The VND 7 billion work, made with 217 stoneslabs weighing 300 tonnes is the largest of its kind in the Southeast Asian region. It forms parts of the Dien Bien Phu victory monument which is under construction at D1 Hill in the former battle field at Dien Bien Phu City.

Dien Bien Phu City has also spent VND 53 billion on building a central square and other facilities in preparation for the 55th celebration of the Dien Bien Phu victory (May 7).

The event involves 6 sailboats from the US, the UK, France, Canada, Australia and Vietnam, each having 2 racers sailing from Ana Mandara Resort to 2/4 Square and returning to the 10-km long Lau Bao Dai Beach.

On the first day, a Vietnamese-Australian couple finished first to laud cheers from both domestic and foreign spectators.

The boat race not only adds variety to the Nha Trang Sea Festival 2009 but also promotes the image of Nha Trang Bay as one of the most beautiful spots in the world, according to the organizing board.

More than 300 items, documents and pictures displayed at the museum reflect the Party and the State’s attention and the people’s participation in defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation.

The two-month exhibition will also showcase the efforts of border working missions and the results of border demarcation and the planting of landmarks between Vietnam and neighbouring countries of Laos, Cambodia and China.

Pictures of Vietnam’s activities to preserve its sovereignty on the East Sea are also on display.

On the occasion, the museum held a ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding and receive the Ho Chi Minh Order, the second highest distinction bestowed by Vietnam.

Over the past 50 years, the museum has collected and preserved more than 83,000 items, pictures, documents, books and newspapers, including valuable items related to the revolutionary life of President Ho Chi Minh, leaders of the Party and the State, and revolutionary veterans.

Over the past 20 years, throughout the nation’s on-going renewal process, the museum has opened mobile exhibitions in more than 300 localities.

The museum has received five orders, including two Orders of Labour and three Orders of Independence.

“If the steles in the Temple of Literature are recognised, it would be a very significant event for Hanoi to celebrate during its 1,000th anniversary next year,” Hanoi People’s Committee vice chairwoman Ngo Thi Thanh Hang said at the seminar on August 9.

Achieving recognition would require evidence that the steles were unique compared to those in Hue, Japan and China for their origins and the Confucian values they represent, for their calligraphy and design, and for their influence and significance in Vietnamese culture.

Dang Kim Ngoc, director of the Temple of Literature’s Culture and Science Centre, said there were many doctoral steles in Hue, Beijing, and Japan, but only Hanoi’s written epitaphs.

“Almost all there epitaphs honour famous national cultural figures and great scholars, so they are invaluable works that have contributed to the growth of Vietnam’s tradition of culture and education,” said Ngoc.

The 82 steles at the Temple of Literature date from the 15th to 18th centuries and serve as a record of men of outstanding scholastic achievement, 1,306 humanities scholars recognised between 1442 and 1779.

Rectangular, with the upper corners rounded off, they stand on pedestals in the form of turtles-a symbol of longevity-heaven (the dome-shaped dorsal carapace) and earth (the square ventral plastron).

Each stele is marked with the year of the competitive examinations, the year it was erected, the names of the laureates and of their native villages (sometimes a few words about their lives), and the names of the calligrapher and carver. The top part displays carvings of dragons and the moon, symbols of equilibrium and harmony between Heaven and Earth, and phoenix (spirit) and clouds (knowledge).

The steles of the 15th century are plainer in design. Those of the 16th century are more stylized, and those made in the 17th and 18th centuries are more intricately decorated, with threatening dragons paying homage to the moon and phoenix in flight among the clouds.

The one dedicated to the examinations of 1442 also expresses the desire of the king to recruit good servants for the country. “Men of wisdom and talent form the original vital breath of the nation. If this breath is strong, the country is strong; if it weakens, the country weakens. That is why a saintly emperor and enlightened king will make it an urgent task to train talents and look for eminent, learned men and employ them, thus preserving the original vital breath of the nation.