VietNamNet Bridge – Associate Professor Ha Dinh Duc has proposed the Hanoi authorities to ask for the government’s recognition of the Hoan Kiem Lake turtle as the national treasure.
The origin of Hanoi’s legendary turtle
Hoan Kiem turtle fished out for treatment
The death of the giant turtle in Ngoc Son Temple
Ass. Prof. Ha Dinh Duc and the Hoan Kiem Lake turtle on December 6, 2012.
“In the city’s meeting in the early New Year 2013, I suggested that the city ask for the Prime Minister’s recognition of the living Turtle in the Hoan Kiem Lake, the turtle specimen in the Ngoc Son Temple and the Hoan Kiem Lake turtle skeleton in the Museum as national treasures,” Ass. Prof. Duc says.
According to Duc, the national treasures recently recognized by the Prime Minister mainly bear largely historical values, such as the Ngoc Lu bronze drum, Hoang Ha bronze drum and the bronze statue of one man carrying another on his back.
Duc says that the living turtle, the turtle specimen and the turtle skeleton of the Hoan Kiem lake turtles not only have historical values but also are the cultural and spiritual heritage of the Vietnamese people.
“My proposal is to strengthen the protection of the living turtle,” Duc, who has researched of the Hoan Kiem Lake’s turtle for decades, says.
According to Duc’s records, last year the Hoan Kiem turtle floated 75 times.
The Hoan Kiem Lake turtle always attracts the attention of Vietnamese. Besides the spiritual and historical values, there are only four individuals of Hoan Kiem lake turtle in the world, including one in the Hoan Kiem Lake and Dong Mo Lake in Hanoi and the remaining two in China.
In 2011, Hanoi took the turtle out of the Hoan Kiem Lake for medical treatment for more than three months. After that the turtle was released back into nature with plenty of food. The turtle has been examined periodically.
In the time before the medical treatment was applied, a lot of debates on how to maintain this rare species was discussed but so far no plan has been announced.
S. Tung