Exploring the heritage of traditional Vietnamese medicine in town

Located in a small and quiet street behind Ky Hoa Park II is the first traditional medicine museum in HCMC. The museum building has six floors and 18 exhibition rooms, with a total area of 600 square meters. Built in 1995 in a modern style, the building was used as an office for eight years. The interior and exterior decoration of the building was then refurbished into a specialized museum, depicting the cultural heritage of traditional Vietnamese medicines.

About fifty artisans and skilled handicraftsmen worked for three years to transform the building into a replica of an ancient medical house in the north around the Red River valley and an institute of the royal physicians, where royal physicians took care of the health of royalty in former imperial cities in Hue.

The materials used to renovate were carefully selected so as to recreate the ancient style of the museum. Bricks, wood and tiles were bought from old houses at two or three times the price of new ones. The builders also brought wood frames of houses built at the end of 19 century in the delta of the north to install in the museum. Among the frames, one is from a family who have worked as traditional physicians for four generations in Kieu Ky Commune, Gia Lam District, Hanoi. There are also pictures and patterns skillfully carved in the girders and the gates of the museum, demonstrating for visitors the talents of Vietnamese artisans.

Visitors will also see unique features of the museum on each floor of the building. On the fourth and fifth floors artisans used a special wood carving technology while on the third floor is the incrusting technology, which is given this name because the floor is of incrusted pearl. The other floors were also designed with specific features such as the traditional wood house, and the red-lacquered and gold-trimmed house. Despite having a limited area, the museum also has exhibits of the customs and cultural features of the old times, such as samples of Vietnamese and Chinese traditional medical houses, Cham tower, the institute of the royal physicians and the gate of the Medical Temple designed in the style of Thang Long Medical Temple, a historical relic built in 1774 in Hanoi.

Besides the architecture and decoration, visitors are also attracted to the precious antique objects and items displayed in the museum. There is a large picture inlaid with mother-of-pearl, depicting Vietnamese life in the three regions and traditional Vietnamese medicine activities of the old days. Also on display are books by well-known Vietnamese physicians, a collection of drawings of 2,000 herbal trees in Vietnam and a wood-carving honoring the names of 100 famous physicians who have contributed to the development of Vietnamese traditional medicine from 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century. The museum has also reserved almost 3,000 other objects, among them are medicine paraphernalia including knives, pestles, mortars, medicine pots, scales, medicine cabinets, planks carving prescriptions and more.

The museum serves both as a scientific foundation and a cultural center, depicting the cultural life and the creativity of ancient Vietnam in traditional medicine.

The Traditional Vietnamese Medicine Museum is at 41 Hoang Du Khuong Street, District 10, HCMC. It is open daily from 8:30 a.m. till 5:30 p.m.