A Cham tower in My Son complex (Source: VNA)
Binh Dinh (VNA) – An international conference has
held in Quy Nhon city, the central province of Binh Dinh, to look into ancient
ceramics dating back to the Kingdom of Champa many centuries ago.
Scholars from Vietnam, France, the US, Japan,
China, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, the Philippines and Brunei shared their
research findings about ancient ceramics in Binh Dinh and the relationship
between Vijaya capital of Champa Kingdom and Thang Long capital of Dai Viet,
now Vietnam.
In the past, Binh Dinh was Vijaya capital of the
ancient Kingdom of Champa. From the 11th to the 15th centuries, Vijaya was the
most important political, economic and cultural centre of Champa.
From the 10th to the 13th centuries, the Vijaya
Dynasty built big citadels such as Cha, Do Ban, and Thi Nai as well as towers
like Canh Tien, Phu Loc, Duong Long, Binh Lam and Thu Thien here.
The area which is now Binh Dinh is also known as
an ancient ceramic centre with six concentrated production workshops under the
Vijaya Dynasty.
A number of excavations in Vietnam and other
countries have showed that Binh Dinh ceramics were also shipped to many
countries from Southeast Asia to the Near and Middle East.
However, most of foreign experts as well as
collectors still believe that those ceramic products came from China.
Meanwhile, the creators of Binh Dinh’s ancient
ceramics remain a controversial problem. There are three suppositions that they
could be Chinese, Cham or Vietnamese people.
In October 2017, the Research Centre for
Imperial City under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the Binh Dinh
Museum excavated the archaeological site of Go Cay Me in An Nhon township of
Binh Dinh. They found many kilns and ceramics in various styles, including the
Cham, Vietnamese and Chinese styles.-VNA