UPDATED HERITAGES OF VIETNAM UNTIL 2011

Until 2011, Viet Nam has 14 cultural heritages recognized by UNESCO including Complex of
Hue Monuments, Ha Long Bay, My Son Sanctuary, Hoi An Ancient Town, Phong Nha-Ke Bang
National Park, Nha Nhac Cung Dinh (Hue Royal Court music), Cong Chieng (Gongs of the
Central Highlands), Quan Ho singing of Bac Ninh, Ca Tru (Hanoi), Wood-blocks of Nguyen
Dynasty (Hue), Doctoral stone steles in Temple of Literature, Thang Long Royal Citadel, Saint
Giong Festival and Dong Van Stone Highlands.

Quan Họ folk songs from the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, are performed as
alternating verses between two women from one village who sing in harmony and two men from
another village who respond with similar melodies, but with different lyrics. Quan ho singing is
highly valued for its special cultural value, performance art and singing skills, with its unique
customs, language and costumes. Quan Ho Bac Ninh singing was recognized as an “intangible
cultural heritage of humanity” at the fourth session of the UNESCO International Committee for
the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage, which took place in Abu Dhabi.

Ca tru, also known as “hat a dao” or “hat noi”, is an ancient genre of chamber music originating
from northern Vietnam featuring female vocalists. It is a complex form of sung poetry using
lyrics written in traditional Vietnamese poetic forms. Ca Tru has many forms and melodies. Ca
tru performers include a female singer who uses breathing techniques and vibrato to create
unique ornamented sounds, while playing the clappers or striking a wooden box and two
instrumentalists who produce the deep tone of a three-stringed lute and the strong sounds of a
praise drum.

Nha Nhac (the Royal Refined Vietnam) has ever Music was proclaimed by UNESCO as a
Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on 7th, November 2003. The
UNESCO Council appraised Vietnamese royal music in the following terms: “Vietnamese royal
music represents an elegant and refined music. It deals with the music performed in the imperial
courts and on different anniversaries, religious festivals, and on such particular occasions. Of
the different categories developed in Vietnam, only the royal music was national.” The Royal
Refined Music was first introduced in the 13th century, but only reached its peak under the
Nguyen Dynasty. The Royal Refined Music had long enjoyed a preference as an official form of
royal music.

The Space of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands of Vietnam was recognized by UNESCO
as a Masterpiece of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity on November 25, 2005. Cong Chieng or
Gongs are musical instruments made of alloy bronze, sometimes with gold, silver, or black
bronze added to their composition. In the Kinh language, the word Cong identifies convex gongs
and the word Chieng refers to the flat ones. Gongs vary in size from 20 to 120cm in diameter. In
the Truong Son -Tay Nguyen region, playing the gongs electrifies the people participating in
dances and other forms of entertainment. Gongs have been an integral part of the spiritual life of
many ethnic groups in Vietnam.

Ha Long Bay has been added to the World Heritage UNESCO's name list of natural heritage
World sights on 17/12/1994. This picturesque beauty of majestic waterway is located in beautiful
northern Gulf, including 1,969 large and small islands spread over 120 km coastline with a total
area of 1,553 km2. The area is world recognized as the area of 434 km2, including 775 islands.
The islands diverse forms are extremely unique and lively according to the viewing angle of
visitors. In around the islands there contain hundreds of beautiful hidden caves.

Hoi An, a World Heritage Site, is recognized by UNESCO in 1999. As a busy commercial port,
the Thu Bon river from the 16th, 17th century, Hoi An was Vietnam's most important port and
trading post, particularly of ceramics with nearby China. Today it is a quaint old town of some
844 structures protected as historical landmarks, and the unique influence of Chinese and
Japanese traders who passed through (or settled) can still be felt. It's a picturesque town, small
enough to cover easily on foot, with lots of good nooks and crannies, shops, and gastronomic
delights to discover.

My Son has been the imperial city of the Champa Empire from the 4th to the 12th centuries. It is
the large complex of religious ruins comprising more than 70 architectural remains, including
temples and towers with distinctive red brick designs. UNESCO labeled the Cham architecture in
My Son as a World Cultural Heritage Site in1999. My Son, considered to be in the same league
as some of Southeast Asia's greatest archaeological sites, including Angkor in Cambodia, Bagan
in Myanmar, Ayutthaya in Thailand and Borobudur in Indonesia.

