Talk show: CULTURAL SEMIOTICS ON THE COSTUME OF NGUYEN DYNASTY
On February 11, 2024 (the 2nd day of Tet or Tet Nguyen Dan-the Lunar New Year), Hoa Sen
University and Saigon Book co-hosted the Talk show: CULTURAL SEMIOTICS ON THE COSTUME OF NGUYEN DYNASTY. This is presented by Tran Minh Nhut (Speaker
& lecturer) and Doan Thi Ngoc (Host and lecturer at HSU) at Nguyen Van Binh
book street in the downtown area of Ho Chi Minh City. This event attracted a
large number of audience and visitors. They also had an opportunity to view
some beautiful images of ancient costumes created by the Dai Viet Co Phong
Group.
At the Talk show, Mr. Nhut shared some main contents
including:
1. Learn about Tet during the Nguyen Dynasty
2. Brief history of costumes during the Nguyen Dynasty
(1802-1945), and
3. Cultural symbols on Nguyen Dynasty Costumes.
First, Mr. Nhut briefly introduced the types of
Vietnamese festivals, including the royal festivals of the Nguyen Dynasty,
which are an important element in history. Nguyen royal festivals are divided
into two types: "Le Tiet" and "Le Te Tu". The word
"tiet" in Chinese has 13 meanings, but the word "tiet" in
the Kham Dinh Dai Nam Hoi Dien Su Le of the Nguyen Dynasty contains the following
meanings: "Weather", "King's birthday" and "Tet".
Regarding the activities for Tet, Ban Soc is an ancient calendar-making
ceremony held periodically at the end of the lunar year and became a
unique cultural feature in the Nguyen Dynasty. It is associated with compiling
and printing calendars and distributing them to the whole country, which has a
very practical meaning for the agricultural
economy. People view the calendar to monitor the time and weather for farming
and to check the calendar to know about weather changes one may respond to and
prevent natural disasters.
Next, the Thuong Tieu Ceremony (Cay Neu Setting up
Ceremony) was also very popular and still exists today. According to Nguyen Dynasty’s
etiquette, Thuong Tieu should be performed on the 23rd day of
December. The King went to Thai Hoa Palace to hold the "Thuong Tieu"
ceremony and commands the building of a long, big, strong bamboo pole measuring
about 15 metre, with leaves left on its top, bows,
arrows, bells, gongs, and often with a line of beautiful words for good
luck in the coming year. After the King completes the ceremony of setting up
the bamboo tree, the people can build a bamboo tree in their homes. The main
meaning of installing a bamboo tree on Tet holiday is to ward off ghosts and
misfortunes of the old year so that souls of the ancestors can enjoy Tet with
their living family members and pray for a good new year.
In addition, the three days of Tet are also very
important. Traditionally, on the first day of Tet, in addition to the King's
New Year celebration, the King paid
visit to the Queen mother for the New Year blessing, which emphasized
filial piety. This ritual was performed very solemnly at Dien Tho palace, where
the Queen Mother lived. On the 2nd day of Tet, the King and his servants went
to worship at Phung Tien Palace - a place to worship all previous Nguyen Kings.
On the 3rd day, the King and his mandarins all went to visit their teachers and
monks. These traditional activities are still observed in Vietnamese families.
Second, Mr. Nhut shared some information about the ceremonial
costumes of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) and cultural semiotics that the
audience can easily access through three sources: historical documents,
original antiques or restored artifacts in many places from North to South, and
through paintings (Grande Tenue de la Cour d'Annam). Since the second half of
the 19th century, the regulations on hats and costumes of the Nguyen Dynasty
have not been recorded in detail, and these ancient costumes are also scarce.
Therefore, the collection of paintings Grande Tenue de la Cour d'Annam by
Nguyen Van Nhan is a valuable painting document used to refer to the costumes
of the Nguyen Dynasty during the reign of King Thanh Thai. The audience may
read the book ‘The Art of Costume Illustration
of the Nguyen Dynasty in the early 20th Century’ by Tran Minh Nhut to learn
more about the collection of paintings by Nguyen Van Nhan.
