VietNamNet Bridge - "Being touched by hands with sweat for many consecutive years, many doctoral steles in the Temple of Literature are worn out. For example, a stele that was made in 1452 now has no words left," says Dr. Nguyen Minh Tuong, Institute of History.

At the seminar on the conservation of Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam yesterday, Dr. Dang Kim Ngoc, former Director of the Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam Scientific Cultural Center said that in recent years, Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam has become an attractive destination of visitors. However, pupils and students who came here before exams or during the Lunar New Year often rubbed the stone turtles and steles for good luck.

The center proposed two solutions to protect the stone turtles and steles: making a glass barrier to prevent visitors from touching the stone turtles and steles or building a high wooden fence around the steles.

The first is said to be not in harmony with the landscape and the relic but it can better protect the steles. The second is more in harmony with the landscape but it cannot completely prevent people to access the monument.

According to Dr. Nguyen Minh Tuong, Institute of History, UNESCO’s recognition the Temple of Literature as the world's documentary heritage shows the world’s appreciation to the legacy left by our ancestors. People’s act of touching the heads of stone turtles and ancient steles is to show their love and respect to the sacred objects. However, they must be educated more on the responsibility to protect the relics.

Tuong said words on some steles have disappeared because of being touched for a long time.

He suggested translating the inscription into English for visitors to better understand the value of these steles and to make steles for the remaining doctors.

Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam was built during the Ly Dynasty, the XI century, to worship Confucius and train intellectuals for the feudal state.

With its special cultural and history values, in March 2010, 82 doctoral steles at Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam were recognized by the UNESCO as the world's documentary heritage.

P. Lan