VietNamNet Bridge – After Queen Nam Phuong passed away in 1963, the national seal was kept by prince Bao Long. In 1982, Bao Dai received the seal from his son, after marrying a French woman named Monique Baudot. Since then, the seal has never been mentioned.

 

National seal – the king’s life

 

King Bao Dai was born on October 22, 1913 in the old capital city of Hue. Using the national seal called Hoang De Chi Buu, the last king of the Nguyen Dynasty issued many royal decrees on administrative reform.

 

In 1926, after acceding to the throne, King Bao Dai abrogated rites established by previous kings. For example, people didn’t have to kowtow and could look at the King when he came; foreign mandarins didn’t have to put their hands together to bow the King but could shake his hand; Vietnamese mandarins didn’t have to kowtow as well.

 

In 1932, also using the seal, the King issued a decree on cabinet reform. Accordingly, the King assumed power and conferred titles on ministers himself. He also formed the congress, which submitted the people’s aspirations to the King and French officials, and allowed the Tonkin (north Vietnam) Consultative Council to represent the southern region in cooperating with the government.

 

In 1934, Bao Dai married Marie Therese Nguyen Huu Thi Lan and inaugurated her as Queen Nam Phuong. This broke the law because since King Gia Long established the Nguyen Dynasty, wives of kings were only conferred the title “imperial concubine”. They were only recognized as Queen after their death.

 

After Japan staged a coup detach against France and claimed to return independence to Vietnam, Bao Dai released a statement on March 11 1945 to abrogate the Patenotre Peace Treaty which was signed with the French in 1884 and resume Vietnam’s independence.

 

In 1945, the August Revolution was successful. Bao Dai abdicated the throne. He presented the national seal, which was  the symbol of power of the last king of the Nguyen Dynasty and was stamped on thousands of documents, and he surrendered his sword to a representative of the provisional government. King Bao Dao became a normal citizen named Vinh Thuy and his seal became an “antique”.

 

The up-and-down fate of Bao Dai’s seal

 

According to old documents, when the French attacked Hanoi in 1952, the provisional government buried Bao Dai’s seal and sword at Bac Bo Phu, a 2-storey house at No. 12, Ngo Quyen street, Hanoi, the office of the northern Vietnam government.

 

The French then dug up the sword, which was broken into three pieces. They fixed the sword and gave it to Bao Dai’s mother and his girlfriend – Mong Diep. Since then, nobody knows about the fate of this sword.

 

The seal was found by the government after Hanoi was liberated. It was handed over to the Museum of History but the seal was stolen afterwards.

 

It is also said that the sword and the seal were brought to Hanoi and the French found them in a tin box and returned them to Mong Diep. When Bao Dai returned home from France, he received those items.

 

In 1953, Bao Dai gave the seal to Mong Diep, who took it to France and handed over it to Queen Nam Phuong and prince Bao Long, the eldest son of Bao Dai and Queen Nam Phuong. In 1982, the king received the seal from his son and since then there has no information about the seal.

 

13 kings and 46 seals

 

According to historian Nguyen Dac Xuan, there are two kinds of king’s seals, called ty and an. Ty is made by gem while an is made by gold. Both of them are square. The seal of Bao Dai is an.

 

Nguyen kings had many seals, totaling 46 for 13 kings. Each of them has a name and was used for different purposes. They were kept at Can Chanh palace and then at Can Thanh palace during Kings Khai Dinh and Bao Dai dynasties. Without a king’s order, nobody was allowed to see them.

 

PV