Histoire

Son histoire peut se résumer en quelques mots: combats pour l’indépendance, la conquête de nouvelles terres et l’unification du pays.

Communal house (Đình Làng: Part 3)

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Đình Làng (Part 3)

Armature ( Cấu tạo vì kèo )

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In addition to the ceremonies scheduled in the year in honor of the tutelary genius, villagers attach great importance to anniversaries of his birth and death. But there are also other occasional sacrifices caused often by a marriage, an appointment, a promotion or a old or siver wedding (khao lão). This allows you to give rise to feasts in the village and allows you to celebrate in large pump the cult in the tutelary genius. The latter may be a man or a woman. It is easy to identify this genius at the time of the procession. For the genius-man, there is always the presence of a horse in red (ngựa hồng) or white ( ngựa bạch) laquered wood. This one is of natural size and mounted on a wooden rectangular plate fitted with castors. The latter is richly harnessed and it is supposed to bring the genius soul. In the case where the genius is a woman, this horse is replaced by the palanquin in red hemp (võng đào) suspended from the beam having the ends carved with dragon head and based on two easels in the form of three crossed sticks.

Mái cong làng Ðình Bảng 

dinhlang02

For the duration of the feast, one sacrifices to the tutelary genius with solemnity by moving its char ( kiệu) accompanied by a large number of culte objects, parade weapons, dais (tán) and pennants (cờ), from the communal house (đình) to the his place of residence (nghè) (1) or from the village to another allied village in the case where these ones are united by the cult of the same genius and by organizing multiple entertainment: fighting of cocks, buffaloes and birds, chess games with human pawns, flat hand wrestling etc.

There is also a important rite which recalls the significant characteristics of genius life. Known as the « hèm » in Vietnamese and kept secret, it is always celebrated during the night for geniuses who have not done an honorable act (genius thief, genius with fists, wast collector genius etc … ).. By contrast, it is celebrated in the great day for the geniuses with a quality or an act of bravery. One avoids to pronounce also the name of the genius during the rite by modifying the pronunciation or by substituting a synonym. This is the case of genius Linh Lang for example. We are obliged to tell « khoai dây » instead « khoai lang » (potatoes), « thầy lương » for « thầy lang » (doctor) etc. This singular rite is one of the essential features of communal cults. The negligence of this rite could jeopardize the prosperity of the village.

Its construction is always operated according to a well-defined layout plan identifiable by some Chinese characters Nhất, Nhị, Tam, Ðinh, Công, Vương etc.  A communal house (đình) who stands alone with a rectangular main building (đại đình) evokes the character « Nhất ». This is the case of « đình » Tây Ðằng.By contrast, we are led to recognize the character Nhị by adding to the main building a second building (tiền tế) (or building reserved for sacrifices). This one is parallel to the first building and preceding it in the new layout. This is the case of the communal house Liên Hiệp. It is rare to find the character Tam in the construction of communal house. In a general way, the « đình » is frequently encountered in the shape of the character Công.

The posterior building Hậu Cung is connected to the main building by a small corridor or a small court (Ống muống) . This is the case of the communal house Đình Bảng, Mộng Phụ. For the character Vương, it is sufficient to connect three buildings (Hậu Cung, Đại Đình, Tiền Tế) with two corridors (Ống muống). It is in this last building « Tiền Tế » where the official ceremony for tutelary genius is performed by notables wearing a blue suit during the feast days. READING MORE

Palanquin in red hemp (Đình Cổ Loa)              

(1) ghè: Place of residence of the genius often located at the entrance of the village. At the time of the feast, invited the genius is invited to join the communal house « đình ». It is brought back to its « ghè » when the feast is terminated.

Bibliographie:

Le Ðình, maison communale du Viêt Nam.
Hà Văn Tấn, Nguyễn Văn Kự,
Editions Thế Giới, 2001

Communal house ( Đình Làng: Part 2)

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dinhvn

Đình Làng: Part 2

 

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We are accustomed to say: Cầu Nam, Chùa Bắc, Ðình Ðoài with the aim of evoking the celebrity of three specific regions concerning the Vietnamese traditional architecture. Ðình Ðoài thus insinuates the region Ðoài (Hà Ðông, Sơn Tây) where there is a large number of famous communal houses. (Tây Ðằng, Mông Phụ , Chu Quyến etc. .. ). It is in this region near the mountain and forests that the precious and resistant hardwood is found essentially  for  the construction of đình.

The word « đình » has its origin in the Chinese ideogram ting. Despite this, the « đình » in the Vietnamese architecture does not correspond to the Chinese description of the ting. The latter is employed over time to designate a isolated house for cultural joys (thưởng ngoạn văn hóa) or a rest home (đình trạm) for a traveller or a mandarin in mission or a temple for the cult of the rampart genius at the time of the Han (Chinese).

In this meaning, there is the same type of ting in Viet Nam with the đình Trấn Ba within the temple Ngọc Sơn (Hànội) or Thủy Ðình ( Ðình on water) in front of the pagoda Thầy (Chùa Thầy) (Hà Tây). Based on the origin of the word Ðình, some specialists do not hesitate to think that the cult of the Chinese « ting » has inspired the Vietnamese « đình ». For Vietnamese writer and journalist Hữu Ngọc, the wall genius have been replaced by the village tutelary genius to adapt oneself to Vietnamese taste. But there are several reasons not allowing to reinforce this hypothesis.

