Inscriptions are an important component, enriching the cultural heritage of Hai Duong. Many steles have become national treasures because they contain precious historical and cultural documents.

Con Son Tu Phuc Tu Bi is a national treasure stele, associated with the image of President Ho Chi Minh reading the stele in 1965 when he visited Con Son.

Proud of Con Son Tu Phuc Tu Bi

Among that series of stele, Con Son Tu Phuc Tu Bi is the only stele associated with the image of President Ho Chi Minh, when he read the stele on February 15, 1965. During the fiercest resistance war against America to save the country, Uncle Ho visited Con Son and read the stele. He translated and explained the content of the stele. The image of Uncle Ho reading the stele was evoked by poet Te Hanh. Just looking at Uncle Ho’s eyes, attentively reading the stele, it was as if he saw a picture of history.

The Con Son Tu Phuc Tu Bi stele has unique decoration, specific date, clear epitaph content, and contains unique cultural, historical, and aesthetic values. The stele is being kept by the Con Son – Kiep Bac Relics Management Board. The stele records concisely and concisely the restoration of Con Son pagoda in 1607, presided over by the abbot of Con Son pagoda, Mai Tri Ban.

The content of the Con Son Tu Phuc Tu Bi stele is of great value when studying the history of the Con Son special national relic site, the Truc Lam Zen sect and contributes to the study of Vietnamese culture and society in the early 17th century. Con Son Tu Phuc Tu Bi was recognized as a national treasure in the 6th phase on December 25, 2017 according to Decision 2089/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister.

Systematic enrichment of cultural heritage

The system of Kinh Chu cave ghost steles is considered a special museum in Vietnam, preserving a unique collection of Sino-Nom texts.

Along with Con Son Tu Phuc Tu Bi, Hai Duong also has a series of steles with great historical and cultural value, such as: Thanh Hu Dong stele (Con Son pagoda), Thanh Mai Vien Thong bi tower (Thanh Mai pagoda ), the system of ghost steles in Kinh Chu Cave (Kinh Mon), Sung Thien Tu Bi (Dau Pagoda, Gia Loc)…

Among them, Thanh Hu Dong stele, dated Long Khanh (1372-1377) under Tran Due Tong’s reign, was recognized as the earliest national treasure (December 25, 2015), according to Decision 2382/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister. Government.

Thanh Hu Dong stele is associated with Tu Do Tran Nguyen Dan (1325-1390). Around 1372-1377, he asked the king for a plot of land in Con Son, to build a place to retire and rest. Nguyen Phi Khanh recorded in “Thanh Hu Dong ky”: “A drum sounded, thousands of people gathered together, leveling the hills with dust, so the stream was cleared, the grass and trash were cleaned up, and workers of all skills built the building. without stopping… all that area is collectively called Thanh Hu Dong”.

After the cave was built, King Tran Due Tong came to visit and wrote three words “Thanh Hu Dong” engraved on the stele, praising Tu Do Tran Nguyen Dan’s cave as a place of purity and worldliness like a fairyland.

. In the 15th century, the Ming invaders invaded our country, the Con Son relic area was destroyed by the invaders, but the Thanh Hu Dong stele still remains. In 1602, monk Mai Tri Ban who restored Con Son pagoda discovered this stele and placed it at Con Son pagoda as it is today.

Thanh Hu Dong is a Tran Dynasty stele, the earliest dated among the 16 extant stele at Con Son Pagoda.

In the inscription system in Hai Duong, it is impossible not to mention the Kinh Chu Cave ghost stele system, including 47 epitaphs, dating from the 14th to 20th centuries. This system of epitaphs is valuable for studying the history of place names in Kinh Mon district as well as the history of Duong Nham pagoda relics and Kinh Chu cave.

During the resistance war against the Yuan – Mongol army, King Tran Nhan Tong stationed troops in the mountains to block the enemy’s waterway attack.

The Kinh Chu cave stele system preserves the autographs of many famous people, many famous people, authors from kings, intellectuals, monks, mandarins at all levels to stonemasons… recording their feelings. When visiting, there were famous people such as: Pham Su Manh (Tran dynasty), Le Thanh Tong, Vu Can (Le dynasty), Truong Quoc Dung (Nguyen dynasty)…

In terms of the textual value of ma chew steles, with 47 steles engraved on the cave walls, Kinh Chu cave ranks first in the country in this aspect. Kinh Chu Cave is a special museum in Vietnam, preserving a unique collection of Han Nom writings, with exact dates, in the same location, in a defined space.

Among the 8 national treasures of Hai Duong today, 5 national treasures are stone stele. This further highlights the value of the inscription to the cultural heritage system that Hai Duong is preserving.

In particular, the steles in Con Son, Thanh Mai pagoda, and the steles system in Kinh Chu cave also deepen the heritage profile that Hai Duong, Quang Ninh, and Bac Giang built and submitted to UNESCO for recognition of Yen Tu – Vinh Nghiem – Con Son, Kiep Bac are cultural heritage of all humanity.