Images of precious Vietnamese treasures found in many important archaeological sites will be printed on the 2023 calendar block.

The Canh Thinh bronze drum, a Vietnamese treasure, was cast in 1800 under the Tay Son Dynasty. Photo: VNA

These national treasures include the Ngoc Lu Bronze Drum (2nd to 3rd century BC); Dao Thinh Bronze Jar (dating back 2000-2500 ago, belongs to the Dong Son Civilization); the statue of God Vishnu Binh Hoa (6th-7th century); Doctoral steles at the Temple of Literature; the valuable paintings of late painters Nguyen Gia Tri and To Ngoc Van, among others.
The images of 238 treasures are printed with detailed annotations on the calendar sheets.
The decorative motifs on the calendar are all hand-painted. The artists used two tones of yellow and red as the background and border of the calendar sheets to enhance the beauty of the treasures and create a luxurious look for the calendar block.

The 2023 National Treasure Calendar Block will be issued by Truth National Political Publishing House. Photo courtesy of the publishing house

According to Nguyen Thai Binh, director of the Truth National Political Publishing House's National Book Center, the calendar aims to help nourish the habit of reading and viewing Vietnamese people's calendars and honoring Vietnamese national treasures.
“It takes experts and painters six months to complete the calendar block, from the step of conceptualizing, photographing artifacts, exploiting materials to compiling content, designing, and printing,” he said.
Historian Duong Trung Quoc said that the calendar is a “general encyclopedia of national treasures” that will help Vietnamese people understand the national treasures better and be more conscious of preserving them.
“Each calendar block hung in the family means the task of heritage protection is gradually promoted,” he stated.
Apart from the National Treasure Calendar, the National Political Publishing House of Truth will launch two other blocks with the themes of “The Country Seen From The Sea” and “Great Solidarity of Vietnamese 54 Ethnic Groups” in the coming time.