Firstly, the Vietnamese đình which is due to its strength in an ingenious system of columns, tenons and mortices, is built on stilts (without poured foundation). This technique allows to facilitate sometimes its movement or its re-orientation in case its initial installation does not provide prosperity and happiness to the village after several decades of exploitation.This type of construction reminds us that, for some researchers, in particular French researcher Georges Coedes, the Vietnamese « đình » was undoubtedly influenced by Indonesian architectural style.
chu_quyen1

It does not call into question what one have already discovered on Vietnamese bronze drums with the house on stilts and a curved roof. (Ngọc Lữ ). We know very well that the Dongsonian (the ancestors of the Vietnamese ) were established along the coast of North Vietnam (1 millennium before J. C. ). They were considered as « Indonesian » (or Austroasians (Nam Á in Vietnamese), the Bai Yue.

According to Vietnamese researcher Trịnh Cao Tường, specialised in the study of communal houses (đình), the architecture of Vietnamese communal house on stilts testifies to the echo of the Dongsonian mind continuing to perpetuate itself yet in the daily life of the Vietnamese people. In addition, this building type is similar to sacred common building roong (nhà rồng) that one is accustomed to find among the Austroasiatic populations, in particular highland ethnic peoples (Central Highlands of Vietnam).

Analogous to the Vietnamese communal house, the building rôong cumulates a large number of social functions: board room of village committee, accommodation center for casual visitors, rallying point of all villagers etc. ..Some Vietnamese « đinh » are fitted with wooden floors serving as headquarters for meeting or sofa bed for notables and villagers. This is not the case of Chinese « ting ».

Đình Bảng (Bắc Ninh)

In the XVIII century, there are almost 11800 villages in Vietnam. This means that there are communal houses as much as villages. As the Vietnamese have the habit of saying: the water that we drink recalls the source (Uống nước nhớ nguồn), there is always within themselves a recognition, a gratitude for those who have done a great service for them and their country.

That is why nothing is surprising to see a large number of historical figures (national and local heroes) or legendary characters (Mountain genius Tan Viên for example) and benefactors considered to be part of geniuses of communal houses. Those who have done stirring deeds are not forgotten either. In addition, among these ministering geniuses, there are also the children, beggars and thieves. These ones die a violent death with a sacred hour, which gives them the supernatural powers to protect villagers against evils and misfortunes. Thanks to these communal gods, the village found not only tranquillity and prosperity but also rule, justice and morality. They are in some way the personification of this supreme authority which derives its full strength in the village itself.

Depending on their role more or less filled, they can receive royal patent (sắc phong) who grant them the grades of « genius of higher rank (or Thượng đẳng thần) » or « genius of the average rank (or Trung đẳng thần) » or the « genius of lower rank (Hạ đằng thần) « . This institution allows the king to demote those of them failing to fulfill their mission by sowing disorder in the village or letting the villagers perish. Being kept with care and jealousy in the Hậu Cung (or interior palace) these royal patents are the indescribable pride of the whole village. If the latter has not his tutelary genius, it is forced to borrow the tutelary genius of another village or to replace it by the soil genius (thổ thần). In the case where the villages are united by a common cult for the same tutelary genius, they must come to an agreement so that the feast day is fixed at a date agreed in each village and everyone can participate by sending a delegation during the procession.

Unlike the temples built and maintained at public expense, the communal houses are charged to villagers because it is in fact a local worship. The wealth found in the decoration of communal houses and their dimensions depend both on the financial prosperity and the generosity of the villagers. One found in every village, some parcels of land called rice-fields of the rites (or tế điền) or rice paddies of geniuses (ruộng thần từ) whose exploitation is used to maintain the communal house and the area of which may reach several tens of mẩu (or 0.36 ha) in some villages before 1945. It is the local hierarchical authorities who are responsible for the administration of communal house and village as « a small court ». The rules, customs and traditions are applied with severity and they are more respected than the king’s authority. Women are not allowed in the đình. That is why we have a habit of saying in Vietnamese « Phép vua thua lệ làng » (the king’s authority yields to the village custom).

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Communal house (Đình Làng: Part 1)

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Một mảnh hồn của đất nước

Part 1

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Đình Làng

These are two words that it is difficult to separate in the spirit of the Vietnamese because everywhere there is a Vietnamese village, there is also somewhere a communal house, a « đình ». This one, always covered with tiles, is a wooden colossal building on stilts. Unlike the pagoda which closes itself off, the « đình » has neither doors nor wall and communicates directly with the outside world. Its imposing wide roof cannot go undetected with its super elevated edges ( đầu đao ). Its location is the subject of meticulous studies of geomancy. Its construction is carried out in most cases on a fairly high terrain considered as a sacred space and it is oriented so as to have access to a water piece (lake, river , wells) with the aim of gathering the peak of well-being. (Tụ thủy, tụ linh, tụ phúc).