In 2003, National Park Phong Nha - Ke Bang was recognized as a natural world heritage site
by UNESCO. Located in the forest and limestone mountains Ke Bang in Quang Binh province,
Phong Nha is a mystical sight with splendid limestone caves, virtual colorful glass stone in the
long underground river in Vietnam. Phong Nha has many branches, length up to approximately
20km, of about 20m wide, 10m high. Some of the caves are as long as 1500m long. Phong Nha
displays an impressive amount of evidence of earth’s history. It is a site of very great importance
for increasing our understanding of the geologic, geomorphic and geo-chronological history of
the region.

Woodblocks of the Nguyễn Dynasty ( Moc Ban Trieu Nguyen) is a collection of 34,555 plates
of wood-blocks of the Nguyen Dynasty helped to record official literature and history as well as
classic and historical books. Therefore, apart from their historical value, the wood-blocks also
have artistic and technical merit as they mark the development of wood-block carving and
printing profession in Vietnam. Their importance and high value led feudal dynasties and state
regimes in history of Vietnam to pay considerable attention to preserving these records. In 2009,
this collection became the first entry of Vietnam in the list of UNESCO's Memory of the World
Program.

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee recognizes Vietnam's Thang Long Royal Citadel,
Hanoi as a world cultural heritage at its 34th session meeting in Brazil on July 31, 2010. The site
won the recognition thanks to its three outstanding characteristics: the length of its cultural
history, the continuity of the citadel as a power centre, and the variety of relics it contains. The
centre of the citadel embodies the enduring cultural tradition of the people of Vietnam's Red
River Delta, a tradition which has existed for 13 centuries. Relics found in the centre of the
citadel show that it was influenced by many different cultures, theories, and systems of thought.

The Files on Stone Steles bearing names of doctoral laureates, dated back the Lê and Mạc
Dynasties (15th-17th centuries), in the Hà Nội Temple of Literature were recognized as the
World Documentary Heritage in 2010. The Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu-Quốc Tử Giám),
located in the heart of Hà Nội City, has been for long considered a symbol of the civilization and
intelligence of Việt Nam. Founded in the 11th century as a temple dedicated to Confucius and
then the country’s first university, Văn Miếu-Quốc Tử Giám was the biggest educational center
where thousands of eminent scholars were trained. Its campus houses a garden of 82 stone steles
honoring all doctoral laureates of the royal examinations held between the 15th and 18th
centuries. The stone steles in the Temple of Literature are accurate historical documentation of
royal examinations between 1442 and 1779. Their inscriptions provide many valuable historical
details of Việt Nam’s traditional education for 300 years.

Complex of Hue Monuments is an outstanding example of an eastern feudal capital and of the
planning and construction of a complete defended capital city in a relatively short period. The
integrity of town layout and building design make it an exceptional specimen of late feudal urban
planning. Established as the capital of unified Viet Nam in 1802, Hué was not only the political
but also the cultural and religious centre under the Nguyen dynasty until 1945. : Hué represents
an outstanding demonstration of the power of the vanished Vietnamese feudal empire at its
apogee in the early 19th century. The Perfume River winds its way through the Capital City, the
Imperial City, the Forbidden Purple City and the Inner City, giving this unique feudal capital a
setting of great natural beauty.

Vietnam’s Saint Giong Festival has been recognized as Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2010. Saint
Giong Festival, a traditional event in the north, is held April 6-12 of the lunar year in several
venues around Hanoi and attracts thousands of tourists. The biggest Saint Giong festival is at Phu
Dong Village in Gia Lam District of Hanoi where the hero, Emperor Phu Dong was born.
Legend tells that Giong and the people of Van Lang (the old name of Vietnam) defeated the An
invaders. After the victory, Giong rode his iron horse up to the sky. To show the gratitude to the
hero of Giong Village who sacrificed his life to fight the invaders, Vietnamese people honor him
as a Saint. The procession starts at the Mother Temple to Thuong Temple with the performance
of a religious service at Kien So Pagoda.

The Dong Van Stone Highlands, an area of immense geological wonders up in Ha Giang
Province, has been officially recognised by the UNESCO in 2010-supported Global Geoparks
Network–an organization dedicated to promoting and preserving geoparks around the world. A
geopark is no playground. It’s a protected area with geological heritage sites of particular
importance, rarity or aesthetic appeal. And if you’ve ever seen photos of Dong Van or visited the
area, this seems about right. Fossils of nearly 1,000 species, including ancient fish, have been
found in Dong Van. Nearly 20 different ethnic minority groups dot the highlands, making it a
complex, colourful and fascinating place. Dong Van is the first official Geopark in Vietnam and
the second in all of South-East Asia to be named a GGN member.

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