HCM City General Sciences Library

HCM City (VNA) – The HCM City General Sciences Library will hold a
cultural-heritage conference on preserving historic Han-Nom documents starting
tomorrow.

Nearly 100 participants including researchers and collectors, experts from the
Vietnam National Library, the city Culture, Sports, and Tourism Department, and
libraries from Da Nang to Ca Mau provinces will discuss ways to preserve the old
documents in Nom (old Vietnamese ideographic script adapted from Han Chinese
script).

The General Science Library, National Library, and archives and information
agencies will also talk about their experiences collecting ancient documents,
their preservation and the promotion of their value.

Bui Xuan Duc, director of the city General Sciences Library, said after the loss
of many Han-Nom documents due to storms in Hue and Phu Yen, the library started to
collect them from the region for restoration and digitalisation.

The library is continuing its documents-finding trips to Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha
tinh provinces with a special interest to find old papers which describe the
location of Sai Gon-Gia Dinh, from the time when Nguyen Huu Canh first discovered
the southern land, Duc said.

An exhibition featuring a collection of more than 100 articles and documents
written in Han-Nom scripts including books, seals and administration papers form
libraries, and collectors and researchers like Nguyen Van Pham and Tran Dinh Son,
as well as digitalised versions will also be presented.

The exhibition will open until Friday at the city General Sciences Libarary at
69 Ly Tu Trong Street , District 1, HCM City .

The conference and exhibition are organised by the city library, Library
Department and National Library to celebrate Vietnam Cultural Heritage Day on
November 23 and to report the first phase of the project of collecting and
digitalising Han-Nom documents in Hue and Phu Yen.-Enditem.