VietNamNet Bridge – A workshop has been held in Hue to mark the 100-year anniversary of the first publication of the Bulletin des Amis du Vieux Hue (Bulletin of the Friends of Ancient Hue).

Hue heritage: Cover of a BAVH bulletin issue.

First published in 1914, the bulletin was the pioneer in spreading information about the culture of Hue and Viet Nam to the world. Publication halted in 1944, leaving the world with 122 issues filled with research about Hue culture.

"BAVH helped show the French and the world in the early 20th century that Vietnamese were not an inferior people," researcher Do Trinh Hue said at the workshop on Saturday.

Chief editor Leopold Michel Cadiere (1869-1955) was a French Catholic priest who spent almost all of his life in Hue, Quang Tri and Quang Binh. He devoted himself to researching Hue culture, recording many aspects of heritage, language and literature, music, art, rituals and lifestyle before they vanished due to time and war.

Researchers said Hue had not done enough to honour Cadiere, urging the institutions that organised the workshop (the Viet Nam Institute of Culture and Art Study in Hue and the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, where BAVH and its museum are based) to highlight his work.

Source: VNS