The document recorded the conferment of a title on an official from Thanh Hoa province for his service to the country.
The National Archives Centre received the imperial decree, which was in a decrepit state, on March 21, from a local archives centre, which had collected it from a local clan.
Rolled up inside a damaged old wooden box, the document was infested with mould and fungi, while the parts with the seal and characters denoting the issue date were ripped off.
If the document were not treated, it would decay further, said Tran Dang Phuong, head of the centre’s document storage department, at the time of receipt.
In the past week, experts have cleaned the document, removed the mould and fungi and used traditional Japanese and Vietnamese paper to fill in and reinforce the ripped parts in order to extend the document’s life while maintaining its originality.
After the restoration, the document will be returned to the clan which was preserving it.