This is the case of the đình Tây Ðằng with a water piece filled with lotus in front of its porch in summer or the đình Ðồng Kỵ ( Từ Sơn, Bắc Ninh) erected in front of a river or that of Lệ Mật (Gia Lâm, Hànội) with a wide well. The Vietnamese communal house is often built within a green surroundings with the centuries-old banyan trees, frangipani, palm trees etc. ..

We cannot define better its role than that which has been summarily written by French Paul-Giran in his book entitled: Magie et Religion annamites, pp 334-335, 1912:

The đình where lives the genius protector of each village (thành hoàng) is the centre of the community’s collective life. It is here that there are the meetings of village notables allowing them to address the administration and justice issues. It is also here that one can see  religious ceremonies and  acts that are the life of the Vietnamese society.

We can say that it is somehow the town hall of a city today. But it is better considered that the latter because it is the strong emotional bond with the entire community of the village.  Through it, the Vietnamese can regain not only his roots but also the aspirations and shared memories of the village where he was born and he grew up. His deep attachment to his village, in particular his « đình »,  is not breaking the expression of his feelings that we usually find in  popular songs:

Qua đình ngả nón trông đình
Ðình bao nhiêu ngói thương mình bấy nhiêu….

Passing by, she doffs her hat towards the communal house
The đình possess many tiled roof as much as she loves you…

or

Trúc xinh trúc mọc đầu đình
Em xinh em đứng một mình cũng xinh
……………………………
Bao giờ rau diếp làm đình
Gỗ lim ăn ghém thì mình lấy ta ….

The beautiful bamboo grows at the entrance of the communal house
You are nice, my sweetheart even if you are alone
……………………………………….
Whenever lettuce can be used to build a communal house 
and wood « lim » comestible, we could be married …

The image of the communal house is intimately rooted in the heart of the Vietnamese. The đình is the symbol of their identity. Already, in the XII century, under Lý dynasty, an edict stated that on all the Vietnamese territory, each village must build its own đình. This one followed the Vietnamese during their advancement to the south from the XIth to the XVIIIth century. Firstly, it was implemented in the center of Vietnam through   Thanh Hóa and Nghệ An provinces under Lê dynasty and then  Thuận Hóa and Quảng Nam provinces under Mạc dynasty and finally in the Mekong delta at the point of Cà Mau with Nguyễn lords. Its construction evolved to adapt not only to new climate, new lands acquired and new materials available found on local site but also traditions and regional customs throughout entire course over thousands of kilometers during the four centuries of expansion. Except the Central Highlands, cradle of the ancestral culture of ethnic minorities, the « đình » succeeds to distinguish itself in diversity with a style and a own architecture for each district within each region.

Built a few centuries earlier, the « đình » in the North remains the reference for the majority of Vietnamese because it is chosen not for its aesthetic character but rather for its original character. It is the authentic symbol of  rural life of the Vietnamese people over the centuries. It has been erected the first by Vietnamese village culture in the Red River delta. The đình in the north is not only an assembly of columns, main rafters and all sorts of components joined by mortises and tenons on stone foundation but it is also a wooden frame on which is based the roof reinforced by its own weight. One of the characteristics of Vietnamese communal house is found in the role of the columns  used to sustain the roof. Its look is very imposing thanks to these large main columns.

        Communal house  Ðình Bảng ( Tiên Sơn, Bắc Ninh )

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This is the case of đình Yên Đông destroyed by fire (Quảng Ninh) and main columns of which reach 105 cm in diameter. This impression is often illustrated by the expression that one has the habit of saying in Vietnamese: to như cột đình (colossal as the column of the đình ). That is what one see in the famous « Ðình Bảng » with its 60 wooden columns (gỗ lim) and its large roof completed by the edges elevated in the form of lotus petals. 

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Đình Mông Phụ (Sơn Tây)

The vietnamese catholicism (Công giáo Vietnam)

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Contrary to other religions, Catholicism stumbled tremendously over several hardships at the beginning of its establishment in Việt-Nam (at the start of 16th century). This was due a great deal to the missionaries’ refusal to adhering and integrating the cult of ancestors and customs (polygamy, belief in spirits etc…) into Catholicism and at a time when Vietnam was troubled by ceaseless internal wars.

It is the period when Vietnam knew the same fate and condition as Japan’s with a legitimate dynasty put under the guardianship by a family of hereditary ministers. This was what father Alexandre de Rhodes noticed in his book « History of the Kingdom of Tonquin« . He stressed that what people said about Tonkinese Chúa has a lot to do with what was told about Japanese Daishi. Therefore Catholicism was perceived during that period in variable manner by the governing families Trịnh in the North and Nguyễn in the South in their never ending conflict, taking the king as their hostage. It was alternatively tolerated, forbidden or even persecuted. In spite of that, Catholicism began to find a favorable echo among the deprived and even in the royal court in the person of Alexandre de Rhodes himself.

Alexandre de Rhodes

He was an outstanding individual with his exceptional linguistic capabilities. He was born in Avignon in 1591 and issue of a family of merchants probably in Israelite birth. He was the one who was chosen to head and manage catholic missions to the Kingdom of Tonquin.

