On November 7, 2003, UNESCO Director-General Kiochiro Matsuura officially announced 28 masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity, including the Hue royal court music or " Nha nhac " . Over the past 10 years, the value of this intangible heritage has always been preserved and promoted. The Vietnam Economic News reports.

Ceremonial music is royal court music which was originated from China and introduced to Vietnam under the reign of Ly Anh Tong King (1138-1157). However, only by the Nguyen dynasty could the royal court music reach its highest and most perfect level. In the history of Vietnamese music, this is the only kind of music that was recorded in history.

UNESCO evaluated that Vietnam ’s royal court music features an elegant musical meaning as only it that could reach the national stature among other Vietnamese traditional types of music.

The court music has high artistic value which gathers a large number of talent musicians and bandsmen throughout the country. The instruments are also well made, carefully and sophisticatedly carved.

According to the book "Kham Dinh Dai Thanh Hoi Dien Su Le" published in 1908, main instruments used for Vietnamese court music in the late 18th century included a drum, a castanet, two bamboo flutes, a three-stringed lute, a two-stringed fiddle, a moon-shaped lute, a pear-shaped lute with four strings and three bronze cymbals.

Hue court music is usually accompanied by court dances, such as the dragon, lion, tortoise and phoenix dances, the lantern dance, the fan dance, the "Bat tien qua hai", "Bat tien dang van" and "Nhi tuong xuat quan". The most unique dances are the "Luc cung hoa dang" (six floral lamp worship offerings) and "Lan mau xuat lan nhi" (a mother lion giving birth to its baby), which show Vietnamese cultural identities. These dances have high artistic value and when combined with "Nha nhac", they create a sacred and academic performance.

Over the past 10 years, since the court music was officially recognized by UNESCO as one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity, the staff of Hue Monuments Conservation Centre with supports from the Vietnam National Academy of Music, the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music, the Vietnam Folk Arts Association, the Vietnam History Science Association, the Vietnam History Institute and many other scientists has collected, researched and preserved dozens of important royal music works to performduring important ceremonies of the court such as the Nam Giao Ritual, the Mieu Ritual, the Doan Duong and Van Tho Ceremonies, and Lunal New Year’s Festival and congratulations for the king’s longevity.

During Hue ’s festivals, the royal forms of arts, especially the court music, have made a good contribution to the success of the festivals and were highly appreciated by domestic and foreign tourists. As an academic art performance, the court music became a typical example of Hue ’s culture in dialogues and exchanges with international friends.

Thanks to this attractiveness, every year, from 2 to 2.5 million tourists come to Thua Thien-Hue Province, an annual increase from 15-17 percent , and tourism revenue also increase by 16.6 percent per year, helping to boost tourism development, accounting for 48-49 percent of GDP.-VNA