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| Staff of the Scientific Research Division restoring and conserving historical documents at Tang Tho Pavilion |
Being Meticulous at Every Step
During a recent demonstration of the restoration and conservation process for archival materials, held for students visiting the exhibition ‘The Nguyen Dynasty’s Nine Dynastic Urns: Documentary Heritage through Images and Archival Materials - A Digital Experiential Approach to Heritage Education’ at Tang Tho Pavilion, we had the opportunity to witness conservation specialists meticulously recreate each step involved in restoring a historical document.
On the worktable lay a document yellowed with age, carefully placed in preparation for restoration. Ho Ngoc Thach, MSc., a staff member of the Scientific Research Division, and his colleagues meticulously repaired tears and reinforced the damaged page with a backing layer.
“You have to be extremely careful. Just a little too much pressure can erase the writing altogether,” Mr. Thach said as he gently brushed a layer of CMC adhesive onto a sheet of do paper before carefully positioning the damaged document on it for restoration.
According to Mr. Thach, the value of these documents lies not in the paper itself, but in the information they contain. “A single misplaced character can alter the entire historical record.”
Separating and correctly identifying the position of each damaged paper fragment is the most challenging stage of the restoration and conservation process. When the royal decrees or archival documents have remained rolled together for years, leaving the paper decayed, the ink blurred, and the layers tightly adhered to each other, restoring them to their original condition requires not only meticulousness but also expertise in Han-Nom documents to compare the texts and accurately determine the content of each record.
The archival material management, restoration, and preservation at Hue Monuments Conservation Center are currently carried out by staff of the Scientific Research Division at Tang Tho Pavilion.
In 2018, faced with the severe deterioration of many valuable documents, the Center partnered with National Archives Center No. I to acquire restoration and archival preservation techniques. Following on-site training, its staff began carrying out restoration work independently on the collection of documents preserved at Tang Tho Pavilion.
The archives at Tang Tho Pavilion are storing a wide range of valuable materials, including official histories of the Nguyen Dynasty, books on history, culture and religion, monument records, cadastral records, imperial records, and many other valuable archival sources.
However, for conservation specialists, every document presents a different ‘case’. Some have only torn edges. Others have been crumbled into fragile fragments. Still others are royal decrees that have been stored together for generations, their layers gradually adhering to one another to form a single solid mass over time.
“At many communal houses, 4 or 5 royal decrees were rolled together for storage. Over time, the paper deteriorated, the ink smudged, and the layers adhered tightly to one another. When they are unrolled, the contents of each decree become intermixed. To restore them, we have to carefully separate the layers while determining which fragments belong to which document,” said Mr. Thach.
After being carefully separated, the documents are cleaned with an alcohol-and-water solution mixed at an appropriate ratio to remove mold, dirt, and deteriorated paper fibers.
The next step is to restore the document to its original dimensions before carrying out conservation treatment. Documents with only minor tears are carefully mended. If the paper has become too fragile and brittle, it is reinforced with a backing of do paper of similar composition to strengthen it. For documents that remain in relatively good condition, the team applies CMC adhesive to improve structural cohesion without affecting the original document.
Once the treatment is complete, the document is secured on an acrylic sheets and left to dry under controlled temperature and lighting conditions. After it has dried, conservators trim the edges as needed before rebinding it into a volume or restoring it to its original form.
Bringing Techniques of Restoration Closer to the Community
According to the Scientific Research Division, Hue is home to a vast collection of Han-Nom documents dating from the Le Dynasty to the Nguyen Dynasty. Most are preserved at communal houses, ancestral halls, the private residences of royal family members, and the houses of many long-established family lineages.
These are all unique, one-of-a-kind documents recording the history of local communities, including royal decrees issued by emperors, family genealogies, village conventions, land deeds and other records, all regarded as priceless treasures of their communities.
However, after centuries of existence and prolonged exposure to Hue’s characteristically hot and humid climate, many of these documents have deteriorated rapidly. Accordingly, there are three main factors that contribute to their deterioration: their great age, the region’s persistently humid weather, and preservation methods that have yet to be tailored to the specific materials. In addition, mold, cockroaches, beetles, termites, rats… are all direct agents of paper deterioration.
Even today, many historical documents continue to be preserved using traditional methods. In some communal houses, royal decrees have been kept in wooden chests, tightly rolled and left untouched for years. Elsewhere, they have been stored in attics, where temperature and humidity fluctuate constantly. By the time they are finally unrolled, the paper has deteriorated, the writing has faded or become smudged, and many documents are beyond restoration.
Alongside their work at Hue Monuments Conservation Center, the restoration team, for many years, has supported local communities, family lineages, and communal houses in preserving their documentary heritage.
Previously, the team helped restore 6 severely damaged royal decrees at Co Buu Communal House in Huong An Ward. In collaboration with the City General Library, it also organized 2 training courses on Han-Nom document preservation for over 200 representatives of villages and family lineages in Quang Dien and Phu Loc. To date, the team has conducted 5 such training courses in local communities. In addition, it has participated in the restoration of 15 Nguyen Dynasty royal decrees written on Long Dang paper, along with dozens of village conventions and land deeds written on do paper.
According to Mr. Thach, the goal is not only to restore these documents but also to help local communities understand how to preserve them properly.
According to Director of Hue Monuments Conservation Center Hoang Viet Trung, the value of heritage lies not only in physical artifacts but also in the original documents that record historical information.
These include royal decrees, imperial records, Han-Nom manuscripts, cadastral records, and other unique archival materials. If they are lost before digitization, the invaluable information they contain will be lost forever. Therefore, restoration and preservation are essential to safeguarding these archival materials, ensuring that present and future generations can continue to access authentic historical evidence.