Viet Nam News
HA NOI — A wooden board believed to have been used as a bed by King Ham Nghi (1884-1885) has been found in the central province of Quang Binh.
Dinh Xuan Dinh, chairman of Minh Hoa District’s Heritage Association, confirmed that the board had been stored at the home of Dinh Huu Hanh, a primary teacher.
King Ham Nghi, real name Nguyen Phuc Ung Lich, was the eighth king of Nguyen Dynasty.
“Hanh is the fourth generation to hold on to the rare board used by King Ham Nghi,” said Dinh Van Niem, 83, a member of the association. “Hanh’s ancestor, Dinh Van Hien, who was head of the region under the king’s reign, had the bed made from three separate wooden planks.”
“When King Ham Nghi left Hue’s Imperial Citadel to start the Can Vuong patriotic movement against the French in Quang Binh, he used the board as a bed to sleep on and to discuss issues with other patriots.”
After King Ham Nghi was captured by the French and the movement failed, the plank was handed down through the generations of Hien’s family.
“The board was carefully stored by my father and grandfather in the most important room in their house,” Hanh said. “During the American War, the board was used as the cover for a bomb shelter.”
Hanh has then kept the plank in his house and protected from many serious floods.
Dinh has spared no efforts to persuade Hanh’s family to donate the precious object to exhibit as a local heritage.
King Ham Nghi was enthroned at 13 years old by royal mandarins Nguyen Van Tuong and Ton That Thuyet. After the fight against the French failed in 1885, Ton That Thuyet helped the king call for the support of the whole people to fight against the French.
The movement lasted until 1888 before King Ham Nghi was captured and exiled to Algeria, where he died in 1943 due to stomach cancer. — VNS