On January 18, 2024, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 73/QD-TTg recognizing 29 artifacts and groups of artifacts as National Treasures (batch 12). Of which, the World Heritage Site of the Central Area of ​​the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long – Hanoi has 04 artifacts and groups of artifacts recognized as National Treasures, including:

– Decorative phoenix leaves of the Ly Dynasty, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, period: 11th century;

– Inlaid three-metal knife, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, period: Tran Dynasty, 14th century;

– Terracotta model of architecture of the early Le Dynasty, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, period: 15th century;

– Cards of female servants entering and leaving the inner palace of the early Le Dynasty, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, period: April, 7th year of Quang Thuan, reign of King Le Thanh Tong (1466).

1. LY DYNASTY’S TERRAIN PHOENIX DECORATIVE LEAF, THANG LONG IMPERIAL Citadel

The Bodhi leaf decorated with a phoenix from the Ly Dynasty, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, consists of two parts: the stem and the pedestal. The stem of the Bodhi leaf consists of a stem and a leaf, the stem has been lost, the leaf has the shape of half a Bodhi leaf, cut lengthwise from the top to the stem. Both sides are decorated with a phoenix in a dancing position on flowers and leaves. The stem is partially broken at the top of the leaf, the thickness is uneven.

The two sides of the Bodhi leaf are quite similar, the flat surface gradually tapers upwards, the decorative patterns on both sides are similar, the gaps are perforated and the edges are edited to create a prominent structure and depth effect for the pattern design.

The Bodhi leaf base has been lost and has not been restored. Based on the structure of the Bodhi leaf, compared with some other Bodhi leaves, it can be guessed that the base of the Bodhi leaf has a structure similar to an inverted tile but the body is thicker, the curvature is suitable to match the other structures of the roof or the edge where the Bodhi leaf participates as a component of the roof decoration.

Although the body has been crushed and crushed; the base is lost, compared with the Bodhi leaves of the same type that have been discovered, the Bodhi leaf decorated with a terracotta phoenix from the Ly Dynasty, Thang Long Imperial Citadel is the most complete and beautiful version.

The decorative patterns on the two sides are basically similar. The design depicts a phoenix dancing on a lotus flower, its head raised high, its beaks together, one leg bent, the other used as a support, creating the feeling of bouncing on a background of vines and leaves. The phoenix has a large beak and a large crest facing forward like a peacock’s beak and crest; large, round eyes and jaws like a pheasant; long manes on both sides of the jaws curving forward in sync with the crest and tail; a high neck like a peacock’s neck; wings spread wide; a round body, and a long tail like a peacock’s. The long tail is depicted with many layers, winding up to the top of a Bodhi leaf. The body has no scales but is characterized by very detailed layers of feathers.

2. THREE-PIECE BLADE, TRAN DYNASTY, THANG LONG IMPERIAL CITADEL

The three-metal inlaid sword, Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, consists of two parts: the body and the handle. The handle only has a steel core 18.5cm long, the shield, the handle and the handle pin are all lost. The remaining traces show that the handle was originally covered with wood, the upper end that is adjacent to the shield is tightened with a red-gold metal belt similar to the color of red copper. The belt is 1.8cm long, made of copper alloy, the surface is polished, the two edges of the belt are engraved with lines depicting braided threads like extremely sophisticated ropes.

The body of the three-metal inlaid sword, Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, is 64cm long, and consists of three parts: the sharp blade, the bridge, and the tip. The body at the point where it meets the handle is 1.4cm wide, the bridge is 1.0cm thick, and gradually widens towards the tip. The widest part of the tip is 5.1cm wide and 0.1cm thick. The tip is raised, curved in a semicircle, the bridge of the nose (the upper blade) is curved, combined with the motifs on the body of the nose to form a moon-shaped design. The two sides of the body are decorated with patterns using inlay techniques. The inlay material is gold and white metal, the color of the steel as the background makes the motifs even more prominent.