He tried to gain the favor of the lord by means of their entourage and gift giving, in particular clocks and books on mathematics. Thus, he found a very neat success with lord Trịnh Tráng in North Vietnam. On the other hand, he was chased by lord Sãi Vương in the South even though he had succeeded in converting a relative of his, baptized as Marie-Madeleine. Appalled by failure against the South, lord Trịnh Tráng held foreigners responsible, especially catholic missionaries. He ended up banning conversions under penalty of death. Indefatigable missionary Alexandre de Rhodes was finally expelled in May 1630 from Vietnam leaving behind at least 50,000 Catholics trained by Vietnamese catechists and a cultural heritage that no Vietnamese nowadays will do without. His name continues to be dear to our collective memory because thanks to him we are the only country in the Far East to have a Roman alphabet.

cong_giao

Inspired by Ricci’s and Diogo de Pantoja’s works on romanization of Chinese, he came up with giving us not only a linguistic notation system based on the tonalities of the Vietnamese tongue and completed for the circumstance with a system of accents used in Polish, Hungarian and Portuguese, but also an instrument of intellectual emancipation and cultural proliferation unequalled in the Far East. He published his Vietnamese-Latin-Portuguese dictionary in 1651. Because of his expulsion from Vietnam, his work was not finished and later was retaken and completed by Mgrs. Pigneaux de Behaine and Taberd. Vietnamese Catholicism only found its slack period during the Tây Sơn unrest and witnessed its apogee at the reunification of the country under the banner of emperor Gia Long. This one was protected and hidden by Mgr. Pigneaux de Behaine when he was still the young prince Nguyễn Ánh beaten, hunted down and chased by the Tây Sơn troops in the south of the Mekong delta (Hà Tiên, Poulo Condor). Faithful to the memory of the one who gave him food and helped him conquer the throne with his French mercenaries, Gia Long, during his reign, while respecting the missionaries and their Christians, has known how to adopt an attitude similar to emperor Kangxi’s of the Qing in China (1661-1722) by a blend of tolerance, interest and open mind even though he was in favor of the renewal of traditional Confucianism. His death (in 1820) was followed for forty years by an almost complete elimination of western influence and a series of persecutions against the Catholics under the reigns of Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị and Tự Ðức.

In spite of that, Vietnamese Catholicism continued to grow somehow and arrived at, in the person of Nguyễn Trường Tộ, avoiding combining religion and France who pretended to defend against Atheists. Nguyễn Trường Tộ was born to a catholic family of Nghệ An (North Viê.t-Nam). Following bishop Gauthier in his voyage to Europe, he had the chance to take classes at Sorbonne in Paris at that time. With the view of a patriotic, catholic and intellectual Vietnamese having the chance to go abroad, he kept believing that the only way to save Vietnam from foreign threats and maintain independence for his country, would be primarily through opening up the borders not only for the French but also for the British and the Dutch and by a whole range of political, social and technological reform projects aiming at helping Vietnam to come out of isolation, to modernize and to be equipped with better technologies in order to confront foreign territorial ambitions.

His memorandum was unfortunately not sustained by emperor Tự Ðức. Facing a group of Confucian, strongly structured mandarins who surrounded the emperor poet Tự Ðức, he had to retire a few years later to his native town and died in 1871 taking with him the sadness of a catholic patriot to see his country sinking into chaos and servitude. Torn by his faith and patriotism, Nguyẽn Trường Tộ succeeded in showing us by his behavior and exemplary conduct that it is possible to be a fervent catholic and a defender of national independence at the same time.

Despite a long period of conflicting relations with the nation, Vietnamese Catholicism wrongly accused of connivance with foreigners, knows how to show along with its existence, not only its capability of resistance, resignation and adaptation but also its strength, vitality and active and constructive participation that the country needed in the dark moments of Vietnam’s history. Concerned with improving the lot of the deprived, Vietnamese Catholicism knows how to run in the past as well as at present, charitable and humanitarian activities worth the love of Christ through schools, orphanages etc…

That is how it succeed in penetrating the combination of the three religions (Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism) and ends up with forming one body with the spirituality of Vietnam. Catholicism has for a long time been the second national religion. With 8 million Catholics, Vietnam becomes the second catholic country in Far East after the Philippines.

Yên Bái (Nguyễn Thái Học- Cô Giang)

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Thaihoc

A great homage to the idyllic couple through my poem in Six-Eight:

He is young and talented;
Dying for his Father Land, he deserves being a valorous man.
She does not worry about her own life;
Dying for her love and duty, she is unforgettable forever.

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Contrary to other Vietnamese towns, Yên Bái has no tourist attractions. It is only the provincial capital, a riverside town located in the valley of the Red river half way on the road going from Hànội to the Chinese border Lào Cai. In spite of that, it continues to be famous in the past by its armed resistance driven by Vietnamese nationalists in the struggle for independence. It incarnates not only the hope of the Vietnamese people to regain their freedom by force but also the dauntlessness of the nationalists before death after the failure of their revolt in 1930. It should be looked at in the political context of that time to understand not only the causes of that revolt but also the Vietnamese people’s profound aspiration for independence after Phan Chu Trinh ‘s failure in advocating priority of overall progress of society over political independence followed by his death, and the house arrest of Phan Bội Châu, another important figure, by the colonial authorities at the capital of Huế.

