Golden Plates in Vietnam

Joseph Smith's account of a record engraved on golden plates which he translated and published as the Book of Mormon in 1829, created no small bit of dis-belief among his peers who regarded the matter as somewhat preposterous. But it might not have raised even an eyebrow among the ruling class in Hue at the time. It turns out the Nguyen Dynasty was already acquainted with the practice of recording important events such as the ascension of kings, the coronation of Queen mothers, or Queen grandmothers, on gold plates, or silver plates gilded in gold.

                       

Elder Vanwagenen came across mention of an exhibit at the Museum of National History recently, so with a few hours to spare on a Saturday morning, we decided to check it out. The exhibit runs until early in August, so you have time to come see for yourself.

The exhibit claims that the first Nguyen ruler, Gia Long, was behind the idea for the first of these created just before Joseph Smith was born. But needless to say, they were not circulated, but rather quite closely guarded, and have not been displayed until just now. 

                       

The books each have four binding rings, and are just smaller than an A4 piece of paper. Some consist of just a few sheets, perhaps five, counting the front and back cover, meaning that the contents are rather brief. But then how much would one want to say about appointing one's mother-in-law Queen mother? A few numbered up to 13 sheets or leaves.

                       

      

As can be seen, the decor on the covers is rather finely detailed metal tooling, with the major motif being that of the dragon, a royal symbol adopted from the Chinese influence, along with clouds indicating the height and majesty and divinity of the king I think. 

                       

  

The contents or inscriptions/engravings within each book are done using Chinese script. But quite interestingly, the brush strokes themselves form the construct of the engraving, rather than the engraving tool being used in lieu of or as the caligrapher's brush. That adds greatly to the level of workmanship required to prepare the book I think, but may also make it more readable. Each page contains five columns of characters, with up to 12 characters in a column, which I believe is a poetic structure itself of the time. 

Along with the gold or golden books, several unique "chops" formed of gold or gilt silver, were displayed as accompanying the books, a further symbol of the royalty or official nature of the person's new position. (One of the key issues with regard to the recent recognition event for the church was the nature of what the stamp or chop would say. These have a long a rich tradition both functionally and as an art form.) 

                      

                      

It may be that the King or Queen's signature was as illegible as many doctors signatures are, and that using the standardized, even idealized, chop made it much more universally recognizable in the era before electronic sign-on and signatures to ensure authenticity.