A ceremony was held in the central province of Ha Tinh on Sunday to receive a certificate recognising the woodblocks of Phúc Giang School as a documentary heritage by UNESCO's Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific.
Speaking at the ceremony, Suzan Vize, acting Chief of the UNESCO Office in Vietnam, expressed her admiration at creativity hidden in the woodblocks and confirmed the uniqueness of the heritage owned by a family in Vietnam.
Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau, Secretary-General of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, said the recognition once again confirmed the studious tradition of Ha Tinh people in particular and Vietnamese in general.
The ambassador also appreciated efforts made by Ha Tinh authorities and the Nguyen Huy family in preserving and making dossiers for the heritage. He urged the province to pay more attention to conserving and promoting the woodblocks in Vietnam, the region and the world at large.
The woodblocks were created by scholars of the Nguyễn Huy family in Hà Tĩnh Province in the 18thcentury. They were used to print text books for the Phúc Giang School, located in the old Trường Lưu Village. The blocks are rare, unique and valuable.
The two-century-old set are the only ancient woodblocks created by a family for education and preserved till today in Vietnam. They reflect various values of the country relating to culture, education, economy, society and interference among different families.