The decorative patterns on the Saber are particularly sophisticated with many different designs repeated on both sides, creating the feeling of two sides as one. The pattern can be divided into 3 parts, from the handle to the tip, the specific pattern is as follows:

The first part, the junction between the body and the handle is a layout of two layers of lotus petals, between the two layers are sunken lines and round dots, creating the feeling of being the background for the next pattern.

The second part is decorated with a leaf pattern, the leaves are turned in a sinusoidal shape according to the rule of white leaves corresponding to yellow leaves. Surrounding the leaf string are thin but clear lines.

The third part: The structure is quite complex, including many patterns stretching from the middle of the Saber’s body to the tip. The patterns from the middle to the tip include: a human figure pattern shown in a dancing position, with both hands raised above the head as if supporting something; cluster of designs with a large 5-petal flower in the center, vines growing on both sides and the outermost is the good cloud pattern – cloud pattern (cloud shaped bell). This pattern is repeated in the next part, followed by a human figure in a dancing position, two arms raised high above the head as if supporting something and ending with a circular pattern in the middle, on both sides are cloud patterns shaped bells, this pattern combined with the shaping on the bridge of the nose creates a structure that is both similar to the sun pattern and the pattern of a fully blooming lotus. The decorative pattern is limited above by two white and yellow lines. The decorative motifs are shown in two colors, white and yellow, but unlike in part one, each color represents an object, here on an object the cloud pattern shaped bell/ or the human figure pattern can have both yellow and white colors. Besides the colors, the designs are also engraved in detail with small, clear lines. The blade is decorated with a leaf pattern with a spiral leaf pattern running from the handle to the tip, the two main colors are white and gold. The outer motifs are inlaid with metal and are also engraved with small consecutive dots to form a design.

3. PALACES OF THE PALACE MAIDS ENTERING AND EXITING THE INNER PALACE DURING THE EARLY LE DYNASTY, THANG LONG IMPERIAL Citadel

The card is a flat, thin, isosceles trapezoid-shaped copper alloy plate, the two corners of the upper edge of the trapezoid are curved. The card is 12.7cm high; the lower edge is 4.9cm wide; the upper edge is 4.6cm wide; the upper edge is 0.11cm thick; the lower edge is 0.10cm thick; the edges are rounded to remove the sharpness of the edges. On the main axis from top to bottom of the card, 1.3cm from the top, there is a small hole, 0.3cm in diameter. This hole is used to thread the card strap.

Both sides are engraved with Chinese characters, the engraved strokes are deep and clear. The first side is engraved with 5 characters 宮女出買牌 Cung nu xuat mai bai. The characters are arranged in a vertical row, in the middle of the card, the size of the characters is larger than the characters on the other side. This is the main side of the card. The second side, that is, the back of the card, is engraved with 11 characters, arranged in two vertical rows. The first row (from right to left) has 4 characters 宫字五號 Cung tu ngu hieu; the second row has 7 characters 光順七年四月造 Quang Thuan that nien tu nguyet tao. (April, the 7th year of Quang Thuan, the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, year 1466).

4. ARCHITECTURAL MODEL OF THE EARLY LE DYNASTY, THANG LONG IMPERIAL Citadel

The complete structure of the model consists of at least 3 parts: the foundation, the load-bearing column frame and the roof. The architectural model of the Early Le Dynasty, Thang Long Imperial Citadel is essentially the remaining part of a completed structure. This remaining part includes a part of the roof and a part of the structural frame.

The complete frame includes the column system, beams and the truss system. The architectural model of the Early Le Dynasty, Thang Long Imperial Citadel has a remaining part above the frame including: the column system, beam system; the truss system. In which, the column system includes the main column, the military column (porch column); the beam system has the following components: the head beam, the upper beam, the lower beam (equivalent to the armpit beam in the truss architecture); the truss system includes the components: the beam, the beam, the square beam. The frame is covered with yellow enamel, dark in color, commonly known as eel-skin enamel.

