"Betting" lives to keep Vietnamese mascots

It has been a long time since the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum was almost overloaded with a special exhibition. In the gallery, experts and researchers of heritage art admired and praised the value of the artifacts. However, few people know that the above exhibition was formed from the sweat and tears and the willingness to bet their lives on heritage lovers.

1. The exhibition "Images of lions and unicorns in ancient Vietnamese sculpture" takes place from November 7-17, displaying about 60 artifacts from the Ly, Tran, Later Le to Nguyen dynasties, made of stone, ceramic, porcelain, wood, bronze; and some photo documents, films, drawings... Notably, the exhibition features images of lions and unicorns introduced to the public for the first time.

Nghe in the temple of King Le Thanh Tong in Thanh Hoa is displayed at the exhibition.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Yen, a retired official of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, one of those who traveled all over the North during the days of the American war to collect ancient mascots, recalled: “Collecting traditional ancient mascots was very difficult. In addition to the efforts of the museum staff, there were also moments when they were ready to risk their lives to bring the artifacts back to preserve. For example, the chimera at King Le Thanh Tong Temple in Thanh Hoa Province. This mascot was created in the 17th century. Standing tall through the ups and downs of the times, in the late 60s and early 70s of the 20th century, the relic where the chimera resided was bombed by American bombs. The chimera was thrown upside down. When we heard the news, we rushed to the relic when the sound of enemy aircraft engines was still roaring overhead.”

According to Ms. Yen, when the delegation arrived, the leg of the chimera had fallen off. “And now, even though it has been restored, if you look closely, the leg of the chimera still has traces. That “scar” does not reduce the value of the ancient chimera, but on the contrary, it adds more historical sediment to the shape of the 400-year-old chimera,” Ms. Yen said.

2. The story of the lion in the temple of King Le Thanh Tong in Thanh Hoa is one of 60 stories, 60 identities with different journeys to reach this first exhibition of ancient mascots in Vietnam. According to Ms. Yen, the time when the museum received the most lions and lions was during the war, especially the destructive war of the American Empire.

“Bombs and bullets were everywhere, temples and pagodas were heavily damaged. The sacred objects that had survived the harsh test of history were here,” said Ms. Yen.

Then came the subsidy period, many bourgeois families or veteran antique collectors also put up for sale ancient mascots due to shortages. At that time, almost only museums were willing to buy these sacred "luxuries".

“In addition to war and subsidies, the mascots in our museum also come from other contexts. That is natural disasters, storms and floods,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Thu, Director of Nam Dinh Provincial Museum, which contributed about 20 out of 60 mascots to the exhibition.

What remained in the rubble after the storm were ancient carvings and mascots of our ancestors. And the provincial museum has collected all the valuable artifacts to store and display.

“The aesthetic and cultural values ​​of pure Vietnamese mascots have been mentioned by many people. However, in my opinion, the chimeras and lions in this exhibition also convey another message. They are historical “witnesses”, symbols of the bravery and vitality of a nation that has always had to face natural disasters and enemies,” said Mr. Thu.

According to TT&VH