Despite the warning of colonel Parfait-Louis Monteil in 1924, few reforms were made in favor of the native people. On the contrary, the exploitation of cheap labor in rubber tree plantations was at the top of its efficiency and horror. Writer Roland Dorgelès talked about it in his work « The Mandarin Road« . This virgin land, when it opens on impact, releases a mortal breath. As many as traced paths, as many as open tombs. The rubber trees coming out of the ground, spindly, and well in lines, look like the rows of cross. The dead numbered in the tens of thousand because of diseases and malnutrition. That is why through the following poem, this complaint is heard:

Kiếp phu đỗ lắm máu đào
Máu loang mặt đất máu trào mủ cây
Trần gian địa ngục là đây
Ðồn điền đất đỏ nơi Tây giết người

The coolies’ blood has much shed,
It shed on the ground, it shed through the sap.
This is the hell on earth,
The rubber tree plantation is where the French colonists commit murder.

For half of a century, the colonists harvested latex they converted into gold. It was in the plantations that sprouted the revolt. Someone like Nguyễn Văn Viên arrived at getting out of this hell and joining the Vietnamese nationalist party ( Việt Nam Quốc Dân Ðảng ) led by Nguyễn Thái Học. To show this fervor and find a favorable echo among the deprived, especially the plantation coolies, Nguyễn Văn Viên took the initiative, in spite of Nguyễn Thái Học’s reluctance, to assassinate Bazin known for his opulence in recruiting coolies and shipping them to rubber tree plantations in South Vietnam. The death of this man gave the colonial authorities an opportunity to launch the policy of repression all over the place.

Thus the nationalist party became the favored target in this crusade. It could no longer move easily. If it did not react, it would be a slow death because its members would be captured sooner or later by the colonial authorities. If it did react by the revolt, it knew that it would be a collective, hazardous, and exemplary suicide. That is why Nguyễn Thái Học had the habit of saying to his party companions:

Ðại hà chi thanh, nhân thọ kỷ hà?
Ðợi sông Hoàng Hà trong trở lại, đời người thọ là bao?

Waiting for the Yellow River water to be clear, how many live spans can we count?

The real photo of Nguyễn Thái Học

According to the Chinese, the Yellow River water only regains its clearness every three hundred years. Nguyen Thai Hoc knew for sure he was going to lead his party companions to a definite death. He could not wait any longer. But this death seemed useful because it recalled to the Vietnamese people that there was no other choice but the struggle. It also marked the beginning of   an   awareness and awakening of the whole people facing its destiny that was, up until then, led by the unworthy heirs of the Nguyễn dynasty (Khải Ðịnh, Bảo Ðại). The revolt of  Yên Bái was an indisputable failure because most of the nationalists leaders were captured.

On the other hand, it threw in a sound and long lasting basis upon which the communist party laid its authority and popularity among the people in the following years in the conquest of independence. It also tolled the death knell for a colonial empire that had vainly lost so many opportunities to reestablish the dialogue and cooperation with the native people. This was translated by the death sentence imposed on all the nationalist leaders. Nguyễn Thái Học was the last one to be guillotined. Before his execution, he was impassible. In spite of his weakness, he tried to shout out loud in French:

Dying for one’s country
Is the most beautiful fate
The most envied lot….

Then he lay down on his back facing the blade of the guillotine. « Long live Vietnam » was the last words heard before the fall of the guillotine’s blade. His blood spurted everywhere under a covered sky. His head fell in a bucket containing saw dust (June 17 1930). He was only 27. Faithful to her Vietnamese tradition, his wife Nguyễn Thị Giang did not take long to follow him to commit suicide on June 18, 1930 at the inn where they had met often before their marriage. She left a letter whose sentences illustrated well the indefectible love she had for her husband and her country:

Sống nhục sao bằng sự thoát vinh
Nước non vẹn kiếp chung tình
………
Cuộc đời xá kể chi thành bại
Trai trung thì gái phải trinh

Dying in pride rather than living in humiliation
I make it whole the love for you and the nation
……..
Success and failure do not matter in life
As long as man is faithful and woman has fidelity.

The remains of the thirteen Vietnamese nationalists were buried the following day on a hill near the Yên Bái railway station.

If this town is not as well known as most of Vietnamese cities, it incarnates on the contrary something the other towns cannot have. It is the symbol of maturity and dignity rediscovered in a people facing its own fate. It grew valiantly in the past along with the Vietnamese people in its struggle for independence.

(Việt Nam Quốc Dân Ðảng)

The dragon (Con Rồng)

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There are neither Vietnamese tales nor legends without this fabulous and mythical animal that is commonly called Con Rồng or more literary Con Long (or the Dragon in English). It makes part of the four animals with supernatural power (Tứ Linh) and occupies the top place. It is frequently used in Vietnamese art. It is not only seen in pagodas, but also on the ridges of roofs, the beams of frames, furnitures, the pieces of dishes and fabrics. It is also the emblematic animal traditionally chosen by the emperor for his clothes.

