The journey to become world heritage of Yen Tu, Vinh Nghiem, Con Son, Kiep Bac

13 years is a long and difficult period for 3 provinces in the Northeast to build a dossier to submit to UNESCO to be recognized as a World Heritage for the historical and scenic complex of Yen Tu, Vinh Nghiem, Con Son, and Kiep Bac.

Difficulties piled up

On July 12, at the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO), the Chairman of the session officially rapped the hammer to recognize the Yen Tu - Vinh Nghiem, Con Son, and Kiep Bac relic and landscape complex as a World Cultural Heritage.

Talking about this arduous journey, Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ninh province, said that since 2013, Quang Ninh province has started to build a heritage dossier and submit it to the Ministry of Culture for consideration. At this time, the Government has directed to invite two more provinces , Bac Giang and Hai Duong (old), to participate.

Mr. Dung added that in 2019, when foreign experts came to survey, they assessed that the profile of the complex only had potential but did not have the conditions to continue implementation.

The area where the statue of Buddhist Emperor Tran Nhan Tong is located at Yen Tu scenic spot.

In 2020, Quang Ninh province restarted the construction of the world heritage dossier but encountered the Covid-19 pandemic, so it will not officially operate until 2023.

In 2024, when submitted to UNESCO, the dossier of the complex had 3 points that the UNESCO Committee pointed out: The dossier did not clarify the global value, the outstanding global value was not verified, and the continuity did not meet the requirements.

"In April, when I joined a delegation from three provinces to France to build and protect the dossier of the Yen Tu, Vinh Nghiem, Con Son, and Kiep Bac relic complex, it was extremely difficult. There are four levels of UNESCO's registration dossier, and the dossier of the complex was then subject to return to be submitted next year or 5 years later. After returning from France, the delegation was very worried because they thought that the dossier, which had been prepared for 13 years, would be back to square one, which would be a pity," Mr. Dung confided.

At all times of the year, Yen Tu tourist site still has many tourists coming to worship and sightsee.

Speaking more about these difficulties, Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet - Vice President of the Executive Council of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha said that the documents related to the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect were missing. For that reason, for 13 years this matter has remained at a standstill, even in April this year, UNESCO almost returned the documents.

During a conversation with Mr. Lazare Eloundou Assomo (Director of UNESCO World Heritage Center) at the headquarters of Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee, Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet pointed out all the cultural values ​​of the relic complex. Mr. Lazare Eloundou Assomo expressed regret that the information from Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet was not included in the previous UNESCO dossier.

A corner of Yen Tu scenic spot seen from above.

"In an online meeting, the representative of the UNESCO ICOMUS Center clearly stated that Vietnam should continue to submit but their viewpoint still maintains the old results, which made me very sad," said Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet.

On June 9, Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet and the working group continued to bring the complex's dossier to France to present to UNESCO.

After listening to Vietnam's presentation on the Yen Tu, Vinh Nghiem, Con Son, and Kiep Bac relics, ambassadors from 20 other UNESCO member countries fully agreed and requested to be listed as a World Heritage Site.

Some ambassadors of other countries also expressed their wish that the three harmonies (reconciliation, harmony, peace) of Buddhist Emperor Tran Nhan Tong must be implemented more strongly because currently war is happening in some countries.

Promoting inter-regional heritage values

Mr. Truong Quang Hai - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Bac Ninh province said that the complex of historical relics and scenic spots of Yen Tu, Vinh Nghiem, Con Son, Kiep Bac is the first heritage site to spread over a very large area of ​​the three provinces of Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh and Hai Phong city.

UNESCO is also concerned about how the three provinces will coordinate to manage this complex after it is recognized as a world heritage site. Up to this point, this is the first time Bac Ninh has a site recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site. Therefore, Bac Ninh will closely coordinate with Quang Ninh and Hai Phong City in establishing a management and heritage protection apparatus in the direction of the National Heritage Council, making a master plan for the conservation of world heritage sites to promote the value of the heritage.

At the same time, continue to increase investment in the conservation, restoration and embellishment of these relics in accordance with the principles of preserving world heritage; Coordinate in building a heritage promotion strategy to let everyone know the value of the globally outstanding complex.

"After the merger, Bac Ninh has become a culturally dense region with 7 UNESCO-recognized heritages, 11 special national relics, nearly 4,000 listed relics and nearly 1,400 ranked relics. Being recognized as a world heritage site is a very prestigious certificate for spiritual cultural tourism products. This will be a key tourism product of Kinh Bac land," said Mr. Hai.

Dong Pagoda, Yen Tu scenic spot is always crowded in the first days of the year.

According to Mr. Vu Dinh Tien - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai Phong City, when becoming a world heritage site, there are many potentials and advantages, but besides that, there is a lot of pressure on management work.

In the management area, it is very difficult because the heritage chain has regional links for 3 provinces and cities. For Hai Phong City, there are 5 points and also in many different localities, so management is also very difficult.

However, before that, Hai Duong province (old) had completed the Management Board of Con Son and Kiep Bac relics to operate and manage the World Heritage relic sites. Hai Phong city determined to step up communication and promotion work so that the values ​​of the heritage can reach domestic and foreign tourists.

The Yen Tu yellow apricot forests seem to put on a new coat every spring.

Mr. Tien added that Hai Phong City is offering many tourism products at places recognized by UNESCO as world heritage sites. Hai Phong City has conducted initial surveys and developed three tours including: Following the footsteps of the Three Patriarchs of Truc Lam, Discovering the heritage of Con Son, Kiep Bac and a 5-destination journey tour.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Dung, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ninh province, informed that from 2024, the three provinces of Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh and Hai Phong city have signed a coordination regulation to preserve these three heritages. This document clearly defines the responsibilities of each locality and each unit with heritages.

Quang Ninh province has coordinated with the two provinces of Hai Duong (old) and Bac Giang (old) to issue a plan to jointly protect and preserve the value of the heritage.

Of the nine heritages that have just been listed, the Yen Tu, Vinh Nghiem, Con Son, and Kiep Bac relic and scenic complex is the most unique because it has many relics spread out, interwoven with residential communities living along with natural forests.

Photo: Pham Cong

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/hanh-trinh-tro-thanh-di-san-the-gioi-cua-yen-tu-vinh-nghiem-con-son-kiep-bac-2433759.html