Valuable wood blocks on noted poet collected

HÀ NỘI — Wood printing blocks containing information on writer Nguyễn Du have been received by the Nguyễn Du Relic Management Board, the board’s head said.

Board head Hồ Bách Khoa confirmed that the board, located in Nghi Xuân District in the central province of Hà Tĩnh, received two valuable wood printing blocks from the National Archives Centre 4.

He said the blocks contain information on the great writer Nguyễn Du, who lived from 1766 to 1820. The blocks are part of a collection of wood printing blocks from the Nguyễn dynasty preserved at the centre. The collection was recognised by UNESCO as part of its World Documentary Heritage in 2009.

The 39 x 24cm blocks are extracts from “Đại Nam Thực Lục Chính Biên Đệ Nhất Kỷ,” a book published during the Nguyễn dynasty (1802-1945) featuring Nguyễn kings.

One block was carved during the Canh Ngọ Year, in the 9th year of Gia Long reign (1810), while the other block was dated to the Ất Hợi Year, the 14th year of Gia Long reign (1815).

Nguyễn Du, whose pen names were Tố Như and Thanh Hiên, is a celebrated Vietnamese poet who wrote in the ancient Vietnamese writing script chữ nôm, a pictograph system based on Chinese characters. He is best known for writing the epic poem, Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kiều). — VNS