An exhibition of 99 ancient swords recently opened in Hanoi, offering visitorsa chance to learn more about history’s most popular weapon.
The swordswere selected from the private 300-sword collection owned by collector Duong PhuHien.
Four generations of Hien’s family have maintained and added to thecollection. “By collecting and preserving ancient Vietnamese artefacts,especially those relating to the defence of our nation, every member of myfamily has demonstrated their love for the country,” Hien said.
Theexhibition features a large array of swords, including 37 that were made inVietnam. The others came from different countries, including China, Japan,and the UK.
Each scabbard is decorated with unique and sophisticatedpatterns, including typical ancient royal Vietnamese designs like pine trees,daisies, bamboo, apricots and dragons.
Hien said almost all of theVietnamese swords in his collection date from three centuries ago.
Thecollector was visibly filled with pride when he talked about one of his rareSamurai sword, which is considered as one of the “stars” of the exhibition. The2.02m-long and 18kg sword is the biggest and longest in his collection.
According to Hien, the 18th century sword was made out of very specialsteel. “A very complicated refining technique was necessary to create such along sword. For this reason, long swords were very rare,” he said.
Thevaluable collection also includes a bayonet with a solid golden handle, two 17th-century royal swords covered with Han Chinese characters, and a1,500-year-old Cham sword.
Historian Duong Trung Quoc said: “The uniquesword collection has a historical value which is much more significant than itsmaterial value.”
American visitor Brian Brousseau said the exhibitionwas “beautiful and interesting”. However, he added that the displays needed tobe more organised because “it is difficult for people to know detailedinformation, such as which swords were made in Vietnam”.
A limitednumber of informational captions about the history of each sword disappointedanother Vietnamese visitor.
“All I can do is look at the swords andadmire them, but there are no stories to go alongside the experience,” saidThanh Ha.
However, she was still interested in taking the time to enjoythe exhibit.
“Before I only knew about swords from TV, movies and thetheatre, which are usually all the same. Here I see that there are manydifferences in their shapes and decorations,” she said.
The exhibitionalso includes five bronze drums from the Dong Son civilisation which date backto 3,000 years ago.
The exhibition will last until the end of May at theMuseum of Military History, 28A Dien Bien Phu Street, Hanoi./.
The swordswere selected from the private 300-sword collection owned by collector Duong PhuHien.
Four generations of Hien’s family have maintained and added to thecollection. “By collecting and preserving ancient Vietnamese artefacts,especially those relating to the defence of our nation, every member of myfamily has demonstrated their love for the country,” Hien said.
Theexhibition features a large array of swords, including 37 that were made inVietnam. The others came from different countries, including China, Japan,and the UK.
Each scabbard is decorated with unique and sophisticatedpatterns, including typical ancient royal Vietnamese designs like pine trees,daisies, bamboo, apricots and dragons.
Hien said almost all of theVietnamese swords in his collection date from three centuries ago.
Thecollector was visibly filled with pride when he talked about one of his rareSamurai sword, which is considered as one of the “stars” of the exhibition. The2.02m-long and 18kg sword is the biggest and longest in his collection.
According to Hien, the 18th century sword was made out of very specialsteel. “A very complicated refining technique was necessary to create such along sword. For this reason, long swords were very rare,” he said.
Thevaluable collection also includes a bayonet with a solid golden handle, two 17th-century royal swords covered with Han Chinese characters, and a1,500-year-old Cham sword.
Historian Duong Trung Quoc said: “The uniquesword collection has a historical value which is much more significant than itsmaterial value.”
American visitor Brian Brousseau said the exhibitionwas “beautiful and interesting”. However, he added that the displays needed tobe more organised because “it is difficult for people to know detailedinformation, such as which swords were made in Vietnam”.
A limitednumber of informational captions about the history of each sword disappointedanother Vietnamese visitor.
“All I can do is look at the swords andadmire them, but there are no stories to go alongside the experience,” saidThanh Ha.
However, she was still interested in taking the time to enjoythe exhibit.
“Before I only knew about swords from TV, movies and thetheatre, which are usually all the same. Here I see that there are manydifferences in their shapes and decorations,” she said.
The exhibitionalso includes five bronze drums from the Dong Son civilisation which date backto 3,000 years ago.
The exhibition will last until the end of May at theMuseum of Military History, 28A Dien Bien Phu Street, Hanoi./.
