To prevent the irretrievable loss of shared memory, in 1992, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched the Memory of the World Program (MOW), with the aim of safeguarding documentary heritage, facilitating access to and promotion of such heritage, and raising public awareness of its importance and the necessity of preservation.
The general guidelines to safeguard documentary heritage under the MOW, published in 2002, emphasize that the Memory of the World Program was established to recognize documentary heritage of value and of international, regional, and national significance, in order to draw the attention of communities to the preservation of rare and precious documentary collections and to facilitate their preservation and access.
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PAN’s 33 issues published on Dien Bien Phu Battlefield are solemnly displayed at the Dien Bien Phu Victory Museum. |
UNESCO distinguishes three categories of heritage, namely world heritage (including tangible and intangible cultural heritage); natural heritage, and mixed heritage (both within the cultural domain), and documentary heritage (in the field of information and communication. Naturally, documentary heritage contains information and messages that can be read, understood, and transmitted to future generations). According to UNESCO, documentary heritage may consist of a single document of any type, or a group of documents such as a collection or an archival fonds that holds significant and enduring value for a community, a culture, a nation, or humanity as a whole; the deterioration or loss of such documents impoverishes the shared heritage of humankind.
The MOW was created to support member states in preserving documentary heritage in general and in inscribing documentary heritage of global or regional value. There are three levels of inscription: international, regional, and national registers. To date, there are 570 items inscribed on the international register and 76 items on the Asia-Pacific regional register. Since participating in UNESCO’s MOW, alongside efforts to raise awareness of documentary heritage among social communities and heritage institutions such as archives, libraries, museums, research institutes, individuals, families, and lineages, Vietnam has had 11 documentary heritage elements inscribed by UNESCO at the regional and global levels, made from various materials such as wood, stone, paper, and copper. Each register, whether international, regional, or national, is based on criteria assessing the international significance of documentary heritage and its impact at the respective level.
In Vietnam, the Cultural Heritage Law 2024 No.45/2024/QH15, effective from July 1, 2025, for the first time includes a chapter on documentary heritage. Article 53 stipulates the classification and identification criteria for documentary heritage: “Documentary heritage consists of two components namely informational content and information carrier. Documentary heritage includes informational content expressed through symbols, codes, writing, or drawings on carriers such as leaves, bones, wood, stone, ceramics, paper, plastic, fabric, glass, metal, or other materials; content expressed through sound, still or moving images on carriers such as film, photos, recordings, audio tapes, and other original carriers; and content expressed in digital form on carriers containing electronic data.”
Accordingly, when measured against the criteria of Vietnam’s Cultural Heritage Law and UNESCO standards, the 33 issues of the People’s Army Newspaper (PAN) published on the Dien Bien Phu Battlefield in 1954 meet many of the requirements of documentary heritage.
Authenticity: The 33 issues are unique original artifacts, collected, preserved, and continuously held by the newspaper from 1954 to the present.
Provenance: Created in an exceptionally significant historical context, these 33 issues were published and distributed directly at the Dien Bien Phu Front in 1954 during the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, at the most intense and decisive stage of the resistance war against the French colonialists. On November 27, 1953, the General Department of Political Affairs issued the “Directive on political and ideological work in the Winter-Spring 1953-1954.” At Tham Pua cave, the first issue of the frontline newsroom of the PAN was published on December 28, 1953, numbered 116 (the same as that of the PAN’s rear edition). On January 31, 1954, when the campaign headquarters moved to Muong Phang, the newsroom moved accordingly and continued publication. The final issue, dated May 16, 1954, marked the completion of the historic role of the PAN’s frontline newsroom, nine days after the victory of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign.
Historical value: The 33 issues constitute the sole documentary evidence for identifying key historical milestones of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, as well as the theoretical foundations, principles, and leadership methods of the Communist Party of Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh, and General Vo Nguyen Giap during the resistance war against the French colonialists, with the victory of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign in 1954 as a highlight. They are invaluable historical sources for studying the struggle for national independence of the entire Party, the entire people, and the armed forces, and the leadership and direction of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh during the campaign.
Association with influential figures nationally and globally: The newspaper’s name was given by President Ho Chi Minh. These issues are vivid historical evidence of a decisive phase of the war, including important articles and directives by President Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap. The ideological essence and spirit of many articles bear the unmistakable imprint of Commander-in-Chief General Vo Nguyen Giap.
State of preservation: The collection is currently stored at the headquarters of the PAN, preserved in acid-free boxes on specialized shelving systems. However, its physical condition shows signs of deterioration. “The red covers have discolored, become stained and frayed, with torn fabric bindings; the text on individual pages shows signs of fading.”
Context of editing and printing at the front: From late 1953, the PAN prepared a second newsroom, known as the frontline newsroom. Never before had so many reporters been deployed together to a single campaign: Five journalists, equipped with sufficient technical means to operate a full newsroom and newspaper printing facility.
Alongside other forms of cultural heritage, documentary heritage plays a particularly important role in preserving Vietnam’s history and culture, as it provides authentic evidence recording historical events and Vietnamese figures during arduous but heroic periods such as the Dien Bien Phu Campaign that “shook the world.”
Given the strong potential of the 33 issues of the PAN published at the Dien Bien Phu Front in 1954, which meet many criteria of world documentary heritage, it is recommended that the managing institution focus on research to clearly demonstrate the heritage’s values in accordance with UNESCO’s MOW guidelines, in order to build a scientifically grounded and highly persuasive nomination dossier.
Dr. Vu Thi Minh Huong, Vice Chairwoman of the UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia-Pacific, member of the National Council for Cultural Heritage
Translated by Mai Huong