Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a working session on Nov. 30 at Tien Linh pagoda (Loc Bon, Phu Loc district) in Thua Thien - Hue province, recorded the traces relating to Viet Nam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa archipelago, on a bronze bell and an ancestral placard which are displayed in the pagoda.

The ancestral placard, which has suffered damage, was engraved with Chinese characters and dedicated to the head of a flotilla that protected Hoang Sa archipelago, Nguyen Huu Nien. He lived in the reign of King Gia Long and was promoted to high-ranking positions.

The Nguyen Huu family tree book noted that in the early Nguyen dynasty, Nguyen Huu Nien was conferred with the title “Sach Truong Hau”, or head of a flotilla protecting Hoang Sa achipelago. Tien Linh pagoda also has a bronze bell weighing 451 kg that is engraved with Chinese characters on its surface. All the characters were imprinted on “do” paper by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to researcher Ho Tan Phan, the characters on the ancestral placard and four faces of the bell in Tien Linh pagoda are important evidence to prove that Nguyen Huu Nien had made direct contributions to protecting Viet Nam’s sea and islands./.