View Hang Trong paintings telling familiar ancient stories

The exhibition "Hang Trong Paintings" is a meaningful activity taking place in the month of honoring women and carries a strong message about preserving and promoting Hang Trong paintings - one of the unique folk painting genres, bearing the imprint of the thousand-year-old culture of Thang Long - Hanoi, a precious heritage of the Vietnamese people.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Director of the Vietnam Women's Museum Nguyen Thi Tuyet said: "Every time Tet comes, we often take some quiet time to find traditional values that breathe the soul of the nation. For the ancient Hanoians, there is an indispensable spiritual food, and an elegant hobby: that is Hang Trong folk paintings. The Hang Trong comic books at the exhibition, when I directly feel them, are masterpieces for me. Each painting exudes liveliness, sophistication, subtlety and depth in both content and form, representing the unique folk visual arts of Vietnam".

Ngắm tranh Hàng Trống kể những tích truyện cổ quen thuộc - Ảnh 1. — Artist and researcher Phan Ngoc Khue speaks at the exhibition

"Therefore, facing the decline, risk of loss and challenges and difficulties of folk paintings in today's life, I hope the event is a great opportunity for the public to admire and feel more clearly the beauty and value of a famous painting genre of Hanoi" - Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet said.

Sharing about the Hang Trong comic series, researcher Phan Ngoc Khue said: Hang Trong paintings are one of the unique folk paintings, bearing the cultural imprint of Thang Long - Hanoi, a precious heritage of the Vietnamese people. But perhaps it has been a long time since we had the opportunity to come into contact with this type of painting again. It has existed for hundreds of years, but in the conditions of our country having fluctuations, the war in 1945 - 1954, we did not print these types of paintings, only small ones. To create each of these paintings, the owners of the painting shops had to buy wood to carve the paintings, each painting had to be assembled from at least 2-3 wood panels together, had to be processed by carpenters to make it even and beautiful, then the craftsmen would process the painting. All stages to make this type of painting are carried out carefully, meticulously and skillfully to create high quality products".

Ngắm tranh Hàng Trống kể những tích truyện cổ quen thuộc - Ảnh 2. — The painting series "Han Chu competition for heroes"

Hang Trong paintings are divided into many types such as worship paintings, daily life paintings, nature paintings, story paintings, and Tet paintings. In which, story paintings are drawn based on ancient stories such as Warring States, Son Hau, Tam Quoc, Han So Tranh Hung, Chieu Quan Cong Ho...

The exhibition "Hang Trong Paintings" displayed 40 paintings from 10 sets of paintings, which are familiar ancient stories in the cultural and spiritual life of the Vietnamese people. The highlight of the paintings in the Hang Trong Paintings collection is the aesthetic value, the sophistication of woodblock printing techniques, color mixing techniques, and especially the crystallization of humanistic values and unique cultural identity of the ancient Kinh people.

Ngắm tranh Hàng Trống kể những tích truyện cổ quen thuộc - Ảnh 3.

Ngắm tranh Hàng Trống kể những tích truyện cổ quen thuộc - Ảnh 4. — "Warring States" series of paintings

The age of the paintings displayed at the exhibition "Hang Trong Comics" is believed by researcher Phan Ngoc Khue to have been created from the 19th century until before 1945, and is now more than 100 years old.

In particular, within the framework of the event, there was also a ceremony to receive a set of paintings of Zhaojun paying tribute to the Hu from researcher Phan Ngoc Khue, presented to the Vietnam Women's Museum. The set of paintings of Zhaojun paying tribute to the Hu is part of the collection of paintings introduced in the exhibition "Hang Trong Paintings and Stories".

Ngắm tranh Hàng Trống kể những tích truyện cổ quen thuộc - Ảnh 5. — Researcher Phan Ngoc Khue presents a set of paintings of Zhaojun paying tribute to the Ho Dynasty to the Vietnam Women's Museum.

Introducing this precious work donated to the Museum, artist Phan Ngoc Khue shared, "The series of paintings of Zhaojun paying tribute to the Hu is one of the works of great social value. The female characters depicted in the series are all heroic women who convey the spirit of the story and the author's ideas, praising examples of loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness, in order to promote education about beautiful personalities that every society needs to cultivate and build for contemporary people. We have the opportunity to look back at the beautiful examples of the ancients in the national cultural heritage, which is also necessary and beneficial."

Ngắm tranh Hàng Trống kể những tích truyện cổ quen thuộc - Ảnh 6. — The exhibition attracted a large audience.

Visiting the exhibition, Ms. Chu Thi Thuy Van (Hanoi) expressed: "I am very happy that in today's modern life, I still have the opportunity to admire the masterpieces of a precious painting genre - Hang Trong paintings. The strokes are true to the folk character of ancient Hang Trong paintings, they are not colorful, not sharp but overall the colors and composition are very harmonious. Especially, coming here today, I feel quite excited that many people, not only Vietnamese but also foreign tourists, welcome the traditional Vietnamese painting genre. These are positive signals for us, especially the young generation, to work together to preserve and maintain Hang Trong paintings so that they do not fade away."

The exhibition "Hang Trong Comics" will run until March 31, 2024 at the Vietnam Women's Museum, 36 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi./.

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