Vietnam Culture & People

The History and Revolution Museum of Thua Thien - Hue province, has received a set of rare wood blocks with stories to tell.

During a field trip to take photos of pagodas in Hue, researchers from the Cultural Research Institute in Hue discovered a set of 54 wood blocks in the Thien Hoa pagoda in Thuy Xuan commune, Thua Thien – Hue province.

Nguyen Phuoc Bao Dan from the Cultural Research Institute’s Hue branch said that this set of wood blocks was made from the early 20^th century to 1945. Nearly the entire spiritual activities of Hue people are described in this set of wood blocks, from soil worshipping to star worship. There are also Buddhist holidays documented as well as prayers.

Some of the blocks are carved with Chinese scripts, some with Nom scripts and some with a modern Vietnamese scripts.

The most unique wood blocks are spells to expel demons.

Cao Huy Hung, director of the Thua Thien – Hue History and Revolution Museum, said the blocks are a basis for cultural researchers to learn about Hue’s folk culture.

The museum is about to print the content of the 54 blocks as part of an exhibition about Hue’s spiritual and cultural life.

VietNamNet/Dan Tri