All Vietnamese firmly believe they are descendents of the Dragon king Lạc Long Quân coming from the Waters and of the fairy Âu Cơ of terrestrial origins. From this union, the fairy laid one hundred eggs that gave birth to one hundred robust sons. Later, at the separation of the couple, fifty of them followed their father Dragon toward the lower coastal regions and founded the first Vietnamese nation named Văn Lang while the other fifty followed their terrestrial mother toward the high plains to give birth later to an ethnic microcosm the most complex in the world ( about fifty groups ). Although this version of the Seven Tribes of Israel is unbridled and poetic, it nevertheless allows the Vietnamese and other minority groups to live together somewhat peacefully in this country of the form of the dragon, and to unite as a sole person to overcome foreign aggressors in difficult moments of their history.

According to a Vietnamese legend, it was thanks to the return of a benefactor dragon that barbarous hordes coming from the North were routed. Its fire spitting tongues on contact with the sea turned into a multitude of small islands and reefs with extravagant forms. That is why this bay is known in Vietnamese as « Hạ Long » or ( Descending Dragon ). It becomes thus the eighth marvel of the world and a natural site the most visited by foreign tourists when they land in Vietnam.

Hạ Long Bay

The dragon is also the symbol of the King. That is why its feet must have five claws. If one sees a dragon with five claws on a furniture, a box or a china, this object is meant for the service of the emperor. Otherwise the dragon generally has only four claws.
It is also the symbol of the husband, the fiance and more generally the man. As for the woman, she is represented by the phenix. That is why when we want to make allusion to a marriage, we often associate a dragon with a phenix on a piece of embroidery or a sculpted panel. It is also this association that poets evoke in their poems to talk about marital happiness and shared joy.

The dragon is seen everywhere even in the Mekong delta. This river born in the foothills of the Himalayas ( Tibet ) divides into nine branches or nine dragons to throw itself in the golf of Cochinchina ( or Nam Bộ ). That is why this region is called Cửu Long ( or Nine Dragons in English).

If this marine monster is rebutted by the majority of the peoples, it is on the contrary, a part of the Vietnamese daily life. It is assigned to keep an watchful eye, at the imperial city of Huế, on the tombs of the Nguyễn emperors with all its body made of multicolored ceramic pieces. Golden, it coils around the carmine lacquered pillars of imperial palaces. It is one of the twelve astrological signs of the lunar calendar. It becomes not only the embroided silk clothes for tourists but also a front part sign with gaudy colors on the junks of the Hạ Long bay.

 

In the cradle of legends that is our Vietnam, we have the feeling of being better protected by this marine monster because we are convinced that  we are the descendents of king Dragon.

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Paris 2017

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paris
Paris est l’une des plus belles villes du monde, en particulier la nuit. Comme l’écrivain américain Ernest Hemingway disait qu’il n’y a que Paris pouvant lui apporter  à tout instant,  l’inspiration dans la création de ses œuvres littéraires. Pour lui, Paris était considéré  toujours comme  une fête (The Moveable feast) lors de son séjour à la fin des années 1950. Il y a non seulement la Seine coulant paisiblement  sous les ponts  ayant chacun une architecture particulière mais aussi des lieux très célèbres comme le jardin de Luxembourg, la cathédrale Notre Dame, la tour Eiffel, le musée du Louvre etc…C’est pour cela que Paris lui a exercé un attrait irrésistible même il était de passage à Paris pour une fois. C’est aussi Paris  qui a fait de lui un écrivain célèbre.

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Paris là một trong những thành phố đẹp nhất thế giới nhất là về đêm. Cũng như nhà văn hào Mỹ Ernest Hemingway nói   chỉ có Paris có thể đem lại cảm hứng sáng tác cho ông bất kỳ lúc nào. Chính vì thế ông xem Paris lúc nào cũng như ngày lễ hội.  Không những  có  sông Seine trôi lặng lẽ dưới các cây cầu có một  kiến trúc độc đáo  mà còn các nơi nổi tiếng  như vườn hoa Luxembourg,  nhà thờ Notre Dame,  tháp Eiffel, bảo tàng viện Louvre vân vân khiến   Paris trở thành nơi có sức lôi cuốn mãnh liệt đối với ông dù ông chỉ có một lần đến Paris.  Chính Paris làm ông trở thành một nhà văn hào nổi tiếng.

Paris 2017

Voyage 2017: Vatican (Ý Đại Lợi)

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Toà thánh Vatican

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Đây là một  quốc gia nhỏ nhất thế giới với tổng diện tích 0,44km2 và  nằm giữa thủ đô Rome của Ý Đại Lợi. Tuy vậy, Vatican có tầm ảnh hưởng quan trọng trên thế giới vì đây là trung tâm công giáo đã có thời kỳ hoàng đế Constantin (thế kỷ thứ tư) với hàng tỷ tín đồ trên thế giới hiện nay. Đến đây mà không xem được nhà nguyện Sistina thì rất uổng vì nơi nầy có những kiệt tác của các nhà họa sĩ trứ danh của thời phục hưng  như Michel Ange,  Sandro Botticelli vân vân và cũng không nên quên lên chót vòm của thánh đường  Saint Pierre để nhìn xuống xem quảng trường nhưng mất ít nhất hai ngày mới xem hết vì rất mất thì giờ  trong việc  nối  đuôi và chờ đợi.

