In
Vietnamese tradition, four my stoical creatures a considered symbol of the
royal court and are tired closely to cycles such as the four seasons and the
four compass directions - the dragon, unicorn, tortoise and phoenix.
In
particular, the dragon and phoenix were the highest symbols of royalty and
considered good omens for life, marriage, luck and prosperity. According to the
first Chinese dictionary, written by Xu Shen in 100 AD, among 389 species of
scaled replies, the dragon is the greatest and most powerful.
Dragons
are the symbol of royalty, closely associated with the image of the emperor.
The
phoenix was honored as greatest of all the feathered species, the symbol of the
sun, the South and of Summer, In terms of gender, the dragon is associated with
the element of the Yang (male), while he phoenix expresses the element of the
Yin (female); thus the phoenix is the symbol of the empress.
As
a legend has it, the phoenix only appears in the time of peace and prosperity
and only lands on the top of the Wu tong
tree. A classic verse states: Wu tong
tree grows on a high mountain/ phoenix breaks into song to welcome the morning
sun. This verse urged the Hue Court and its emperors of the Nguyen dynasty
(1802-1945) to grow as many wu tung trees as possible to welcome phoenixes!
The
images of the dragon and phoenix were also used to decorate the costumes of
emperors, empresses and the royal members of the Nguyen dynasty in accordance
with numerous strict guidelines.
According
to the book Kham dinh Dai Nam Hoi Dien Su le (The rules of the Emperors of
Great Vietnam) compiled by the Cabinet of the Nguyen dynasty, the crown the
emperor wore during his court audience was sewn with 31 gold dragons, 30 square
flowers inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and 140 diamond gems and pearls, The hat
of the empress was sewn with 9 gold phoenixes, with 4 silver hairpins inlaid
with 198 pearls and 231 crystals; her mother wore a hat embroidered with nine
phoenixes.
The
dragon was only embroidered on the robes of the emperor and the heir prince,
while other princes' robes were embroidered with phoenixes (with three tails),
where as the robe of the princess was embroidered with a phoenix-like bird
called the loan, with only one tail.
The
dragon appeared on the emperor's robe in many poses, such as flying or looking
toward the sun. It was well-proportioned, with an imposing face and five claws,
where as the dragon on the robe of the heir prince was smaller, with only four
claws, on the robe of the empress and her mother, the phoenix was often
expressed in a scheme of three phoenixes, or in a circle with vivid and
well-embroidered lines.
The
expression of dragon and phoenix in the Hue Court's costumers depends on the
name and function of the robes and crowns, For instance, the robe the emperor
wore during the Tet ( Lunar New Year)
holidays was called long bao, and was
embroidered with 9 dragon decorated with tinsel threads, its eyes made from gem
stones imported from India.
The
robe worn by the emperor during abnormal court audience was called hoang bao, It was embroidered with a
dragon coiled in a circle. The robe the emperor wore during public receptions
was called long con, and was black with two dragons looking toward the sun
along the front of the robe.
The
emperor's robe for tiling the rice field was called sa kep, with a dragon embroidered amid clouds, the robe for the
emperor's birthday ceremony was adorned with Chinese characters representing
longevity, and had sleeves decorated with bats, symbols good luck and
happiness.
The
two-layer robe word by the heir prince was made with sa nam silk on the outer layer and the bat(eight-fiber silk)
material on the inside layer. The hem of the robe was embroidered with a carp
turning into a dragon, while other princes' cloaks had nine pythons.
The
robe the empress's mother wore during Tet
was called phung bao. Its outer layer
was made of Sa bong (shining gauze)
and the inside layer was lined with nhieu
(crepe). It was embroidered with three phoenixes with tinsel threads, with
sleeves decorated with two flying phoenixes and five-color clouds. On the robe,
Chinese characters in white and red glass beads expressed wishes for happiness
and longevity.
The
robe of the princess was made of doan bat
ti(eight-fibre silk) material with an inside layer made of thin silk called
que don. 13 phoenix-like loan birds
coiled in a circle were embroidered together with the sun and vases on the body
of the robe, so it was called doan loan
nhat binh(Phoenixes and the Sun). The collar of the robe contained 5
phoenixes.
Today
in Vietnam, remnants of this complex symbolism and numerology permeate
traditional ceremonies and even ordinary life. But while the dragon and phoenix
are now thought of as mythical creatures, in the days of the Nguyen dynasty,
the dragon and phoenix were essential to every function of the imperial court,
their power very real.
This
article written by Lanh Nguyen from Vietnam Heritage Travel
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original article, please visit:
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