Nguyen Hong Minh, chair of Di Nau commune People’s Committee, said the Quoc Te Temple royal ordinance of the national historical site was on sale on the internet in China. Local authorities reported the case to Tam Nong district People’s Committee and the Culture and Information Sub-department.

The report said on April 11, on a Facebook group, a post by Tran Ngoc Dong caught special attention from the public. The author wrote that he felt great anguish because the royal ordinance of Quoc Te Temple in Di Nau commune in Tam Nong district in Phu Tho province was stolen in 2021, and many other ordinances of Vietnam’s communes and villages have been put up for sale in the open air in China.

The royal ordinances are expected to be put into auction on April 22, 2023 and the starting prices are 2,800-3,500 yuan, or VND10-12 million.

Minh said in May 2021, a theft occurred at Quoc Te Temple in the commune. The thieves broke into the temple, used a wrecking bar to destroy a strongbox and took away royal ordinances and ancient books. These are all antiques with high cultural and historical value.

Dang Duc Hai, head of the Tam Nong district’s Culture and Information Sub-department, said the agency has sent a document to the district authorities on the case which will be reported to provincial authorities, culture agency and many other agencies.

“As the auction of royal ordinances is scheduled to take place overseas, we will have to report the case to agencies at higher levels, so that MCST, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Public Security (MPS) will also handle the case,” he explained.

Nguyen Manh Hung, deputy chair of Tam Nong district, confirmed he has been informed about the case.

“The district authorities are awaiting instructions from the culture department, and the police are working to find out if these are lost royal ordinances and figure out a way of approach,” he said.

Hung said that in Tam Nong, two temples and pagoda have lost royal ordinances – Di Nau and Huong Nha. This happened one or two years ago. 

Ordinance is a document conveying Kings’ orders and willingness, conferring titles on nobles, officialdom, rewarding people with meritorious deeds or ranking gods worshiped in communal houses, temples and pagodas.

Bao Khanh - Tinh Le