VietNamNet Bridge – A book of Vietnamese King Thieu Tri, which is made of silver and gilded with gold, was brought from France to Vietnam by an antique collector Cao Xuan Truong last year.
Truong won an auction in Paris to buy this book, at the cost of Euro72,750. The book was King Thieu Tri’s gift to his concubine Vu Thi Vien in 1846. The book is 14x23cm in size, with five sheets, weighing nearly 2kg. It has 186 Chinese scripts about the concubine. The book cover is carved with dragons. King Thieu Tri reigned from 1841-1847.

In his house at No. 31, Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, which has many antiques of Vietnam and China, Truong said that the gold-plated book is his most favorite item.

Truong said that he heard about the book for the first time in 2002, from a friend who lives in France.

He saw the book the first time in 2004. Truong said he was very moved to see and touch that unique antique.

To bring the book back to Vietnam, he went to France over ten times. He met a retired French general who joined the war in Vietnam, who owned the book to persuade the general to sell it to him but that French man refused.
In October 2010, he knew that the unique book would be auctioned. Truong “overcame” western and Chinese clients in the auction to own the book. He had to sell a house in Canada to buy that book. He brought it back to Vietnam in late March 2011.

The collector said that he had to sell a house to buy the book, but the value of the house is incomparable to that of the book. He can buy another house but he would have no chance to bring the book back to Vietnam if he failed in that auction.

Truong said he did not plan to sell the book but perhaps he would present it to a Vietnamese museum.

Dr. Tran Duc Anh Son, former director of the Hue Royal Art Museum, told the World Security newspaper in June 2011 that the above book is the only one gold-gilded silver-made book of Vietnam that still exists. People still know about some books made of bronze and silk in Vietnam and overseas.


Thanh Van