Pham Huy Thong Museum in Quang Yen Town (Quang Ninh) currently preserves and displays extremely precious artifacts, including many unique ancient boats that serve Vietnamese archeology.
Pham Huy Thong Museum – A One-of-a-Kind Ancient Boat Museum
Currently, Pham Huy Thong Museum displays wooden stakes that Ngo Quyen planted in the Bach Dang River, numerous ceramics, stone artifacts, bronze drums, swords from the Hung Kings era, and a replica of a human face mask from the Dong Son culture period...
The modest museum exterior. Photo: Nguoi Dua Tin Newspaper.
Despite its modest size and moderate number of artifacts, visitors touring the exhibition rooms and observing the relics can envision the lives of ancient Vietnamese people thousands of years ago.
However, the most special artifacts at Pham Huy Thong Museum are 22 dugout canoes. These are boats that were collected and salvaged along the Kinh Thay River (Hai Duong) persistently from 2016 to 2018.
An ancient boat. Photo: Nguoi Dua Tin Newspaper.
These ancient boats are the result of tremendous efforts by the research team, as archeological documentation was very sparse, and locating the exact positions of the ancient boats was crucial before excavations could be organized due to limited funding.
The museum also once excavated and salvaged a portion of the stern of a Dong Son-era coracle used as a coffin. To date, the museum exhibits 6 boats dating back to the Dong Son period (2400-1900 years ago), 5 boats from the Northern Domination period (from the beginning of the Common Era to the 9th century), and 9 boats from the Dai Co Viet and Dai Viet eras (from the 10th to the 17th century).
Photo: Nguoi Dua Tin Newspaper.
Most of these are dugout boats, some with holes bored along both gunwales to raise the sides using wooden planks or bamboo. In everyday life, civilians used these boats for travel and fishing, but during wartime, they would turn into small warships. Only a few boats with tapered, pointed bows were exclusively designed for combat.
The Kinh Thay River area receives water from the Luc Dau River (Lau Khe junction, Chi Linh, Hai Duong); therefore, hydrologically, this is an equilibrium zone between floodwaters and tides, leading to the accumulation, settling, and deposition of heavy objects on the riverbed. Consequently, ancient relics are often found here.
Preserving ancient boats in water. Photo: Nguoi Dua Tin Newspaper.
Historically, this was where soldiers gathered during the resistance war against the Yuan-Mongol invaders by the Tran dynasty monarchs and court. Culturally, from the Lau Khe junction downstream to Binh Bridge, there used to be many pottery villages and kilns along the Kinh Thay River. That explains the presence of pottery, tools, and metal weapons here.
The reconstructed bat-wing sailboat. Photo: Dr. Nguyen Viet.
At Pham Huy Thong Museum, 6 boats are currently on display on dry land, while 16 boats are preserved immersed in water. In 2017, a new bat-wing sailboat—an ancient boat type—was constructed to study the techniques and navigation methods of the ancient waterways of Northern Vietnam.
