Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) - Archaeologists are demanding permission to conduct excavations atthe site of the tomb of one of King Tu Duc’s wives, which was bulldozedrecently, to preserve whatever is undamaged.

The incident inthe central Thua Thien-Hue province came to light on June 21, and has agitatedlocals and historians, which in turn has prompted the provincial People’sCommittee to demand a report on the episode. The site was being bulldozed forthe construction of a parking lot.

Do Bang, chairmanof the local Association of Historical Science, said excavation workshould be done around the site where the ancient tomb was razed for theconstruction of a parking lot. The Vietnamese Law of Heritage allows for suchexcavation work, which will help experts gain a clearer picture about theking’s wife as well as the tomb itself, Bang said.

The Nguyen Familycommittee, an organisation representing descendants of the Nguyen Dynasty(1802-1945), and the investor of the parking lot, whose bulldozer razed thetomb, also want the exact location of the tomb so they can retrieve the bonesand belongings of the king’s wife.

At the same time,the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, the local body that manages allmonuments related to the dynasty in Hue, said the text on the stone steleattached to the razed tomb is the same as that found on a worshipping plate ina temple designated for the king’s wives inside Tu Duc mausoleum. This isfurther validation that the razed structure was a royal tomb built for a king’swife and that she was one of the wives of Tu Duc (ruling from 1847 to1883), thedynasty’s fourth king.

Earlier, whennews broke that an ancient royal tomb had been bulldozed, the centre’s directorPhan Thanh Hai had denied the claim. He contended that as per studies conductedby the centre’s staff, the site had two king’s wife tombs, and there was nothird tomb of the king’s wife.

Nguyen Dung,deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, has requested localcultural authorities to submit a detailed report on the incident. The localDepartment of Culture and Sports and the Hue Monuments Conservation Centre arein charge of all information related to the tomb. Also, the People’s Committeeof Hue city has been asked to submit a report on licensing construction of theparking lot.

The move comesamidst rising public anger over the desecration of the grave, a criminal actunder Vietnamese law, and poor management of local heritage – the tomb waslocated in a protected area amidst the mausoleums of two late kings, Tu Duc andDong Khanh (1885-1889), and the tombs of other wives of King Tu Duc.

In defence, theinvestor of the parking lot said they had been given a “clean site” forbulldozing, and as bushes covered the tomb, the driver did not see it. However,a resident living nearby is said to have tried to stop the driver from razingthe tomb, but was ignored. Meanwhile, local authorities are denying that theyhad granted permission to bulldoze the site.

Locals in Huesuspect that it is a scheme by local cultural authorities and the investor toclear the space and build a parking lot. The proposed parking lot is 17,000sq.mwide, with an estimated capacity to hold 100 cars and 120 motorbikes. Thecompany has also razed a hill for construction work.

King Tu Duc had104 wives. The woman buried in the bulldozed tomb is believed to beamong wives of the 9th rank of the emperor.-VNA