85 Years of Đông Sơn Culture

A Đông Sơn drum in the late Giao Chỉ period
Barbier-Mueller Museum, Geneva, Swizerland

In 1924, a farmer from Đông Sơn village came across some ancient bronze tools and weapons when he was fishing on the banks of the Mã River. He found the artifacts in the stretch of field between the Ma River and the range of limestone and schist mountains. This area is the current location of Đông Sơn village (Đông Sơn District, Thanh Hóa Province) and is located about 4.5 km northeast of the town of Thanh Hóa. Since the initial discovery, researchers have excavated and collected hundreds of relics of many types ranging from work tools, household goods, weapons, and musical instruments to jewelry and statues. The term " Đông Sơn culture" first appeared in the early 1930s and became well-known to researchers—especially Western scholars—who have spent quite a lot of time and effort investigating this famous culture.
However, 20 years after the first discovery of Đông Sơn culture, foreign researchers including the French—have just now excavated new sites around Thanh Hóa and Quảng Bình Province. Due to the lack of findings, from the 1930s to 1970s Western researchers held the assumption that the Dongsonians were not native to Viet Nam, but were from northern areas or the West. Thanks to the development of Viet Nam's fledgling archaeology, hundreds more Đông Sơn cultural sites have been unearthed and researched. Foreign scholars once had the exclusive right to do research on Đông Sơn culture, and it was not until the liberation of northern Việt Nam that domestic researchers took charge of this work. In the past Đông Sơn culture was mistakenly associated with the Bronze Age; however, based on new information, we have come to understand that the culture went through a long process of development including four distinct periods: the Phùng Nguyên culture of the Early Bronze Age (4000 years ago), the Đồng Đậu culture of the Middle Bronze Age (3000 years ago), the Gò Mun culture of the Late Bronze Age (3000 years ago) and, lastly, the Đông Sơn culture of the Early Iron Age (2000-2800 years ago).
Đông Sơn is thought to have reached the climax of visual arts. The ancient Dongsonians created a diverse array of objects from tools, weapons, and household goods to musical instruments, jewelry, and artistic statues. Đông Sơn's artistic diversity is not only manifest in the wide range of articles produced (for example: ploughs, sickles, axes, and files), but is also displayed in each local area's different style of sculpting them. For instance, the ancient Vietnamese who lived in low areas made tall, straight bronze drums while those who lived in high areas liked shorter ones with low legs and sloping lower parts. Similarly, people in the North Delta liked heart-shaped or triangular ploughshares while those living near the Ma River liked butterfly-shaped ones. The Dongsonians also had high aesthetic taste. Almost all of the Đông Sơn cultural artifacts working tools, weapons, domestic goods and musical instruments were decorated with various delicate patterns. We can divide these patterns into to these basic categories: patterns that depict people and animals, and geometric patterns. The patterns vary based on their creation methods and the shapes of the artifacts they decorate. Dongsonians were able to create these patterns on curved barrels; the bodies of drums and jars; the curved surfaces of breastplates; the surfaces of drums, axes, spears and daggers; and many other items. The decorative patterns were designed artistically and in accordance with the various shapes of the objects they were intended for. For instance, there are three figures of dancers in feather costumes on the bodies of foot-shaped axes, while their shafts are decorated with pictures of a couple of crocodiles mating. The decorative style of the Dong Son Culture blended a tool's shape and patterns with its specialized function.
Đông Sơn bronze drums are not only ancient musical instruments, but also masterpieces of applied decorative art at its peak during the Bronze Age. They provide a comprehensive look into the culture, architecture, work, battles, and festivals of a people dependent on wet rice farming. By researching Đông Sơn 's art, we have successfully determined the developmental model of visual art in this period. Đông Sơn's Art changed from its early realism to intricate and mysterious stylization in the later period. Monographs about the bronze drums of Đông Sơn have been recognized both inside and outside the country.
 

