HÀ NỘI — A special exhibition featuring Việt Nam’s national treasures will take place at the Vietnam National Museum of History for five months from January to May 2017.

For the first time, all 16 national treasures kept at the museum will be put on display, helping visitors get a systematic understanding of the treasures’ historical and cultural values.

The exhibits will include a Ngọc Lũ bronze drum of the Đông Sơn culture dating back to roughly 2,500 years ago. The piece is considered the most beautiful and intact drum of its type discovered so far, and it was recognised as a national treasure in 2012.

Another artifact is a Hoàng Hạ bronze drum--also from Đông Sơn culture--which was unearthed at Nội Hamlet, Hoàng Hạ Village, Phú Xuyên District, Hà Sơn Bình Province (presently Hà Nội).

The drum is relatively intact with unique decorated patterns and is grouped in the same category with Ngọc Lũ bronze drums. Other national treasures include the Đào Thịnh glazed terra-cotta jar, a statue depicting two men playing panpipes, a lamp in the form of a kneeling person, a boat tomb, the Võ Cạnh stele, the bell at Vân Bản Pagoda and others.

A highlight of the exhibition are the historical works: including The Prison Diary by President Hồ Chí Minh; Đường Kách Mệnh – a collection of lectures by the president during his revolutionary journey to Guangzhou, China in 1925-1927 – which were secretly published and transported back to Việt Nam by the Ministry of Propaganda of the League of Oppressed Peoples of Asia; the manuscripts of the Call for National Resistance, known as a national treasure of crucial value capturing a significant national event and depicting President Hồ Chí Minh’s revolutionary life.

The museum is preserving nearly 200,000 original documents and objects of historical, cultural and scientific significance. — VNS