At the exhibition (Source: VNA) Da Nang (VNA) - Museums usually hold a fair share of historical treasures,but the Hoang Sa Museum being built in Da Nang city, has received one that isparticularly priceless.
An American-Vietnamesecollector, Tran Thang, has donated to Hoang Sa (Paracel) Island districtthe Pattie De La Conchinchine, an 1827 map printed in thesix-volume World Atlas (Atlas universel) by Belgium cartographerPhillippe Vandermaelen (1795-1869).
The map,1.2m wide and 0.85m high, is one of the most detailed maps indicating clearlyVietnam’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracels) Islands. The map is part ofmany that Thang has collected in Europe and the US since 2012.
The map,drawn by Philippe Vandermaelen, founder of the Belgium Royal GeographicalSociety, indicates that the central coast of Vietnam stretched fromthe 12th parallel (in the area of what is Khanh Hoa provincenow, to the 16th parallel (Quang Nam province now).
The namesused in the map are Bink-Knag, or Nhia Trang (Nha Trang City), and Champella(Cu Lao Cham or Cham Island).
The mapalso shows Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands offshore between the 14th and17th latitudes, and from the 109th to 113th longitudes.
The HoangSa (Paracel) Islands have been drawn in great detail accuracy, including Pattles, Duncan inthe west; Tree and Lincoln, Bocher audessas de l’eau in the east and Triton in thesouthwest near the 16th parallel, Investigateur inthe south in the 14.5 parallel, and marking of a sea area 5m-10m deep to QuinHone (Quy Nhon City in Binh Dinh province now) in the 14th parallel.
“I’vespent a lot of time collecting old maps that state or identify Vietnam’ssovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Archipelagos. Iwish to contribute more documents to the Hoang Sa Museum in Da Nang city,” Thangsaid.
“I havecollected and donated 150 old maps, of which 80 Chinese maps indicate thefrontier of Southern China is Hainan Island, and 50 indicate that the ParacelArchipelago belongs to Vietnam,” Thang said.
Thang saidthe Pattie De La Conchinchine was a rare map printed early inthe 19th century in great precision, using western writtennames of the islands in the Hoang Sa Archipelago.
Hesaid Conchinchine, a name used to indicate the central regionof Annam (a French protectorate encompassing the centralregion of Vietnam), was part of Annam, and Hoang Sa (Paracel) wasunder sovereignty of Vietnam at least from 19th centuryonwards.
Thang, whois president of the Institute for Vietnamese Culture and Education (IVCE) inthe US, said the 1827-printed Pattie De La Conchinchine alsoidentified coastal islands of Cham Collac ou Champella (or CuLao Cham, or Cham Island off the coast of Hoi An city), and P.Canton ouCacitam (Cu Lao Re, or Ly Son Island off the coast of Quang Ngai province).
Vo Ngoc Dong,Chairman of the Hoang Sa Island District People’s Committee, said the map was ahighly precious document for Hoang Sa Archipelago.
“It’s atreasure for the Hoang Sa Islands. The map will enrich the store of documentsand artifacts related to history of Hoang Sa Islands, and facilitate furtherstudies on Vietnam’s islands,” Dong said.
Over threeyears (2012-2014), Thang had collected 150 old maps published between 1826 and1980 in England, America, France, Germany and Scotland from antique shops inthe US, England and Poland.
Among themaps and atlases donated to the Da Nang Museum are two Postal Atlas Maps ofChina published by the Directorate General of Posts, Ministry of Transportationof the Republic of China in 1919 (consisting of 49 maps), in 1933 (29 maps) andone Atlas of the Chinese Empire, published by the China Inland Mission in 1909(23 maps).
None ofthese three volumes list the Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes in the maps andindex pages.
Tran DucAnh Son, deputy director of the Da Nang-based Institute for Socio-EconomicDevelopment (ISED), said the collection of old maps was significantevidence that the two archipelagoes belonged to Vietnam.
"Wecan classify that the collection comprises three kinds of maps: 68 old maps ofChina showing that China did not have the Paracel and Spratly islands; six mapsthat indicate those islands belong to Vietnam; five maps of the Southeast Asianregion that show Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes under Vietnamesesovereignty," Son said.
He saidthe map collection had been displayed during the ‘Sea and Islands Week’ heldnationwide last year.
Ly SonIsland, 30km offshore from Quang Ngai province, still preserves the Am LinhPagoda, a place of worship for seamen dispatched to the Paracel Islands sincethe 17th century during the reign of the Nguyen Dynasty.
A museumof the two archipelagoes displays over 200 ancient documents and 100 objectsproving that the Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes belong to Vietnam.
In 2015,Da Nang presented a Certificate of Merit to Tran Thang for his donation of a150 map collection. Last year, at a conference on conflict in the East Sea atthe Yale University in Connecticut, the US, Thang also displayed a collectionof 40 ancient maps indicating the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands belong to Vietnam.
The HoangSa Museum, under construction on the Da Nang coast, stores collections of maps,documents, photos and objects on the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes.
In its adjustedurban master plan until 2030 with a vision until 2050, the city will developthe Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago on 30,500ha.
Thehistory of Da Nang and its relationship with the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelagowas introduced into secondary and high school textbooks last year.-VNA
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