A separate statue of pelican that goes
with a Đông Sơn jar, Barbier-Muller, Geneve, Swizerland

The ancient Dongsonians paid due attention to beautifying themselves with jewelry made from many materials seashells, terra cotta, animal bones, glass, and agate but the most popular were often made of stone or bronze. The size and design of the almost innumerable jewelry varies greatly. For the most part, Dongsonians used to wear jewelry as follows: earrings on their ears, beads around their necks, belts around their waists, rings and gloves on their hands, rings and foot gloves on their feet, and bracelets on their wrists and arms. All people, regardless of age and gender, wanted to wear jewelry. In Làng Vạc (Nghệ An province), researchers unearthed some hand gloves, foot gloves and bronze rings that made noise. Thus, it seems that jewelry was closely related to music and dance.

There now remain more than two hundred artistic statues made of different materials such as stone, terra cotta, horn, and wood; but most are made of bronze. They include sculptures of humans and animals. A distinct feature of Đông Sơn sculpture is that most of it consists of sculptures that decorate an object rather than free-standing statues. Sculptures were added to the handles of daggers and ladles; the spouts o: ceramics; and the surfaces of drums jars, and candlesticks. As a whole. Đông Sơn sculptures were created in realistic, small sizes, and could be used as toys or totems. Looking back on the development of Đông Sơn's visual art, we would like to make some general comments as follows:
First, successfully proving that Đông Sơn art is native to Việt Nam rather than coming from China or India is the greatest achievement of Vietnamese archaeologists and ancient art researchers. In contrast to the misinterpretations of some foreign scholars, Đông Sơn 's art did not come from China or Northern Europe. It has undergone a constant, progressive development over 2,000 years. Moreover, it has proved to be an open culture that interacted multi-dimensionally with other synchronic cultures.  For example, Đông Sơn bronze drums were influenced by drums in southern China, and both the    mainland    and    islands   of Southeast Asia. On the other hand, the statue art of the Dian Kingdom in Yunnan (China) also influenced the statues of Đông Sơn. Some aspects of other contemporary Southeast Asian cultures also had varying degrees of influence on Đông Sơn's art. Second, the most notable feature of Đông Sơn's visual art is the central role of human beings in nature. They lived harmoniously with nature and living beings yet maintained the center of the universe. They are pictured working, fishing, hunting, singing,  dancing,  playing drums, swimming,   and   defending  their villages. They were simple, gentle people. The images in their artwork reflect the cult of fecundity of wet-rice farmers and their hope for peaceful, happy lives. Third,   in   regard   to  their  artistic   methods,   the   ancient Dongsonians depicted subjects whether dancers, birds, deer, bulls or other creatures in profile instead of from the front. For instance, the image of a dancer on the surface of a bronze drum is depicted from various angles. Its chest is shown from the front while its head and legs are pictured in profile. Similarly, a bird is viewed from the top down except for its head, which is viewed in profile. This style of expression is similar to the multi-dimensional perspective used in ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian and Byzantine art. In conclusion, the art of the Đông Sơn culture has given us an age-old, native visual art that has retained its own distinct characteristics compared to surrounding contemporary arts. We have always been proud of the Dong Son culture's unique artistic contribution.

Source: Việt Nam University Of Fine Art - Institute Of Fine Art

Light of Life

A catholic priest in Ho Chi Minh City is well-known among local antique collectors for his 1,300 ancient kerosene lamps, including one that dates back to the Dong Son era

A small room inside Tan Sa Chau Church in Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Binh District contains hundreds of kerosene lamps in different designs and decorations, with each being a part of history.

Father Nguyen Huu Triet is already in his 60s but still gets excited when he hears about a kerosene lamp being found or sold somewhere in the north, thousands of kilometers away from his home.

The old man's passion for lamps originated in his childhood, when he noticed how his father, who was a teacher and a doctor of traditional medicine, treasured an enamel tea set and a Chinese farmer's pipe. They were the family's only valuable possessions.

His father only brought out the two antiques when guests came to visit, so that everyone could admire them. At the time, Father Triet wasn't aware of the value of the antiques, but they piqued his curiosity.

He inherited dozens of old lamps from the previous parish priest at Tan Sa Chau and cherished the memories of his father. He found a desire to collect old lamps, as way of preserving the past. They also provide light, Father Triet explained; a type of light that counters darkness and evil. The lamps have stood the test of time.

But it's not just about light. Father Triet said that each has a story to tell. Some he bought from antique shops in Ho Chi Minh City or from scrap iron dealers in the northern or central regions. Only by accident did he come across one ancient pottery lamp from the Dong Son era, while hunting for another.

