More than 400 rare antique items dating back to the Tay Son Dynasty (1778-1802) are on display at an exhibition in HCMC.

The exhibition at the Vietnam History Museum features terracotta items like tiles, bricks, vases, plates and cups as well as several official documents including letters and royal decrees signed by Emperor Quang Trung.

The display also has ancient coins and weapons including swords, bayonets and a huge cannon found at Thi Nai Lagoon, considered very rare by collectors. Some spoons and bows found on the riverbed in the Rach Gam-Xoai Mut area in the Mekong Delta are also on show.

Organisers said many of the objects are being exhibited for the first time. Nine museums and historical sites nationwide have lent their antique collections for this exhibition as have six collectors in HCMC and Dong Nai Province.

Although the dynasty's reign was short-lived at 32 years, the Tay Son peasant rebellion that crowned it is a landmark event in Vietnamese history.

Even though the succeeding Nguyen Dynasty forbade the use of materials and the intellectual heritage of the Tay Son Dynasty, destroying many of its vestiges, the material remains of that period have not disappeared completely.

The exhibition, titled The Eternal Halo, celebrates the 240th anniversary of the Tay Son Uprising (1771- 2011) and 222nd anniversary of Quang Trung's victory over the Chinese Qing invaders in 1789.

The exhibition at Nguyen Binh Khiem Street in District 1 will remain open until October. welcomed 96, 000 visitors from February 3-7, 15% more than the same period last year.