Woodblocks from Phuc Giang School’s UNESCO showcased in Hanoi

Woodblocks from Phuc Giang School were used to print text books for students at the school.

The week-long exhibition displays nearly 100 documents, books, photos and transcripts of woodblocks from Phuc Giang School, which was established by scholar Nguyen Huy Oanh in the mid 18th century, in Truong Luu village, Can Loc district.
The woodblocks, which were used to print text books for students at the school, comprise of 379 well-preserved blocks containing the major content of popular Confucianism books. Each woodblock, which is 20cm wide, 2cm thick and 30cm long, is made from the precious thi tree wood.
The contents of the woodblocks were composed by five cultural scholars of the Nguyen Huy family, including Nguyen Huy Tuu, Nguyen Huy Oanh, Nguyen Huy Cu, Nguyen Huy Quynh and Nguyen Huy Tu. All of whom were teachers at the Quoc Tu Giam University, the country’s first university.
The Phuc Giang School woodblocks, created by the Nguyen Huy family during their cultural activities between the 18th and 20th centuries, were used for teaching and learning at the school in Truong Luu Village. The woodblocks were carved using traditional techniques, with words written in Chinese and Nôm (a classical vernacular script of the Vietnamese language). They reflect various values of the country related to culture, education, economy, society and exchange among different families.
The woodblocks were recognised as a documentary heritage by UNESCO’s Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) at the seventh meeting of the MOWCAP held in Thua Thien - Hue province in May last year. Speaking at the ceremory last year, Suzan Vize, acting chief of the UNESCO Office in Vietnam, expressed her admiration for the creativity hidden in the woodblocks and confirmed the uniqueness of the heritage belonging to a family in Vietnam.