nguyen Dynasty Woodblocks is very rich and diverse, reflecting all aspects of Vietnamese society during the feudal period, such as: history, geography, socio-politics, military, law, culture-education, religion-ideology-philosophy, literature, language-script.

2. Doctoral Stele at the Temple of Literature (2011)

The Doctorate Stele Area, where stone steles recording the names of Doctors who passed the examinations from 1442 to 1779 are located, has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Documentary Heritage. Photo: Hoang Hieu/VNA

The 82 doctoral steles corresponding to the 82 examinations (from 1484 to 1780), recording the names of the successful candidates at the examinations, are the only remaining original documents, considered one of the invaluable cultural heritages left to us by our ancestors today. They are authentic documents reflecting a vivid picture of the training and recruitment system of talents in Vietnam that lasted for more than 300 years under the Le-Mac dynasty, and at the same time are unique works of art, reflecting the sculpture art of many feudal dynasties in Vietnam. Each inscription on the stele is an exemplary piece of literature, expressing philosophical and historical thoughts, views on education, training and the use of talents of dynasties in history.

3. Nguyen Dynasty Records (2017)

The Nguyen Dynasty's Imperial Archives are administrative documents of the Nguyen Dynasty - the last dynasty in the feudal history of Vietnam (1802-1945), including: documents of agencies in the central and local government apparatus submitted to the king for approval, documents issued by the Nguyen Dynasty kings and a number of diplomatic documents. This is the only remaining block of administrative documents of a Vietnamese feudal dynasty, preserving the handwriting of the Nguyen Dynasty kings approving the country's issues.

Seven documentary heritages of the Asia-Pacific region

1. Woodblocks of Vinh Nghiem Pagoda (Bac Giang) (2012)

The set of 3,050 woodblocks of Vinh Nghiem Pagoda was recognized by UNESCO as a Documentary Heritage of the Asia-Pacific region in 2012. This is a set of documents in Chinese and Nom characters, consisting of 3,050 woodblocks, including 2 sets of Buddhist scriptures and novice precepts, discussions and explanations of Buddhist scriptures and works of Emperor Tran Nhan Tong and eminent monks of the Truc Lam Zen sect. The special value of the woodblocks of Vinh Nghiem Pagoda lies in the fact that the ideology and teachings of Truc Lam Zen Monastery are engraved very clearly and carry a strong national identity, along with profound humanistic values ​​that are elaborately expressed on each woodblock.

2. Poetry and literature on Hue royal architecture (2016)

The system of poems on Hue royal architecture includes 2,742 selected poetic panels from countless works of Nguyen Dynasty emperors, which began to be used to decorate palaces, temples, and royal tombs from the Minh Mang period (1820-1841) to the Khai Dinh period (1916-1925). In addition to the massive quantity, there is also a typical "one poem, one painting" decorative style. According to many studies, the system of poems on Hue royal architecture is a special decorative art, a precious heritage, not found anywhere else in the world.

3. Woodblocks of Phuc Giang School (2016)

This is the only and oldest woodblock about education of a family still preserved in Vietnam from the 18th to the early 20th century, at Phuc Giang school, Truong Luu village, Lai Thach commune, Lai Thach canton, La Son district, Duc Tho prefecture, Nghe An town, now Truong Luu village, Truong Loc commune, Can Loc district, Ha Tinh province.

The woodblocks were engraved with reverse Chinese characters to print 3 classic textbooks (including 12 volumes): "The Complete Essentials of Tinh Ly Toan Yeu Dai Toan", "The Complete Essentials of Ngu Kinh Toan Yeu Dai Toan" and "The Library of Rules", which were continuously used for teaching and learning by thousands of teachers and students for nearly 3 centuries (from the 18th to the 20th century). The Phuc Giang school woodblocks are the only original documents created by the famous people of the Nguyen Huy family and a team of engravers in the mid-18th century.

4. The Royal Envoy (2018)

"Hoang Hoa Su Trinh Do" is an ancient book describing the diplomatic mission of the Vietnamese embassy to China in the 18th century, demonstrating the exchange between countries in the Asia-Pacific region. "Hoang Hoa Su Trinh Do" is considered by UNESCO as a precious and rare document about the diplomatic relations between two countries in the Asia-Pacific region, contributing to maintaining peace among peoples in the region and in the world.

The book "Hoang Hoa Su Trinh Do" was copied by Nguyen Huy Trien in 1887 from the original copy of the Third Prize Winner Nguyen Huy Oanh, and is currently kept by the Nguyen Huy-Truong Luu family, Truong Loc commune, Can Loc, Ha Tinh. The book is 30cm x 20cm in size, 2cm thick, printed on Do paper.

5. Ghost stele at Ngu Hanh Son scenic spot, Da Nang (2022)

The 78 stelae at the Ngu Hanh Son scenic spot, Da Nang, are a treasure trove of valuable documentary heritage in Chinese and Nom scripts, with diverse content and expressive styles, unique forms, and many genres, such as: royal writings, steles, praises, poems, epitaphs, names, parallel sentences... of kings, mandarins of the Nguyen Dynasty, eminent monks, and many generations of literati and writers who stopped to leave inscriptions on the cliffs and caves at the Ngu Hanh Son scenic spot, from the first half of the 17th century to the 60s of the 20th century.

The stele is an extremely valuable, accurate and unique document, clearly demonstrating the economic, cultural and social exchange and harmony between countries such as Japan-China-Vietnam in Vietnam from the 17th to 20th centuries.

6. Han Nom text of Truong Luu village, Ha Tinh (2022)

“Han Nom documents of Truong Luu village, Ha Tinh (1689-1943)” is a unique collection of handwritten copies, including 26 original royal decrees granted by the kings of the Le and Nguyen dynasties; 19 diplomas, 3 silk banners, written in Han and Nom characters from 1689 to 1943. The original, unique documents, clear origin and related events... have been used as a source of materials for compiling books, a lot of information can be verified, compared with official historical documents of Vietnam, helping to research social relations, development history of ancient villages, especially in the period from the end of the 17th century to the mid-20th century.

7. Reliefs on nine bronze cauldrons in the Hue Imperial Palace (2024)

The reliefs cast on nine bronze cauldrons in the Hue Royal Palace are the only positive copies, currently placed in front of the courtyard of The To Mieu in the Hue Royal Palace, including 162 images and Chinese characters cast by King Minh Mang in Hue in 1835 and completed in 1837. This is a unique and rare source of material that is of great interest to Vietnamese and foreign researchers because it has valuable content on history, culture-education, geography, feng shui, medicine, and calligraphy.

Most noteworthy is the bronze casting art and the craftsman's technique to create a unique and special work. The reliefs on the nine bronze cauldrons ensure their integrity, are historical "witnesses" to the ups and downs of the dynasty, and most importantly, this documentary heritage, expressed in the form of images and Chinese characters, remains intact, and even the position of the nine cauldrons has never been moved.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/van-hoa/nhung-di-san-viet-nam-thanh-di-san-cua-nhan-loai-20250413123255133.htm