After ‘ma nhai’, inscriptions on rocks, was registered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a documentary heritage under the UNESCO Memory of the World for the Asia-Pacific Region Programme on November 26, 2022, the preserving the system of “ma nhai” steles at the Marble Mountains Tourist Area has received more interest than ever.

With 79 steles preserved, not only is the system of ‘ma nhai’ at the Marble Mountains Tourist Area a rare document of Da Nang but also valuable to the history of the country as well as a witness to the relationship between many Asian countries. IN THE PHOTO: The ‘ma nhai’ stele ‘Pho Da Son Linh Trung’ composed by Zen master Hue Dao Minh in the Year of the Dragon (1640) at the entrance to Hoa Nghiem cave. Photo: KHANH HOA

Preserving heritage treasures of mankind

According to research records on ‘ma nhai’ at Marble Mountains Tourist Area, over a period of nearly 400 years, due to the influence of climate, time, war and people, only 52/78 ‘ma nhai’ steles are still readable.

The rest has been worn down by time, covered with layers of paint and cement, cracked by war, chiseled or engraved with the national language by later generations, and deformed or lost some Chinese characters. In addition, unsustainable tourism activities, excessive lighting, and the invasion of algae and mosses cause the cliffs to gradually degrade.

It should be emphasized that the heritage of ‘ma nhai’ at Marble Mountains Tourist Area has a very unique, rare and irreplaceable value. If this heritage is no longer available, lost or damaged, it will not only affect the integrity of an important piece of historical research material but will also impoverish a type of heritage in the treasure trove of mankind. Therefore, in recent years, the local government, the Da Nang Department of Culture and Sports have cooperated with experts to implement a series of heritage conservation projects.

The ‘ma nhai’ at the Marble Mountains Tourist Area is managed directly by the Management Board of the Marble Mountains Tourist Area and professionally managed by the city’s Department of Culture and Sports.

The management of this heritage has been concerned since the 1990s with important decisions such as banning mountain stone mining, establishing a team to protect Marble Mountains relics, establishing a management board, promulgating regulations on the management of monuments in general, and a code of conduct in tourism with images.

Moreover, the Da Nang government has directed local relevant agencies to carry out the planning of preservation, and restoration of the Marble Mountains Tourist Area, which focuses on solutions and plans for the long-term and sustainable management and conservation of steles, including plans for heritage restoration in case of weather or natural disasters.

The Marble Mountains Tourist Area has developed plans to manage and protect the relic in general and ‘ma nhai' steles in particular, such as placing signs to prevent visitors from touching steles, arranging staff on duty to remind visitors, cleaning the steles, handling the harmful plants, place posters introducing the content of ‘ma nhai’ steles.

At the same time, there has been a publication about Marble Mountains Tourist Area introducing ‘ma nhai’ steles to serve the needs of visitors to learn and research. 

The approach to guidance - explanation and implementation of the project of the lighting system in the relic have also been enhanced.

An inscription of a ‘ma nhai’ stele in the Marble Mountains Tourist Area. Photo: Danang Department of Culture and Sports

Conservation and preservation in the long run

According to Mr Ha Vy, deputy director of the city's Department of Culture and Sports, regarding the long-term plan for the conservation and preservation of the ‘ma nhai’ system, the department is advising the municipal People's Committee to draw up a plan to preserve, restore the Marble Mountains Tourist Area; develop regulations on management and protection of tangible and intangible cultural heritages associated with the Marble Mountains.

Many contents are focused such as training and fostering human resources, organizing the inspection, supervision and strict protection of the current state of ‘ma nhai’, inventorying, numbering and classifying ‘ma nhai’ according to the principles of museology and translation, publishing in magazines and introducing on television, cleaning all steles covered with moss, paint and cement, reinforcing and attaching cracked stele, studying and determining technical standards for preserving stele, organizing all documents from the past to the present referring to this documentary heritage.

In particular, it is necessary to promote the application of digital technology to preserve the ‘ma nhai’, strengthen the propaganda and dissemination of inscription materials on a regular basis through display and exhibition activities and on the media to raise the awareness of people and visitors on the protection of this heritage, focus on scientific research, select and publish publications related to inscriptions, select and bring to school typical works at Marble Mountains Tourist Area to educate traditions, raise awareness among the young generation about the value and sense of conservation, as well as promote national cultural heritage.

Currently, in addition to allowing a certain number of people and tourists to visit directly, the entire content of ‘ma nhai’ in Marble Mountains Tourist Area has been translated into Vietnamese and built a database to look up on the website baotangdanang.vn. Hopefully, with the above-mentioned plan of preservation, conservation and methodical communication, people and visitors will have more opportunities to see the ‘ma nhai’ system and precious historical documents of our nation.

Reporting  by KHANH HOA- Translating by T.VY