A peanut oil lamp from Le Mac era,
16th - 18th centuries

 A type of light that counters darkness and evil. The lamps have stood the test of time.

There is also a 1.5-meter tall lamp from India that has five wicks, and one from France that holds 7.5 liters of oil. Most of the lamps use peanut oil, kerosene or animal fat.

Nearly 20 years after he began his collection, Father Triet believes life is like a lamp. The light will extinguish at one point, so it's better to live life to the fullest while the flame still flickers.

He will donate his lamps to the catholic association when he passes. "I want to preserve them for the next generation," he said. "After I die, the lamps will continue to live on."

 

Source : Heritage Magazine 12/2010

The Phases Of Vietnamese Art

1925-1945 The Establishment of the Fine Art College of Indochina.
1995 marks the 70th year of existence of Vietnamese painting. From 1925 to 1945, the first epoch of the history of Vietnamese painting coincides with the history of the Fine Arts College of Indochina (FACI) because it was that college which created conditions for the birth and development, vigorous until now, of Vietnamese painting... The principal promoter of the programme concerning the fine arts was Victor Tardieu (1870-1937) and Josheph Inguimberty (1896-1971).
Victor Tardieu was a painter having profound knowledge of Oriental art. His oil paintings were extremely simple in form and quite tasteful in colors, their presentation reflected spaciousness, laying emphasis on the general composition. While Le Pho, Mai Trung Thu, Vu Cao Dam, Le Thi Luu... were influenced by Tardieu and always kept good memory of the first solid steps laid by the later to allow them to advance still further. To Ngoc Van, Nguyen Gia Tri, Tran Van Can, Luu Van Sin were inclined to Inguimberty's side. From the beginning, To Ngoc Van was among the openairists with his canvas Offerings realized in the impressionist way. Tran Van Can is to be mentioned with his canvas Little Thuy in the style of the portraits by Vermeer de Delft, a Dutch painter, pure but solid, carefully done and refined... These were works realized in the open air or in front of models in natural light and colours...
Before 1925 all Vietnamese painters had no clear conception of painting. They joined the FACI with the sincere confidence and the deep and burning aspiration to rapidly attain the Beautiful of which they had only a vague but so captivating imagination. Within 20 years (1925-1945) Vietnamese painters had engaged in the search for a model in ancient or modern times, in the West or the East. They approached the Schools of European painting at the beginning of the 20th century: fauvism, cubism, symbolism, expressionnism, surrealism, futurism, abstractionnism. And only those who could assimilate European painting and had moral and material conditions were capable of ensuring the continuous development of national art. To Ngoc Van, Nguyen Gia Tri, Tran Van Can, Nguyen Tuong Lan, Nguyen Tien Chung, Luu Van Sin... and later Nguyen Tu Nghiem, Nguyen Sang, Bui Xuan Phai, Nguyen Sy Ngoc, ect, belong to this class of painters...
1945-1954 Painters volunteer to fight for national salvation
1945 The Revolution had awaken the national sense and at the same time political consciousness among the Vietnamese artists. A movement among the artists to support the Viet Minh gained ground in Hanoi with uncommon speed.
The national exhibition solemnly organized at the Municipal Theater of Hanoi in August 1946 gathered the works of various genres by the patriotic artists of Vietnam: oil painting, pumice lacquer, gouache, water color, wood cutting, most of them treating subjects relating to the struggle of Vietnam for a new life. In 1948, after three years of war, the second national exhibition of fine arts was organized in a forest of palm trees (Xuan Ang village, Phu Tho province) with about 100 pictures, including silks, wood engravings, propaganda drawings. The Third Exhibition was organized in Chiem Hoa, on the occasion of the anniversary of the day of national resistance.
At the moment of victory, returning to the capital there were only about thirty or forty painters from all parts of the country. The Fine Arts College of Vietnam urgently founded as early as 1955 to train new painters, was placed under the direction of Tran Van Can. In the meantime, in the South, on Dec.31,1954, painter Le Van De set up the National Fine Arts College of Saigon, with collaborators the majority of whom having graduated from the Fine Arts College of Indochina: Nguyen Van Long, U Van An, Nguyen Van Anh, Nguyen Van Que...and painters returning from France, like Duong Van Den, Bui Van Kinh. During its twenty years of existence, the National Fine Arts College of Saigon had produced renowned painters: Nguyen Trung, Nguyen Phuoc, Do Quang Em, Ho Huu Thu, Co Tan Long Chau, Nguyen Thi Tam, Nguyen Trung Tin, Nguyen Tan Cuong... After 1975, the National Fine Arts College of Saigon merged with the National Decorative Arts School of Gia Dinh to become the Fine Arts College of Ho Chi Minh City, now the Fine Arts University of Ho Chi Minh City.
Embracing new themes centred on man in work, production and combat as well as consulting the art works created for labouring people by French artists as Fougeron, Amblard and Taslitzky or by Italian atitsts as Pizzinato, Trecani and Guttuso, the young Vietnamese painters have finally identified themselves to create a very fruitful progressive realism.

