Vietnamese Sculptures Charm & Beauty
When did man start doing artistic work and making sculpture?
Scholars hold that it began when man knew how to make tools, at first in stone and later in bronze. The tiny statuettes (from 2cm to 20cm high) showed here used to be attached to objects for everyday use. The statuettes of girls or women clan heads on dagger handles look imposing and splendid. Beauty goes hand in hand with power! Is this the image of the sisters Trung (Hai Ba Trung)? Today, where can we find such a beautiful and sophisticated lamp stand? Fashion and jewellery are not our creations today. Notice the earrings, chest bands, ankle bracelets, waistbands and the decorative patterns on our ancestor’s skirts: geometrical. Ornamental bands and arches are characteristic of Dong Son decorative patterns. 2,500 years ago, did they already know how to dance? No! This is a man and his wife in the course of making love. Notice the dagger still hanging on the woman's back.
The independence period in our history began with the Ly dynasty. Bac Ninh and Thang Long were two cultural centers. The lion statue is both strong and graceful. The geometrical decorative patterns and the spirals are supple. The face of the Buddha's warrior attendant statue looks imposing and benevolent, amiable at the same time. Most sophisticated are the sigmoid ornamental motifs. The dragon under the Ly dynasty is also known as 'earthworm dragon'. Dragons from that time onwards began to be used as the Emperor's official symbol. Sakya Muni Buddha, having attained perfect spiritual enlightenment, founded Buddhism at the foot of a Bodhi tree; hence the Bodhi tree leaf had become a familiar decorative design. Dam pagoda pillar of stone (5m in height) is the most colossal monumental stone concurrently with the stone statue of Amitabha Buddha at Phat Tich pagoda (Bac Ninh province). They are the largest monuments of this period (the 11th-12th centuries) that remain.
Sirens in Western mythology remind us of Oriental drum-beating fairies with a bird-shaped body. Vietnamese sculpture had very close cultural exchanges with Chinese sculpture under the Tang dynasty and Cham sculpture in the South. Changes in the situation had brought about alterations in art. Under the Tran and Ho dynasties - 13th -15th centuries - sculpture had transformed greatly. The transition was visibly observed at Thai Lac pagoda. The personages are more realistic, naive and robust. Tran dynasty's wooden statues are the most ancient ones ever preserved in our country. Look at this simple and robust tiger and the imposing and powerful dragon of the Tran dynasty. It differs greatly from its much more elegant counterpart of the preceding Ly dynasty.
These are very likely the last influences of Cham art on our sculpture. Hard stone, wood and terracotta became the main materials of fine arts from the Tran dynasty onwards. Le Loi and Nguyen Trill attached the greatest importance to Confucianism. Buddhism ceased to be a state religion. Sculpture prone to Buddhism thus fell into background. The dragon looks majestic while the horse in the royal tomb is only 45cm high, like a toy, as plain as a stone dog at a commoner's gate. Sculpture and Buddhism had to shift from the capital to villages.
The statue on the right ushered in the golden area of village sculpture in northern Vietnam. Guan Yin statue is the image of a beautiful lady, away merciful and almighty, having the power of "a thousand eyes and a thousand arms" to penetrate all human sufferings for their salvation. But Thap pagoda's Guan Yin statue is the unique sculpture signed with the artist's family name (Mr Truong) and marked with the year of its creation (1656). This is a masterpiece of the world's Buddhist art.
Village pagodas are really sculpture museums. The main altars must include at least 60 statues. Their number in a single pagoda occasionally tallies up to hundreds of small and big statues. Myriads of statues in thousands of pagodas throughout our country need to be protected and preserved. This statue shows the beauty of Vietnamese women. Beautiful and charming peasant girls had probably served as models for artists. And here is the charm of a "beauty queen" in former times: "Your wrist is ivory - white, sharp as a betel knife is your eyesight. To an Aglaia blossom your smile is similar, and your turban: a lotus flower that stirs”. Nothing is nobler than a mother's love. Here is the masterpiece of an ideal Vietnamese mother with immaculate beauty, righteousness and charity. Lady White statue with her half-covered chest, a rarity in Vietnamese fine arts. The Good Pala Dharma, the Cruel Pala Dharma, the Buddha's warrior attendants, is Heavenly gods with a stately bearing. Martial art postures and their manly strength are vividly and magnificently portrayed by the statues. There remain only collections of portrait statues of the common people in pagodas. They include: chief monks in Buddhist temples, those who have rendered meritorious work to the pagodas, e.g. their constructors, restorers, etc. The portrait statues are so lifelike that - it seems - they might serve as portraits in identification cards!
The fat monk is picking his ear and the lean monk is scratching his back. The statues of the Founder Monks of Tay Phuong pagoda (often mistakenly named Arhats) are also "extremely lifelike", except the stylized ears. Outdoor statues, though not common and less imposing remain valuable works in the royal tombs. Vietnam's ancient sculpture is truly characteristic, rich, realistic and flowing. The colors are highly refined and charming. That is a great source of our pride.
