#southeastasia
A fantasy photoshoot of a white-haired woman wearing Nguyễn dynasty red áo tấc, reminiscent of the nine-tailed fox.
Source:Ổ Mèo Lười
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Reconstruction of Lê dynasty Thăng Long Imperial Palace in the documentary Thăng Long–Thousand Years of Relics. This is the first time the palace has been reconstructed based on real relics and artifacts, and therefore is the most historically accurate reconstruction of the palace at this time.
This reconstruction only reconstructs a small part of the palace due to continued lack of artifacts and ongoing archaeology. However, this is still the first step to fully reconstructing the entire imperial palace.
Source:VTV1
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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A green cross-collared dress of the Lí and Trần dynasties. During this period, women liked to cut their hair short, and wear green robes.
Source:Bộ Bộ Thiềm Lan - 步步蟾闌
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A fantasy style light purple áo nhật bình with beautiful decorative flowers on the turban. Turbans weren’t decorated until after the fall of the Nguyễn dynasty.
Source:Ngô Huyền Ngọc
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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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One word. Relaxing.
This time I spent in Thailand was nothing short but amazing. This was my second time going and I absolutely loved it even more. I had a ton of more time in the country so I spent a lot of it just roaming around and just relaxing and soaking the sun.
The first 5ish days were hectic. Flew into Bangkok and from there flew to Koh Tao where we took our scuba diving courses. Quite a challenging yet rewarding experience for I am not a great swimmer nor am I comfortable with the deep water so I feel like with this experience, I really pushed myself beyond the boundaries of what I was capable of doing and it has opened my eyes to yet more a world out there of something different. And what made it fun was that we met up with my friend’s friend whose from the states but is currently traveling around the world and doing a lot of freelancing work. But not too long after, she found a love for Koh Tao and found a job as a Yoga Instructor. You go girl! So happy for her. Wishing her all but the very best.
From Koh Tao, we took a ferry to Koh Samui. And in Samui, it rained the entire time. Like the entire time. It wasn’t hard rain, but moreso little drops. The island is much bigger than Koh Tao, a bit more laid back. There’s not too much to do for things are quite spread out, but it was still nice. When I travel, I enjoy walking around and just seeing the spots hoping I run into a hidden gem. I like to have places that I want to go but I also don’t mind exploring on my own for a lot of expected things can come up and turn out fun.
Flew north to Chiang Mai. And before we get to Chiang Mai, can we talk about the Koh Samui Airport!!! Because its on an island, I guess half of the airport is inside but mostly its outside. Its looks almost like an indoor mall, but its outside. There’s a ton of storefront shops you can visit and they also have these platforms you can sit under for shade (well needed for it was raining pretty hard) and they knew I didn’t eat. The airport provides free snacks, yes FREE snacks. I was soo happy. You don’t understand how hungry I was. They had a few thai snacks that I wasn’t familiar with, but they had this ham sandwich, some juice, and water. I was in heaven.
I went solo in Chiang Mai, but it was awesome for I was on my own, I can do what I want, when I want and no one to hold me back. The city itself was super neat. Tons and tons of temples, lots of bomb ass food (per usual) and tons of great things to offer. There, I got to take care of elephants which was a very cool expereince. Elephants are pretty smart and they eat a lot! The younger kins were so playful esp when it came to bathing in the water. It was so cute. They all had some interesting personalities. I think it would be cool to volunteer for a few weeks hanging with elephants. Definitely gonna look into that in the future. I also ran into these two women from Las Vegas from this cheap city tour I went on. They were so sweet and down to earth. I really enjoyed them so much that I hung with them on the next day. We went to a night market and tried local Thai wine. It tasted pretty good. Students from the local university make the wine (amazing) and I believe each glass was like 50 baht (a dollar y’all). I was in heaven.
We flew to Singapore in which also rained the entire time we were there. We still had a nice time. WE had a very lavish dinner at a buffet in a hotel in the Sentosa area. Then went out to a club that we thought that it was Hip-Hop but just another shitty EDM club. Missed the countdown for i was too busy in the bathroom but you know, we still had a good time. Even though it was raining, it was crowded. There were tons of people out and my feet were killing me (damn you heels). Taking a taxi was impossible so we took a bus back to our hotel. It was crazy.
The following day, we went out to downtown area to the Marina by the bay where they have that amazing green lavish garden. Then, we went shopping and my friend was going ham in the beauty section for the items sold in Singapore are much cheaper than back home. And you know what’s crazy, from there we walked from downtown to our Airbnb in Geyland. 45ish minute walk (which I don’t mind). It was dark, yet nice and quiet and the weather was amazing.
Flew back to Bangkok where we ended our trip by meeting my friends that I met in China from my A+1班 class at Fudan. We had such an amazing time. Bittersweet moment and my friend really liked them. I was so scared that she wasn’t gonna click with them or say something crazy but man it was a good time! We had these amazing cakes, reminisced about our times in China, we even talked about bitcoin and the future of currency and investing along with lots of good laughs.
Photography for Life
I’ve been taking photos for as long as I can remember. Back in the 7th grade, my father bought me one of those point and shoot Sony cameras for like $75ish dollars from Circuit City (RIP) and I went crazy. I would take it to school and take photos of everything. The hallways, classmates, the art in the bathroom stalls…you name it, I got it. When my aunt from NIgera flew into into America, I took so many of her (and I lost all those photos due to a computer virus RIP). Beyond that, I was in love with it. Around this time too, Facebook was just getting popular so a few people asked for a new profile picture. Sending them was the hard part for we didn’t have smart phones around this time and some phones weren’t capable of sending/receiving pictures (damn you bluetooth).
But that spark came to an end when the camera somehow stopped work. I was so devastated. So I went through an almost entire period of high school where I took very little photos. We could not bring our phones into our high school, I didn’t have a camera, and iPods weren’t aloud either. So there’s that. But in my senior year, joined yearbook and was introduced to my first ever DSLR. Y’all, I did not know how to use that camera for my life , but I was taking a lot of shots. Sports teams, events, friends, you name it. I felt so proud putting that yearbook together and saying “I took that.”
Fast-forward to 2015, it was just days before I was flying to China, I bought a Refurbished Canon Rebel T3 off Amazon for $250 (mad cheap). That’s when everything changed. For the first few months, I took quite a few photos (not enough) but they came out pretty decent. Some good, others not so good, but it was all baby steps. I tried using online tutorials but with my VPN not working and step to step guide simply not being enough, I gave up. But then I met my friend who showed me some basic controls and how I can change the f stop, shutter speed etc. and that changed everything. My photos became like 2x better. Thanks! But I still was unsure of what I was doing to be honest.
So when I got back to the US, I took a Intro to Photography course and everything just clicked. She broke it down and really explained to my class how the aperature and shutter speed can affect your images and white balance affecting the color along with using it freehand vs tripod. This class really changed the way I view photography and taking photos. With that, it inspired me to pursue more of the hobby.
Nowhere near a professional, but its something that I love and enjoy doing on my free time.
