Encountering Vietnam in the National Palace Museum Collection
Vietnam is a nation with a population of nearly one hundred million citizens. This vibrant, thriving next door neighbor has walked a rocky road on its way to modernization. Being nestled between East Asia and South Asia, and located where the Southeast Asian landmass meets the sea, Vietnam has had vacillating fortunes delivered to its doorstep by the politics of the region. All the same, the country possesses its own very unique manner of being. Vietnam—a nation that feels both familiar as well as exotic—carries no small amount of pain in its history. And yet it maintains a mellow kindness wherein grace and determination stand on equal footing.
This special exhibition primarily draws upon ancient manuscripts, documents, and artifacts in the Museum’s collection, and is divided into three sections: “Portraits of Peoples in Vietnam through the Ages,” “Vietnam’s World-renowned Ceramic Arts,” and “The Ingenious Diplomacy of the Peninsular Dragon.” These units allow us to acquaint ourselves with the peoples, cultures, artistic accomplishments, and varying self-identities that comprised the land now known as “Vietnam” prior to the 19th century. On this landmass, millennia of territorial mobility and cultural diversity are intimately related to cooperation and competition between indigenous ethnic groups, as well as interactions with neighboring nations. The key to Vietnam’s unique aesthetic in the ceramic arts lies in its people’s technical mastery. However, the tastes that became dominant emerged from a long process of selection in a multicultural environment, before striding dazzlingly onto the world stage in the 15th and 16th centuries, when Vietnamese ceramics joined the fray of international trade. The Vietnamese people’s talent for striking when the iron is hot, their nimble intelligence, and their capacity for mediation allowed them to make the best out of difficult situations. This exhibition draws on historical documents from the 14th through 19th centuries to offer a glimpse of the secrets that have allowed the country to stand tall and strong for over a thousand years.
Ⅰ. Portraits of Peoples in Vietnam through the Ages
Vietnam occupies a long, narrow slice of territory, with a nearly 3300-kilometer-long coastline. Numerous kingdoms have been established throughout the long history of this land. Tracing from north to south, the primary ethnic groups occupying the territory now known as Vietnam include the Viet, Cham, and Khmer. Vietnam’s primary ethnic group of modern times, the Viet people, are descendants of the various peoples once called “baiyue” or “hundred yue,” who previously occupied the lands now part of southern China and northern Vietnam. These people are known for tattooing, adapting to water, and casting beautiful bronze drums, the latter becoming one of Vietnam’s most important cultural symbols. Between the 2nd and 10th centuries, China’s various imperial dynasties spared no effort in trying to absorb these lands into their domains, and as a result left a legacy of cultural influence in the form of rites, laws, political systems, ceramic arts, etc. The Cham people have historically lived in central Vietnam, where they are intimately connected to the neighboring Khmer and Malay peoples. In earlier epochs they were deeply influenced by the Indian civilization and were faithful followers of the Hindu and Buddhist religions. From the gorgeous lingakosha passed down from the 10th century, we get a sense of the glory of the ancient kingdom of Champa. In later times, Cham civilization gradually Islamicized, leading to a change in its cultural expressions. A millennium of competition and interaction between the Viet and Cham peoples——in addition to other groups from abroad——is richly reflected in the interwoven local customs comprising modern Vietnam’s magnificent cultural inheritance.
II. Vietnam’s World-renowned Ceramic Arts
Prior to the 18th century, the process for firing porcelain was shrouded in a mix of secrecy and mystery. The people of northern Vietnam lived amid the world’s tiny handful of locales where the techniques of porcelain manufacture were mastered at an early date. Starting in the latter period of the Trần dynasty (1225-1400) in the 14th century, Vietnamese ceramics began to be exported to Indonesia, Japan, and Taiwan. During the Lê Sơ dynasty (1428-1527) and the Mạc dynasty (1527-1592), Vietnam’s northern neighbor, China’s Ming dynasty (1368-1644) closed its doors to maritime trade. Vietnamese ceramics quickly filled the gap created by China’s exodus from the market, and its web of mercantile connections expanded to include Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and North Africa. Out of all of these regions, it was the island nations of Southeast Asia that proved to be Vietnam’s most valuable trading partners. During this period, Vietnam’s primary places of ceramic production were the Chu Đậu kilns, located in present day Hải Dương province, and the Thăng Long kilns, located in present day Hanoi. The “semi-bodiless” white wares made by some of these kilns’ were jade-like in their smooth lustrousness. Their blue and white porcelains featured luscious glaze and elegant forms, which boasted straightness and symmetry when wrought large, and elaborate delicacy when small. The decorative patterns could be made with ornate precision or attractive freehand spontaneity. Atop the underglaze blue wares were painted designs of overglaze reds, greens, and golds, yielding gorgeously complex works of “Vietnamese doucai (clashing colors),” renowned as uniquely zestful visual feasts.
III. The Ingenious Diplomacy of the Peninsular Dragon
According to legend, the Viet people who put down roots in the eastern region of the Southeast Asian peninsula are descendants of the dragon king Lạc Long Quân, who is believed to be the great-great-grandson of the mythical Yan Emperor Shennong. The creation myths reveal the close links between Viet people and their neighbors on the northern land. For several thousand years, as this culture permeated the Vietnamese landscape, it faced down the risk of absorption by its neighbors countless times. Following a thousand years of subjugation, in 939 the Viet established their own Ngô dynasty, nestled between China to the north, and Champa to the south. The struggle for power in this region can be glimpsed in a draft of state letter handwritten by Ming dynasty Emperor Taizu during the late 14th century. 18th and 19th century documents previously held in the Qing dynasty court provide an abbreviated record of how the Vietnamese relied upon military tenacity and a strategy of flexibility and agility in the face of the cultural appeal and military dominance of their northern neighbors. With this approach, they were able to deal with centuries of diplomatic disputes great and small. Wits and resourcefulness allowed this determined southern nation to sail through the choppy peaks and troughs of history, rising into glory time and again on the Southeast Asian peninsula.