Vietnamese historian Nguyen Dinh Dau has spent more than half a century collecting over 3,000 antique maps.
His small room is packed with rare maps from all over the world and spanning 1,027 years of Vietnamese history, from the Ly, Tran and Le to the Nguyen dynasties.
The largest map in Dau’s collection is 1.3 meters by 3 meters in length and the oldest was drawn by an Egyptian in the fifth century for sea voyages.
He also owns a foldable map drawn by the French in 1009.
Dau has carefully categorized the collection by place and period.
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A map of an area of Vietnam drawn by French missionary Alexander de Rhodes and published in 1650 in Dau’s collection. |
Each map reminds Dau of a memorable experience because of the considerable effort he spent to acquire it.
Some maps were given to him as a token of respect, while some are copies of maps that he borrowed from a Paris storehouse.
Flea markets and second hand bookstores in Ho Chi Minh City have also been the scene of some exciting finds.
The old historian said these maps are not merely documents and diagrams - they are a looking glass into the trials and tribulations of the country’s past, opening up new worlds of knowledge about former generations’ lifestyles and culture.
Having spent more than 50 years with some of the maps, Dau knows them by heart as if they were his soul mates.
With a quick glance he can recognize each one by a tiny detail like a brushstroke or a name and can tell you exactly where and when it was drawn and everything about it.
Dau preserves his most prized pieces by putting them in a glass cabinet and hangs others on the wall “to satisfy the eyes.”
Historian
Nguyen Dinh Dau is a respected historian and researcher.
Since 1975, he has devoted his life to interpreting and compiling maps as well as learning about each place’s history.
He uses his collection as a historical reference for writing books and newspaper articles.
The researcher has written 16 books on the geography of different areas in Vietnam from southwest Ha Tien Town to central Hue, drawing interesting conclusions about the ancient Vietnamese.
He was awarded the Tran Van Giau Prize for his eight-book project Nghien cuu dia ba va ruong dat trieu Nguyen (Research on Geography and Farming Land during the Nguyen Dynasty) in 2005.
The prize was initiated in 2002 by HCMC People’s Committee and is judged by HCMC Council of Social Sciences to recognize excellent contributions in two fields: history and historical studies of philosophy in the country’s south, central south and HCMC.
The 88-year-old historian said: “I have finished the outline of a series of books on the geography of Hanoi and surrounding areas. Next is the northern highlands.”
Reported by Hong Thu |
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