Mummified corpse of ancient Vietnam king reburied

HANOI: The mummified corpse of a Vietnamese king who died hundreds of years ago was reburied yesterday, half a century after farmers discovered it.

State television showed a red cloth, decorated with dragons, being draped over the coffin at the Vietnam Museum of History in Hanoi, where the body of King Le Du Tong had been preserved for decades.

Dark-suited officials held incense around the coffin, which weighed 700 kilograms, the television reported. More than 20 royal robes were buried with the king.

"This event made us very glad," said Le Van Duat, a representative of the Le clan. "It met the aspiration of several generations of the Le family. It also reflected the aspiration of the Vietnamese people."

After the museum ceremony a procession of at least 100 cars escorted the body of the king, who died in 1731, south to Thanh Hoa province for the reburial, said one witness.

"Early this morning in Hanoi, a lot of people, especially those from the Le family clan, came to the Museum of History area to say farewell to the king," she said.

The motorcade took a few hours to reach Bai Trach village where, according to the Vietnam News, farmers accidentally dug up the king's coffin in 1958.

"It is God and the people's wish to bring the king's body back to where he first rested," Le Van Tam, another Le family representative, earlier told the Thanh Nien daily.

Officials and experts first opened the wooden coffin in 1964. Buried with the king were 83 other items that included a pillow, clothing, utensils and wrapping cloths, the museum said in a statement. All were rotting, it said.

The corpse itself had not maintained its original state "due to Vietnam's then lack of budget and technique", but since 1964 its condition has remained largely unchanged, the museum said.

"This is the only case where one of the kings of the Vietnam feudal regime was excavated and studied. This is a precious historical thing," it said in a statement emailed earlier.

AFP

(China Daily 01/26/2010 page10)