Nhut then shared the knowledge of cultural semiotics
expressed on the costumes of the Nguyen Dynasty, which are shown through the
visual arts of royal artisans, materials used to create them, decoration of spirit
animal motifs, and structure.
In term of artifact materials, Hue royal court often
used rare fabrics such as brocade, silk, and satin to make the costumes, which
were all handmade and only the Royal family could afford and own it. As for cultural
symbols: The artisans of the Nguyen Dynasty were very skillful in choosing the
right material. It is not only beautiful in every aspect, but also exudes the
majesty of a rich, prosperous Emperor, in harmonious combination with the
surrounding environment. That is a space of a golden palace painted with
splendid gilded vermilion, along with delicately carved architectural works and
sophisticated decorative items, creating a magnificent and majestic space. The
cultural semiotics on fabrics of the Nguyen Dynasty show the splendor, luxury,
and wealth of a dynasty.
In addition, most of the Nguyen court costumes have
simple, natural shapes in a trapezoidal layout that narrows at the top and
widens at the bottom. Due to the influence of the costume reforms in 1744 by
Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat, this was the time that marked the appearance of the Five-piece
Ao Dai (Ao Dai Nam Than), which later became the national costume of the Nguyen
Dynasty. Five-piece Ao Dai refers to a type of long dress sewn with five pieces
of fabric: two pieces in the front, two pieces in the back, one piece on the
inner right side sticking out a short piece, which is distinguished from the
type of Four-piece Ao Dai (Ao Tu Than). The cultural semiotics: solid, sturdy
trapezoid structure, wide sleeves as if hugging the brocade river, symmetrical
decorative layout brings a sense of balance.
Regarding colors (Five Colors of Hue), the distinction
of the main color in royal costumes is to delineate hierarchy and show rituals
in the court. At the same time, the Nguyen Dynasty had very strict regulations
on color. Yellow is for the King and only for the King. The Hue five-color
pattern was found mainly on the green Hue used to make royal objects and
decorate the exteriors of palaces in Hue. Hue royal costumes also followed this
five-color pattern, especially the very distinctive purple color. Cultural
symbols: In general, each nation, or each historical period has its own
traditions to evaluate the expression and evaluation of aesthetic ideology. The
color commonly used by the feudal class is red, yellow for kings, and commoners
use dark brown. The beauty of the feudal period in general and the Nguyen
Dynasty in particular was the beauty of domination, as the power belonged to
the king, and the king ruled over the people with an authoritarian regime.
Thus, color is very important and is one of the factors to distinguish class,
status, and title in the royal court. Thanks to such a clear division, it
creates a systematic aesthetic value that is thoroughly applied from the royal
court to the villages.
Considering the animal motifs, the theme of decorative
patterns on the Nguyen Dynasty costumes is strictly followed by rolling ocean
waves (thuy ba), lotus-shaped vines (lien dang), waves turning towards the
center of the robe (hoi van), antiques, eight treasures, flower branches,
vines, sun, moon, stars, and mountains. The image of sacred beasts is always
emphasized and distinguished by status and title:
1. The Emperor's robe is embroidered with 5-clawed
Dragon.
2. The Crown Prince's robe is embroidered with a
4-claw Dragon, this is a Dragon mask, not decorated with Phi Long or Hoi Long
Trieu Nhat.
3. The Prince's and His Royal Highness's robes are
embroidered with the image of the Mang and Giao, these incarnations are with a
lower rank than the Dragon.
4. The Empress Dowager's robe is embroidered with a
Phoenix group, which is a pattern of a Phoenix bird dancing in a circle.
5. The Princess dress is embroidered with Loan bird,
is a simplified image of Phoenix bird and has a tail strip.
6. The civil and martial mandarin's robes, depending
on their rank and title, have different mascots.
In summary, the talk show's information about
cultural symbols on the costumes of Nguyen Dynasty helped the audience
understand more about the history and culture of Vietnam. Audience and visitors
can easily imagine how ancient artisans made each outfit, which reflects a
sense of royalty, wealth, prosperity and the artistic richness and
interdisciplinary thinking of talented artisans.
Doan
Thi Ngoc - Lecturer, Hoa Sen University