Lacquer Painting

The principal material for pumice lacquer painting is Vietnamese lacquer, used to lacquer cultural objects and current usage articles. After his arrival in Hanoi, one day Inguimberty accompanied Nam Son in a visit to the Temple of Literature. He was amazed at a layer of lacquer covering the ancient cultural objects, the parallel sentences and the columns of the sanctuary. Time - several centuries - had changed this layer of lacquer into an extraordinarily beautiful color scales.
Inguimberty was gained over by the "Annamite lacquer" and later on engaged in trying lacquer in painting. Inguimberty had made a great service to the development of Vietnam lacquer painting. He was of the view that only the Vietnamese were capable of making lacquer painting, just like oil painting was the privilege of Europeans.However this malicious resin has rather extravagant characteristics. To have it dry, it must be kept in heat. The cold and dry weather prevents it from being ever dry. To paint with lacquer, one must paint in depth what is in the external layer of the picture and paint above what is in the internal layer, then rub it with pumice and the picture will be visible. The strokes must be minute because there is a great deal of sticky matter and a high degree of homogeneity must be achieved in the lacquer, because everything might disappear during the pumicing. The creation is done in several stages, after each of them, the lacquer dries and only then can one start the following stage. A small mistake can be disastrous. Thousands of other difficulties are to be overcome, the working rules must be strictly observed. Only a true artisan in the lacquering art who has inherited the secrets transmitted from generation to generation can resolve these problems. The palette of lacquer painting includes only the color of canhgian (cockroach wings), then (black), son (red), silver and gold. Gold and silver must be pure gold and silver, which in the present are difficult to obtain. To prepare the color, mother-of-pearl and egg shell are also used. Other materials are sometimes not so effective. If all the complex stages are got over, sometimes still kept secret, we shall certainly obtain a marvellous world of material, color and light, a magnificent world unknown up to now.In 1958, a delegation of Vietnamese painters brought their lacquer works to the International Exhibition of Fine Arts held in Moscow by the socialist countries. Their works were highly appreciated when the contents of the works reflected the multiple aspects of daily life in a manner characterized by perspicacity and romanticism. Form 1957 onwards, pumice lacquer was more and more recognized as the principal language of the Vietnamese painting. Almost all painters wanted to achieve the most important work of their life by means of this material. Tran Van Can has enthusiastically composed some most successful lacquer paintings in all his artist life.In the race to valorize this traditional material, Nguyen Gia Tri was the first to attain the aim. On the surfaces of the paintings, colours and material constitute layers that intermingle to form a bloc of amber perfectly limpid and Nguyen Gia Tri added strokes to set out his personages in the background, young girls standing or sitting, going to and fro, pursuing a butterfly or picking flowers, playing under the leaves of a weeping willow floating in the wind, or walking on the bank of a lake where white lotuses are blooming. All were arranged in a harmonious rhythm with arabesques to make viewers feel the contrast between extreme richness and maximal modesty. Very few persons can equal Nguyen Gia Tri in lacquer painting. A painter who has made profound studies of pumice lacquer said: "Pumice lacquer can be compared to a religious man who observes strict control of himself, respecting the rigorous rules of his original religion."

Source: From "Vietnam Contemporary Art", 1996
               By The Hanoi Fine Arts Publisher