UNESCO representative grants certificate to certify woodblocks in Vinh Nghiem Pagoda as the world documentary heritages of UNESCO Global Memory of the World Program for Phạm Cao Phong, Secretary General of UNESCO Committee in Vietnam (Photo: Bac Giang Newspaper)

A collection of woodblocks carved with Buddhist Sutras at the Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in the northern province of Bac Giang has been officially recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage. The recognition was announced at UNESCO’s 5^th plenary in Bangkok yesterday. The precious woodblocks were recognized for their precision, uniqueness, and cultural importance. The collection’s 3,000 carved woodblocks, including some featuring 2 Buddhist Sutras, provide a wide range of information on the formation, development and ideology of Truc Lam Zen Buddhism, founded by King Tran Nhan Tong in the 11th century.

Pham Cao Phong, head of the Vietnamese delegation to the UNESCO meeting, said that the collection had received unanimous support. To date, Vietnam has had three heritages listed as world heritages under the UNESCO Global Memory of the World Program. The other two are the doctor laureate steles in Quoc Tu Giam – Hanoi’s Temple of Literature - and woodblocks of the Nguyen Dynasty.