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A beautiful video showcasing the beauties of Vietnamese traditional architecture, the native Đạo Mẫu religion, and the stunning fashion that comes with the belief.
Source:Quỳnh Nguyễn
A beautiful rendition of the mixture between modern high fashion with historical high fashion of Nguyễn dynasty, mixing áo nhật bình, áo ngũ thân, and Western elements.
Source:Thảo My Nguyễn
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A really creative re-imagining of Việt phục of Nguyễn dynasty in a modern setting. Here we have yếm, áo tứ thân, áo ngũ thân, and áo dài.
Source:Đỗ Tuấn Vũ
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Drawing of Lí Thường Kiệt based on historical records and artifacts of Lí Trần dynasties armory.
Lí Thường Kiệt (李常傑; 1019–1105) was a Vietnamese general and admiral during the Lí Dynasty in Vietnam. He served as an official through the three dynasties of Lí Thái Tông, Lí Thánh Tông, and Lí Nhân Tông, and achieved many great achievements, making him one of the two greatest generals in Lí Dynasty, next to Lê Phụng Hiểu. He was a leading general for Vietnam during the Lí–Song wars.
In Vietnamese history, he stood out for his conquest of Champa (1069), raiding the three provinces Qin, Yong, and Lian of Song (1075–1076), and then defeated the Vietnamese invasion of the Song army led by Gou Kui and Zhao Xie.
In 2013, the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism lists him as one of the 14 most typical Vietnamese national heroes in Vietnamese history.
Source:Ấm Chè
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Reconstruction of Nguyễn dynasty áo tấc and accessories slightly based on postal stamps during French colonial period.
Source:Hoa Niên - Năm Tháng Tươi Đẹp
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Redrawing of the legendary Trưng Sisters, who are still considered as great heroes who tried to liberate Vietnam from China. Previous generations have drawn them in very historically inaccurate fashion, donning them in Nguyễn-styled wear, but lately, more and more artists are beginning to draw them in Đông Sơn fashion, or even Đông Sơn fashion with Chinese influences (since they existed several hundred years after Chinese domination). Đông Sơn culture is considered as the pre-Sinicized culture of Vietnamese people, and researchers believe they were quite tribal.
Source:Ấm Chè
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A beautiful photoshoot of modernized fantasy áo tấc in a traditional architecture.
Source:Cổ Trang Đại Việt Quán
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VU LAN FESTIVAL: Vietnamese Day of Filial Piety and Mercy
The Vu Lan Festival, also known as Vu Lan Bồn (盂蘭盆), is a Vietnamese traditional Mahayana Buddhist festival held on the Middle Primary occasion (i.e. the full moon day of the Seventh month in the Vietnamese lunar calendar). This is the time for people to show filial piety towards deceased and living parents, as well as show mercy towards the beings suffering the exile of hunger.
This festival originates from the Vu Lan Bồn sutra. The story is about Bhikkhu Mục Kiền Liên and his quest to liberate his mother from her reincarnation as a hungry ghost (ngạ quỷ 餓鬼). That reincarnation is due to the accumulation of many evil karma she has created.
VU LAN FESTIVAL IN HISTORY
• Filial Piety towards the ancestors
The spirit of the Vu Lan festival in Vietnam is to pray for deceased parents as a way to offer filial piety.
For example, let’s read this paragraph in the “Complete Annals of Đại Việt” about the Vu Lan festival in 1118 under the reign of Emperor Lí Nhân Tông: “Autumn, the Seventh month, a feast of the Middle Primary festival is hosted because it coincided with the Vu Lan Bồn ceremony to pray for the salvation of the soul for Linh Nhân Imperial Empress Dowager.”
About the Vu Lan Festival in 1128, under the reign of his son, Emperor Lí Thần Tông, the text is as following: “Autumn, the Seventh month, the Middle Primary occasion, the Emperor stayed in Thiên An Hall, for the the mandarin to commend. Since that day was also the Vu Lan occasion to pray for the salvation of Nhân Tông’s soul, there was no feast.”
• Kindness and Mercy towards all beings
It is not clear whether it had already existed in the Lí Trần dynasties, however, by the beginning of the Early Later Lê period, the belief that one should offer kindness and mercy for all beings instead of only filial piety towards one’s ancestors had already become popular.
Specifically, during the reign of Emperor Lê Thái Tổ, “On the 15th, as the Vu Lan festival was celebrated, 50 criminals of misdemeanor were forgiven, the monks who chant sutras were granted 220 taels.”
