Doctoral steles become UNESCO’s Memory of the World

The stone stele records of royal examinations of Lê and Mạc Dynasties in the Temple of Liaterature, Hà Nội, Việt Nam

The inscription was made on the same day after Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, endorsed recommendations by the International Advisory Committee of the Memory of the World Committee.

The 82 stone steles reserved at the complex of Văn Miếu- Quốc Tử Giám (The Temple of Literature), the first university in Việt Nam, are carved with personal information of 1.304 doctoral degree holders between 1442 and 1779 under the Lê, Mạc and Later Lê dynasties.  

Irina Bokova highlighted that the Memory of the World will help protect and share the valuable documentation in an effort to consolidate the wisdom, creativity, and cultural diversification of human society.

So far, 238 documentary heritages have been listed in the Memory of the World including those made from stone, plastic, leather, and audio. 

The UNESCO launched the Memory of the World Program in 1992 to protect precious documentary heritages of the mankind from falling into oblivion, encourage the preservation of the valuable archive holdings, and introduce the values of the heritages to the whole world./. 

By Khánh Phương