The column system has a total of 16 columns, including 04 large columns commonly called main columns and 12 small columns, commonly called porch columns and military columns. The columns only have the upper part where they connect to the head (for the main columns) and the lower part (for the porch columns). The large column has a diameter of 2.4cm; the secondary column has a diameter of 1.5cm. The distribution of the columns shows that the architecture has a rectangular plan, the roof length is larger (35.1cm long), the roof length is smaller (32.6cm long). The larger side is the front and back of the building; the smaller side is the side of the building. The architecture has a structure of one room, two wings (retracted rooms), the middle room is 12cm wide (calculated from the center of the column), the retracted rooms have the same spacing of 5.5cm; The distance between two main columns in a truss is 15.0cm, between the main column and the porch column is 5cm. The main columns and the 3 corresponding secondary columns at each corner form a square, ensuring that the frame structure fits together. The columns are currently unevenly spaced, however before firing, the columns were aligned and evenly spaced according to the rule. The firing has deformed the structure to its current state.

The complete structure of the model consists of at least 3 parts: the foundation, the load-bearing column frame and the roof. The architectural model of the Early Le Dynasty, Thang Long Imperial Citadel is essentially the remaining part of a completed structure. This remaining part includes a part of the roof and a part of the structural frame.

The complete frame includes the column system, beams and the truss system. The architectural model of the Early Le Dynasty, Thang Long Imperial Citadel has a remaining part above the frame including: the column system, beam system; the truss system. In which, the column system includes the main column, the military column (porch column); the beam system has the following components: the head beam, the upper beam, the lower beam (equivalent to the armpit beam in the truss architecture); the truss system includes the components: the beam, the truss, the ang and the square beam. The frame is covered with yellow enamel, dark in color, often called eel-skin enamel.

The beam system includes: the head beam, the upper beam, the lower beam.

The first sentence, with 2 first sentences, connects 2 pairs of main columns, one first sentence is not aligned with the square beams (corresponding positions of the armpits). To ensure that the main column and 3 corresponding military columns at a corner form a square ground plan, the main column has a little adjustment, causing the first sentence to not be aligned with the corresponding armpits.

The upper beam has 02 sets of upper beams connecting the two corresponding main columns at the two trusses. These beams are basically located on the axis system with the corresponding armpits. The upper beam has a rectangular cross-section structure, the square beams in the reinforcement system located in the middle of the main room are all connected to this beam.

The lower beam (column head beam) is a beam system that connects the military column heads together and supports the roof and corner reinforcement system. The beam has a rectangular cross-section, placed across the column head, the remaining end of the beam is curved.

The system of supports: includes 04 corner supports and 08 supports placed on the top of the columns (pillars) and 04 support systems placed on the lower beam system. The supports are square, tapered at the bottom; the outer excess end of the porch beam is decorated with a dragon head, a mouth holding a pearl, and a tongue.

The complete roof set includes: the roof support frame with components; rafters, purlins, tiles and other parts on the roof. The structure of the artifact shows that the complete roof set of the Early Le Dynasty Architectural Model, Thang Long Imperial Citadel is a two-story, 8-roof structure (2-story, 8-roof overlapping) or two-story roof. The remaining part is the first roof, the second roof has not been found.

Although not enough components have been found to form a complete model, through this, it is completely possible to observe the components of the roof set including round rafters, rafters, flat porch rafters, and roof leaves. The top is covered with tubular tiles, also known as yin-yang tiles. The roof edge tiles have round ends and are decorated with flowers. The roof edge tiles have a “water-cutting head” structure, also known as strip tiles, with decorative patterns on the inside. The roof ridge is covered with many layers of tiles, the end of the strip has a structure similar to the yang tile, but the tile ends are curved upwards, giving the roof a curved and floating feeling. The horizontal structures, rafters, and roof leaves are covered with a deep yellow glaze similar to the color of the load-bearing frame. The tiles are covered with green glaze (glazed glass). Through the color of the glaze, it can be seen that the structures that are actually made of wood will be covered with yellow glaze, and the roof tiles are covered with green glaze.