In the Restored Later Lê period, the common folk practice for every household, besides offering to the ancestors, included arranging a leaf tray on a street to bless the wandering souls and organizing games to celebrate the Full Moon of the Seventh month. Leaf tray, also called mâm lá or cách bàn, is a set of foods, flowers, fruits, teas and sweets put on a lotus leaf and also covered by another lotus leaf.
“On the Full Moon of the Seventh month, people arrange leaf tray and votive clothing paper crafts to offer to the ancestors or organize Vu Lan activities to bless the wandering souls. Every village hosted swimming competitions.” (The votive clothing paper crafts, also called áo mã or ảnh y, are colored humanoid paper shapes)
THE VU LAN FESTIVAL OF MODERN VIETNAM
The custom of arranging the leaf tray in front of one’s house has been maintained until today. The Vu Lan Festival also embraces a new layer of purposes. It’s no longer a festival for the deceased only, but also an occasion for us to show love and respect for the living parents and grandparents. In a way, the festival has become the Vietnamese version of Parents’ Day.
For a long time, there has been a custom that anyone paying homage at a pagoda on this day would be given a flower to wear on their shirt at their heart. They would wear a red flower if their parent(s) are still living and a white flower if both already passed away.
This custom originated from a short essay written by the well-known monk Thích Nhất Hạnh, titled A Rose for Your Pocket. Thanks to the inspiration from the essay, songwriter Phạm Thế Mỹ composed a piece with the same title. The song starts with the following lyric:
A red flower for you
A red flower for me
And a red flower for anyone, anyone whose Mother is still here.
Source: Vietnam Centre
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Reconstruction of Attendant attire (侍服) during Restored Later Lê period. Attendant attire was worn when having attendant with the Trịnh and Nguyễn lords, when the Lê emperors were merely puppet rulers.
Source:Đại Việt Phong Hoa - 大越豐華
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Reconstruction of Restored Later Lê cross-collared dress depicted in Japanese paintings. Although there are still errors, it’s a huge improvement.
Source:Trần Ngọc Sông Quê
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Beautiful red áo tấc created for Vietnamese wedding. Traditionally, Nguyễn dynasty preferred blue, green, and pink for weddings. Modern Vietnamese prefer red due to influence of Chinese culture during the late 20th century.
Source:Hiệu Ảnh Việt Phục - Bull Media
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A beautiful album called Dạ Nguyệt (夜月) showcasing modernized designs of quai thao hat paired with modern áo ngũ thân.
Source:Phạm Hoàng Yến
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What will a high fashion Việt phục look like? Fashionable, of course.
Source:Kay Trịnh -Thảo My Nguyễn
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Beautiful simple áo ngũ thân and áo tấc in colonial French building of Nguyễn dynasty.
Source:Hoa Niên - Năm Tháng Tươi Đẹp
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What do you get if you mix historical Việt phục with vintage style of the 20th century and modern elements? A very interesting blend between tradition and vintage, even if those two co-existed at one point in history.
Source:Duy Nguyen Khac
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Việt phục mixed with modern haute couture fashion is an interesting blend, because it showcases how versatile Việt phục can be in a modern setting.
Source:Duy Nguyen Khac
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People are starting to wear modernized áo tấc and áo ngũ thân of Nguyễn dynasty to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival.
Source:Nguyễn Văn Nam
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The young generation in Vietnam is slowly embracing Việt phục and all that it brings to the table. Here is a Vietnamese culture club’s leaders in Nguyễn dynasty áo ngũ thân from Trần Đại Nghĩa Specialised High School.
Source:Câu lạc bộ Văn hóa Việt Nam THPT Chuyên Trần Đại Nghĩa
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Nhật Bình & áo tấc. Credit to Nguyễn Hoài Nhân.
Áo ngũ thân. Credit to Huỳnh Việt Anh Khang.
Vietnamese architecture illustrations by Todd Huynh.
Nhật Bình & áo tấc. Credit to Hoa Niên.
Áo tấc. Credit to Đào Nguyễn.
Huế, Vietnam. Credit to Huế Cổ Phong.
Áo tấc. Credit to Hoàng Thị Thu Trà.
Áo ngũ thân, Nhật Bình & áo tấc. Credit to Hoa Niên.
Áo ngũ thân. Credit to Cổ Trang Đại Việt Quán.
Áo ngũ thân worn in the Northern style. Credit to Hoa Niên.
