It provides information on the annals of nine Nguyễn Lords. It consists of two parts: the first, Đại Nam thực lục Tiền biên began documentation in 1821 and was completed in 1884. The Chronicle of Đại Nam, compiled by the Historiographer’s Office from the second year of Minh Mạng’s reign (1821) to the third year of Duy Tân’s rule (1909), is the most important historical record of the Nguyễn Dynasty. Many great history books, including the Đại Nam thực lục (Chronicle of Đại Nam), Đại Nam nhất thống chí (Gazetteer of Đại Nam), Khâm định Việt sử thông giám cương mục ( The Imperially Ordered Annotated Text Completely Reflecting the History of Viet), can be found in the collection of woodblocks. These artifacts were inscribed in the International Register of the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program in 2009 for their regional and international significance. 4 under the State Records and Archives Department of Vietnam became the custodian of 34,618 woodblocks that are equivalent to 55,318 pages of records. Before 1960, the collection was kept in Hue. The collection of woodblocks from the Nguyễn Dynasty contains information that reflects many aspects of society under feudal dynasties in Vietnam's history. The letter shown here is a careful replica of the official letter that Nguyễn Hoàng (1525–1613), the ruler of the Quảng Nam Nguyễn clan, sent in 1604 to Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543–1616), who was then the highest authority in Japan.Īn aggregate of 34 letters was exchanged between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the An Nam Quốc (15 from the Tokugawa Shogunate and 19 from the Quảng Nam clan), which made Vietnam one of the partner countries in the Asian region that the Tokugawa Shogunate corresponded with the most.Ī woodblock ( Mộc bản) is a plate of wood on which words are carved in Chinese or in Chữ nôm (a logographic writing system to transcribe the Vietnamese language) as a popular method of printing books at the time of the Nguyễn Dynasty. This, in turn, led to the division of the country into North Vietnam, which was ruled by the Trịnh clan, and Central Vietnam, governed by the Quảng Nam Nguyễn clan. However, the coups that occurred in the middle of the 16th century triggered the loss of the Lê Dynasty’s authority. The Lê Dynasty was established after the region’s independence from China. In the early 15th century, North Vietnam was temporarily ruled by the Ming Dynasty (China). It consists of two volumes and was held as a part of the collection of the Momijiyama Library. Gaiban Shokan is an illustrated book used as a reference for Gaiban Tsusho, which was edited and completed in 1818 by Juzo Kondo, who was an official of the Nagasaki Bugyosho (Nagasaki Magistrates). Gaiban Shokan: Copy of a Letter Written by Nguyễn Hoàng, the Ruler of An Nam Quốc, in May, 1606
Records on Red Seal trading and the Japanese town in Hội An are presented in this section. However, it is said that Japanese people continued to live in the Japanese town within Hội An for several decades after the ban.
After the Tokugawa Shogunate placed a ban on Japanese vessels sailing abroad in 1635, the Red-seal ships ceased to ply. In a short time, a Japanese town was established within the city.
Hội An, located in the middle of Vietnam, was the outer port of Hue where the Quảng Nam Nguyễn clan was based, and this city flourished as an international port. From 1604, when the Red Seal trading system was established, to 1639, when the Tokugawa Shogunate adopted the isolation policy, a total of 350 ships crossed the ocean, and 130 of them traded with Vietnam. These agents headed for the Southern East Asian countries, including Vietnam (An’nan), Philippines, and Thailand, and exchanged silver, copper, sulfur, swords, and other goods with raw silk, silk, cottons, etc.
Japanese authorities such as the Tokugawa Shogunate or the Lords of Domains gave such associates a “Red Seal” letter, an official trade license that distinguished official traders from smugglers and pirates. In the late 16th century, Japanese traders sought trading partners in the Southern East Asian countries, due to the Chinese ban on Japanese commercial activities during the Ming Dynasty.