Since ancient times, Truong Luu village has been known as one of the famous cradles of Phuong Vai singing, a type of folk singing. It was so famous that Nguyen Du, the great poet of Vietnam, did not care that much about the high passes and deep rivers, but managed to go there to listen to the village girls composing and singing folk songs of Nghe An.

Truong Luu is the homeland of many authors belonging to Hong Son literature school, namely Nguyen Huy Oanh, Nguyen Huu Tu, Nguyen Huy Vinh, Nguyen Huy Ho and Nguyen Huy Hao. This is also a village with an academic learning tradition, the home of the private Phuc Giang school, famous nationwide in the 18th century.

That explains why Truong Luu hamlet, consisting of only hundreds of households and having a small area of one square kilometer, has four historic and cultural heritage sites or artifacts at the national level, 11 historic and cultural heritage designations at provincial level and tens of great cultural personalities.

Three out of nine Vietnamese heritage designations recognized by UNESCO as Memories of the World are located in Truong Luu village.

The cultural, educational, and academic traditions of Truong Luu village, especially of the Nguyen Huy family, are the decisive factors for the birth of tens of historical and cultural relics there.

Sino-Nom documents of Truong Luu Village in 1689-1943

The documentary heritage collection includes 48 documents in Chinese and Nom in 1689-1943, written on Do paper, silk or wood carving, owned by three families in Truong Luu village including Nguyen Huy (46 records), Tran Van (1) and Hoang Van (1).

There are 26 royal decrees of the Kings of the post-Le and Nguyen dynasties, conferring and granting titles, glorifying and bestowing beautiful words in 1689-1924; 19 administrative documents sent by the local government to the people of Truong Luu village and Lai Thach commune during the Nguyen Dynasty 1803-1943; and three banners given to individuals on the occasion of longevity celebration and exam pass.

The file of Sino-Nom documents of Truong Luu cultural village submitted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) to UNESCO says that the collection contains authentic evidence for research related to history, education, politics, culture, celebrities, gender equality and praising of women, and the traditional eagerness for study of a typical Vietnamese village (Truong Luu). It is very helpful for researching the nation's history over a long period (1689-1943). Each document is considered a unique, original work of art.

Hoang Hoa Su Trinh Do (The Envoyship Journeys to China)

The document, translated as maps and itinerary of the envoy's journey to China, which is original and valuable, belonged to and was protected by the Nguyen Huy family in Ha  Tinh province.

It was compiled and edited by Nguyen Huy Oanh, a mandarin, (1713-1789), based on documents of previous envoys and notes from his own journey in 1766-1767.

The documents were given status as the Memory of the World in 2018 at the General Meeting of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP).

The work consists of two volumes, 30x20cm in size, with a total of 238 pages. Volume 1 is a map prepared for the trip; and Volume 2 is a map and detailed records of the envoy's route.

The main part of the work is a map describing the terrain, landscape, people, culture, and customs, recorded meticulously to provide detailed information on politics and diplomatic relations between Vietnam and China.

Woodblock of Phuc Giang School

Phuc Giang School's woodblocks are boards engraved with Chinese characters produced by five members of Nguyen Huy family, including teachers Nguyen Huy Tuu, Nguyen Huy Oanh, Nguyen Huy Cu, Nguyen Huy Quynh and Nguyen Huy Tu. The authors of the woodblocks were once teachers of the princes of King Le and Lord Trinh.

The raw materials used to produce woodblocks are ancient trees, hard and less prone to termites. The woodblocks are 25-30 centimeters long, 15-18 centimeters wide and 1-2 centimeters thick.

Researchers said woodblock production lasted from 1758 to 1788, done by experienced carvers from the two craft villages of Hong Luc and Lieu Chang.

The documents printed from the Phuc Giang School woodblocks were not only used to teach students of the school, but also served teaching and learning at Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature) in Thang Long.

Nguyen Huy Vien