C’est l’un des plus petits états d’Europe avec une superficie de 0,44km2 au cœur de la ville de Rome en Italie. Pourtant, Vatican a une influence notable dans le monde car c’est le centre spirituel des catholiques existant à l’époque de l’empereur Constantin (4ème siècle)  avec des milliards de fidèles dans le monde entier. C’est très décevant pour ceux qui ont l’occasion de venir à Vatican sans avoir le temps nécessaire pour  visiter le dôme de  la basilique de Saint Pierre et la chapelle  Sixtine car c’est ici qu’on peut voir les fresques,  les chefs d’œuvre des peintres célèbres à l’époque de la Renaissance comme Michel-Ange,  Sandro Botticelli etc. mais pour  cette visite, il faut compter deux jours car il faut faire l’interminable attente  pendant des heures.

It is one of the smallest states in Europe with an area of 0.44 km² in the heart of the city of Rome, Italy. However, the Vatican has a notable influence in the world because it is the spiritual center of Catholics existing since the time of Emperor Constantine (4th century) with billions of followers worldwide. It is very disappointing for those who have the chance to come to the Vatican without having enough time to visit the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel because it is here that you can see the frescoes, masterpieces by famous painters from the Renaissance era such as Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli etc. But for this visit, you need to allow two days because you have to endure the endless waiting for hours.

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Place Saint Pierre 

Quảng trường thánh Phê Rô

 


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Voyage 2017: Pise (Ý Đại Lợi)

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Place des miracles

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 Cánh đồng của những  kỳ công

Khi nhắc đến Pise thì ai cũng nghĩ đến ngay  tháp nghiêng.  Nhưng chúng ta  quên đi  thành phố nầy là một hải cảng quan trọng  ở thời  kỳ đế quốc La Mã và có một thời phát triển hàng hải đáng kể. Chính nhờ đó mà Pise được xem là một trong bốn  nước cộng hoà hàng hải của Ý Đại Lợi (Amalfi, Pise, Gênes và  Venise)  trong quá khứ. Pise đến tột đỉnh quyền lực vào thế kỷ  11 nhờ các cuộc chinh phục liên tiếp và đáng kể:  sự cuớp phá  Reggio de Calabre  vào năm 1005, kiểm soát hoàn toàn biển  Tyrrhénienne  vào năm  1017 sau khi thôn tính Sardaigne, xâm chiếm  Carthage ( rồi  Mahdia vào năm  1088), cướp bóc hủy phá Palerme vân vân… Nhờ vậy, Pise có tiền để khởi đầu công việc xây cất nhà thờ và các toà nhà khác ở cánh đồng của những  kỳ công  (Piazza dei Miracoli ) mà sau nầy được gọi là  Piazza del Duomo.

—  Đây là trung tâm  Bảo tồn Di sản Văn hóa Tôn giáo và nghệ thuật của thành phố cổ kính  Pise  gồm có 4 công trình mà nhà văn hào Ý, ông Gabriele d’Annunzio  xem như là những kỳ công trong một quyển sách của ông: Campanile (tháp chuông nhà thờ)(hay tháp nghiêng), nhà thờ Notre-Dame de l’Assomption, Nhà rửa tội Saint-Jean  và nghĩa trang Simone —

Quand on parle de Pise, on pense tout de suite à sa célèbre  tour penchée.  Mais on oublie que  la ville fut un port important à l’époque de l’empire romain et  connut une expansion maritime considérable, ce qui fait de Pise l’une des quatre républiques maritimes d’Italie (Amalfi, Pise,  Gênes  et Venise) dans le passé. Elle atteignit son apogée au  XIe siècle par une succession de conquêtes notables:  pillage de  Reggio de Calabre  en 1005,  contrôle total de   la mer Tyrrhénienne en 1017 par la capture de Sardaigne,  occupation de  Carthage (puis Mahdia en 1088), mise à sac de Palerme etc. Cela lui  permet avec les rentrées d’argent,   le début de la construction de la cathédrale et les autres monuments du fameux champ des miracles (Piazza dei Miracoli ) qui deviendra ensuite la Piazza del Duomo.

——C’est le centre religieux et artistique de Pise constitué de quatre monuments que l’écrivain italien  Gabriele d’Annunzio considère comme les miracles dans un de ses romans:  la célèbre tour penchée,  la cathédrale Notre-Dame de l’Assomption, le baptistère de Saint-Jean et le cloître gothique de Simone——

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When we talk about Pisa, we immediately think of its famous leaning tower. But we forget that the city was an important port during the Roman Empire and experienced considerable maritime expansion, making Pisa one of the four maritime republics of Italy (Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa, and Venice) in the past. It reached its peak in the 11th century through a series of notable conquests: the sacking of Reggio Calabria in 1005, total control of the Tyrrhenian Sea in 1017 with the capture of Sardinia, occupation of Carthage (then Mahdia in 1088), the sacking of Palermo, etc. This allowed, with the income generated, the beginning of the construction of the cathedral and other monuments of the famous Field of Miracles (Piazza dei Miracoli), which later became the Piazza del Duomo.

