The maps and itinerary of an envoy’s journey to China dating from the 18th century have been officially announced as a heritage Memory of the World at the 2018 General Meeting of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific.

The meeting took place on May 29-31 in Gwangju, the Republic of Korea attracting 125 representatives from 28 countries.

The panel considered 12 dossiers from eight countries including Tuvalu, Myanmar, China, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Australia, the Solomon Islands and Viet Nam.

Hoang Hoa Su Trinh Do (The Envoyship Journeys to China – literally translated as maps and itinerary of the envoy’s journey to China) belonged to the Nguyen Huy family in the central province of Ha Tinh.

With writings, drawings and maps, the book recorded the diplomatic relationship between Vietnam and China in the 18th century through journeys of Vietnamese envoys. It was compiled and edited by Nguyen Huy Oanh (1713-1789) based on documents of previous envoys and historical records as well as notes from his own journey in 1766-1767, during which he worked as the main envoy of the Vietnamese delegates.

The dossier of the book received 17 votes from 17 members of the panel. It meets all the criteria to be recognised as a documentary heritage of the Memory of the World programme.-VNA