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| Staff from Thua Thien Hue General Library conducted the digitization of Han-Nom documents at Ha Lac village communal house, Quang Loi commune (Quang Dien district) |
This information was shared by the leaders of Thua Thien Hue General Library at the conference summarizing the Plan for Collecting, Digitizing, Preserving, Restoring, and Promoting the Value of Han - Nom Documents in Thua Thien Hue Province for the 2020 - 2024 period, held on the afternoon of December 30 in Hue City.
According to the leaders of Thua Thien Hue General Library, during the 2020 - 2024 period, the unit conducted surveys and digitized 130,845 pages, corresponding to 2,866 material items. This brought the total number of Han - Nom (Sino-Vietnamese demotic) materials digitized since 2009 to over 452,108 pages, corresponding to 5,971 material items. The digitization work was carried out in 222 villages, 1,058 clans, 22 residences of the royal family, and 4 private homes. Most of the digitized materials were original documents, diverse in both material and format, with rich content that holds value across various fields such as textual studies, history and culture, customs, and traditions.
Along with digitizing Han - Nom materials, Thua Thien Hue General Library has also organized training sessions on methods of preserving, restoring, and repairing documents for many years. These sessions have been attended by hundreds of participants who are document owners from districts, towns, and Hue City.
To promote the value of these precious materials, the unit has also processed and cataloged documents for management using specialized software, organized exhibitions and displays after restoration, and selected valuable documents for translation and publication. Notable publications include “Certificates of Officials from the Nguyen Dynasty in Thua Thien Hue Province”, “Han - Nom Correspondence and Petitions from Villages in Thua Thien Hue Province”, and “Village Regulations in Thua Thien Hue Province”, etc.
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| Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh presenting Certificates of Merit from the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee to individuals with outstanding achievements in the collection, digitization, preservation, restoration, and promotion of the value of Han - Nom materials |
Ms. Hoang Thi Kim Oanh, Director of Thua Thien Hue General Library stated that in addition to favorable conditions, the digitization of Han - Nom materials in the province over the past five years has also faced numerous challenges.
Among the challenges is the severe deterioration of Han - Nom materials, such as imperial edicts, decrees, proclamations, royal orders, genealogies, and various administrative documents, which are preserved in family clans, private homes, and royal residences. This has made it difficult to ascertain basic information about the documents, with many being so heavily damaged and cannot be restored.
According to Ms. Oanh, the primary cause of this situation is the lack of proper preservation methods by the document owners. “Some owners are concerned about potential loss and do not fully understand the importance of preservation and storage efforts. Additionally, some documents that are partially damaged or deteriorated require significant time to develop optimal technical processing procedures before digitization can be carried out. This leads to numerous challenges and limitations in the digitization process,” explained Ms. Oanh.
On this occasion, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee and the Department of Culture and Sports also presented Certificates of Merit and Commendation to organizations and individuals with outstanding achievements in the collection, digitization, preservation, restoration, and promotion of the value of Han - Nom materials in Thua Thien Hue province during the 2020 - 2024 period.