—–It is the religious and artistic center of Pisa consisting of four monuments that the Italian writer Gabriele d’Annunzio considers miracles in one of his novels: the famous leaning tower, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, the Baptistery of Saint John, and the Gothic cloister of Simone——-

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Style gothique et pisan (Phong cách gô tích và pi-da)

Vue panoramique à partir du baptistère de Saint-Jean

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Voyage d’été 2017: Florence (Ý Đại Lơi)

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Đây là  một thành phố có khoảng chừng 500 ngàn dân và nằm bên bờ  sông hiền hoà  Arno giữa  hai biển Tyrrhenus (Tyrrhenian Sea) và Adriatique.  Florence toạ lạc hầu như ở trung tâm của bán đảo Ý Đại Lợi. Vào thế kỷ 15, Florence  được cai trị bởi một gia tộc nổi tiếng Médicis  mà sau nầy họ được gọi là các đại  công tước của xứ Toscane.

Cũng vào thời đó  là thời điểm   rực rỡ của Florence trong các hoạt động nghệ thuật và văn học  cũng như chính trị  và kinh tế.  Florence còn có một di sản đặc biệt nói lên tính cách huy hoàng có cả hàng trăm năm của nó. Chính ở nơi nầy là quê quán của Cimabue và  Giotto, hai người cha đẻ hội họa của Ý Đại Lợi, Arnolfo  và  Andrea Pisano hai nhà canh tân về ngành  kiến trúc và điêu khắc và Michel-Ange, Léonard de Vinci,  Brunelleschi, Donalto và  Massacio những tên tuổi lừng danh  khởi xướng  ở thời kỳ Phục hưng (thế kỷ XV và XVI).

Tuy nhỏ hơn so sánh với các thủ đô văn hóa khác, Florence nghênh đón  mỗi năm có hơn 7 triệu người du khách ngoại quốc.  Florence còn  cất giữ  riêng tư phân nửa số lượng kiệt tác mà Ý Đại Lợi có. Cũng là thành phố đầu tiên làm ra các đồng xu bằng  vàng mà thường được gọi là florins vào năm 1252.  Vài quốc gia như Hà Lan vẫn  giữ thói quen gọi đồng tiền của họ với cái tên nầy.

C’est une ville d’environ un demi-million d’habitants se trouvant  sur les rives du fleuve Arno entre les mers Tyrrhénienne et Adriatique. Elle est presque au centre de la péninsule italienne.  Au XVème siècle Florence passa sous la Seigneurie des Médicis qui devinrent  ensuite les Grands Ducs de Toscane.

Fleuve Arno avec les ponts  Vecchio  et Santa Trinita
Arno River with the Vecchio and Santa Trinita bridges.

Ce fut un moment de grandeur de Florence dans les arts et  la culture mais aussi dans la politique et  la puissance économique. Florence renferme un exceptionnel patrimoine d’art qui témoigne de sa splendeur séculaire.  C’est ici que vécurent Cimabue et Giotto, pères de la peinture italienne,  Arnolfo et Andrea Pisano, rénovateurs de l’architecture et de la sculpture et Michel-Ange, Léonard de Vinci, Brunelleschi, Donalto et Massacio,   initiateurs célèbres  de la Renaissance (du XVème au XVIème siècle).

Plus petite que d’autres capitales culturelles, Florence accueille aujourd’hui  plus de sept millions de touristes par an.  Elle abrite en plus, à elle seule, la moitié des œuvres d’art conservées en Italie. C’est aussi la première cité à frapper ses propres pièces d’or, les florins de Florence en 1252.  Certains pays comme les Pays-Bas ont conservé jusqu’à une date récente cette appellation pour désigner leur monnaie. 

Portes du paradis de Lorenzo Ghiberti

un des plus grands maîtres de la première moitié du Quattrocento

Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti, one of the greatest masters of the first half of the Quattrocento.

Cửa lên thiên đường của Lorenzo Ghiberti

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It is a city of about half a million inhabitants located on the banks of the Arno River between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas. It is almost at the center of the Italian peninsula. In the 15th century, Florence came under the rule of the Medicis family, who later became the Grand Dukes of Tuscany.

This was a moment of greatness for Florence in the arts and culture, but also in politics and economic power. Florence holds an exceptional artistic heritage that testifies to its centuries-old splendor. It is here that Cimabue and Giotto, fathers of Italian painting, Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano, renovators of architecture and sculpture, and Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Brunelleschi, Donatello, and Masaccio, famous initiators of the Renaissance (from the 15th to the 16th century), lived.

Smaller than other cultural capitals, Florence today welcomes more than seven million tourists per year. It also houses, by itself, half of the artworks preserved in Italy. It is also the first city to mint its own gold coins, the florins of Florence in 1252. Some countries, like the Netherlands, have retained this name until recently to designate their currency.

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