Vietnamese Folk Painting

This book is a general introduction to the traditional folk art of woodblock print making, known as Vietnamese Folk Painting. It is a craft art that developed at the beginning of the 17th Century around the Red River Delta east of Hanoi, centred on Dong Ho village - in fact the prints are often referred to as Dong Ho Paintings. Dong Ho craftsmen use a special paper named deip paper, made from the bank of the do tree, which is soaked in water for months, then mixed with ground seashell and glutinous rice to make a paper that possesses an exotic sparkle and is able to hold colour for a very long time. All dyes are natural: red from gravel, yellow from aniseed, blue from verdigris, green from cajuput leaves and black from burnt bamboo leaves. The woodblocks themselves are carved separately: one for each colour used in the final picture, and they are often kept by an artisan family for many generations. Dong Ho paintings are traditionally displayed during Tet lunar New Year; they are often humorous and optimistic, with many vivid colours. The most popular themes are those bestowing happiness, prosperity and good fortune for the New Year. They often bear characters to identify the figures represented, and are sometimes designed as diptychs or triptychs. This medium was also used to express subtle social, political and cultural criticism. For example, Dong Ho villagers produced a set of four prints entitled 'The progress of Civilisation' in which the Westernisation of Vietnamese society was delicately criticised through satirical portrayal of Vietnamese people dressing and behaving like the French.