File on doctoral laureates steles sent to Unesco

Hanoi (VNA) – A file on the 82 doctoral laureates steles in Van Mieu ( Temple of Literature ) in Hanoi has been sent to UNESCO for consideration as a world documentation heritage, said General Secretary of UNESCO Vietnam Pham Sanh Chau.

Chau, who is also Head of the External Culture and UNESCO Department of the
Vietnamese Foreign Ministry, said that the file includes a 15-page presentation on
the value of the steles which were engraved with the names of students who won the
doctorate during the exams held during the Le-Mac dynasties from 1442-1779, and
related annexes and photos.

The UNESCO Vietnam Committee has also sent documents to the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) asking for its
recognition of Dong Van Stone Plateau in the northern province of Ha Giang as a
world geographical park.

Dong Van, which has remained untouched for hundreds of millions of years, has
mammoth rocks spread over four districts – Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Meo Vac, and Dong
Van – and is 1,000m above sea level.

The natural heritage site has been surveyed by Vietnamese scientists and specialists
from Russia , Poland , Japan , Belgium , and Germany .

They have found areas containing valuable evidence about the Earth’s evolution,
rock formations, caves, valleys and other features.

The plateau is made up of at least 80 percent limestone and has fossils of thousands
of species of ancient creatures from 400-600 million years ago.

It is also home 17 ethnic groups, each with their own age-old culture.

The UNESCO is expected to make decisions regarding the applications early next
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