Đông Hồ Paintings (Tranh Đông Hồ)
Also known formally as Đông Hồ folk woodcut paintings, this is a cherished Vietnamese folk art originating from Đông Hồ Village (Song Hồ Commune, Thuận Thành District, Bắc Ninh Province). Since ancient times, these paintings were primarily sold for the Tết Nguyên Đán (Lunar New Year) celebration. Rural villagers would buy them to paste on their walls; when the year ended, they would remove the old ones and replace them with new ones. The poet Tú Xương once wrote of Đông Hồ paintings during Tết:
"Firecrackers pop and crackle in the yard,
Noisy upon the wall, a painting of chickens."
In the poem Bên kia sông Đuống (Across the Đuống River), Hoàng Cầm penned:
"Đông Hồ paintings, chickens and pigs with vibrant strokes,
The national color shines bright on điệp paper."
As 2017 was the Year of the Rooster (Đinh Dậu), let us explore the rooster motif in Đông Hồ folk paintings.
Painting: Gà Đàn (Brood of Chickens)
Painting: Gà Chọi (Fighting Rooster)
Painting: Gà Hoa Hồng (Rose Rooster)
Painting: Dạ Xương Ngũ Canh Hòa (Night Harmony of the Five Watches)
Painting: Vinh Hoa (Glory and Prosperity)
Painting: Thư Hùng (Male and Female)
Painting: Đại Cát (Lucky Rooster)
Beyond their distinctive lines and compositions, the folk essence of Đông Hồ paintings lies in their colors and the paper on which they are printed.
The printing paper, called giấy điệp, is made by grinding the shells of the điệp (a type of thin-shelled sea scallop) into a fine powder, then mixing it with glue (made from rice flour or sometimes cassava starch). This mixture is brushed onto giấy dó (a traditional paper made from the bark of the dó tree) using a pine-needle brush. The brush creates subtle striations along the strokes, while the natural shell fragments give the paper a shimmering, iridescent white hue under light. Other colors can be added to the glue during the paper-making process.
The colors used in the paintings are natural, derived from plants and minerals: black (from soot of xylia or bamboo leaves), green (from copper rust or indigo leaves), yellow (from pagoda tree flowers), red (from cinnabar pebbles or sappanwood), and so on. These are basic, unmixed colors. Because the number of colors corresponds to the number of woodblocks, Đông Hồ paintings typically use only four colors.
Artistic creation in Đông Hồ is not about momentary inspiration. Each print conveys a legend, a philosophical fable, a vibrant message about morality, ethics, and profound beliefs—a message from our ancestors thousands of years ago.
Painting: Cóc Rước Rồng (Toad Parading the Dragon)
The words "rước rồng" (parading the dragon) appear on the painting, evoking joyful festival scenes. One could say that with just the image of a toad, the folk artisan, using their creative and unique imagination, painted this remarkable and lively piece, along with the two mouse paintings.
Painting: Đám Cưới Chuột (The Mouse Wedding)
Among the Đông Hồ paintings, the most famous is Đám Cưới Chuột, created 500 years ago—a painting both humorous and deeply satirical. The humor lies in the absurdity of mice holding a wedding procession. The folk artist breathed life into the painting, anthropomorphizing the mice to bear human traits. The satire is in the detail: the mouse groom, to marry his bride, must offer birds and fish as tribute to the cat. On the painting are the two words Nghinh hôn (Wedding Procession).
The cat in the painting represents the ruling class of old. The mice embody the peasants in that society. The painting has no caption, yet everyone perceives the folk artist's hidden intent. The cunning, mischievous, and suspicious mice are ever wary of the cat, their mortal enemy. The painting wittily satirizes the cat for accepting bribes and forgetting its duty to catch mice.
The painting is divided into two sections featuring 12 mice and one cat. The upper tier shows the mice presenting gifts to the cat. Four mice are present: the leader, body bent and tail curled in fear, offers a bird with both hands. The second, carrying a fish, follows with a similarly timid gaze at the cat. The last two play trumpets but in a defensive stance, ready to bolt at any sign of trouble.
The lower tier depicts the wedding procession with eight mice. Leading is a male mouse, wearing a mandarin's hat (mũ cánh chuồn), a green robe, and boots, riding a pink horse. He glances back with a smug, proud expression, having passed the imperial exam and returned in glory to marry a beautiful wife. Attending him are a black mouse holding a ceremonial parasol and a piebald mouse (half-black, half-white) holding a placard inscribed with "nghinh hôn." The parasol bearer looks solemn, while the placard bearer is playful, constantly turning back to look at the bride's palanquin. Four other mice carry the palanquin; the two in front look straight ahead, while the two behind look back—perhaps to show the procession's length or to check if the cat is following. The bride, seated in the palanquin, wears a turban and a green brocade dress, gazing at her husband on the horse with a proud and contented look.
The most striking figure in the painting is the cat. Drawn in the upper right corner, it is very large and imposing, reaching out a paw to receive the offerings. This is the central character of this satirical work. An anonymous poet once wrote four lines inspired by this painting:
"Clever, cunning, with a tail to show,
High rank achieved, a wife wed with a heavenly roar.
The cat, just now, at the village gate stood tall,
'Send the grand offerings to me, once and for all.'"
These four short verses vividly capture the scene: the mice returning to their village in glory with a beautiful bride. Clever and talented as they are, they cannot escape bowing and bribing the cat. This act is ultimately futile, for a cat can never befriend a mouse. It accepts the bribe but will still devour the mouse when they meet. This detail reveals the profound skill of the ancients. The Vietnamese rural folk of the feudal era, unable to openly attack or resist corrupt and oppressive officials, used this mouse wedding painting to indirectly condemn them and express their own stance. The painting is filled with placards, parasols, belts, robes, hats, pink horses, flowered palanquins, trumpets, and drums—a grand spectacle. But to achieve this happy scene, the mouse family must bribe the cat. The painting not only attacks corrupt officials but also criticizes the examination system of the Lê dynasty during the Bảo Thái period (1721), when anyone with money could pay a "pass-through fee" to take the exam without assessment. The exam halls were crowded with a motley crew of farmers, butchers, and merchants. Inside, candidates openly copied from books or hired substitutes, turning the hall into a chaotic marketplace where everything was negotiable. The truly talented were failed, while the ignorant with money for bribes were selected as officials. Having bought their positions, these officials then sought to recoup their costs. In the end, only the common people suffered the consequences, while the officials filled their greedy pockets.
Painting: Đàn Lợn Âm Dương (The Sow and Piglets)
The painting of a sow with her piglets is a symbol of abundance, prosperity, and fertility. On the sow's body is a yin-yang swirl, suggesting growth and procreation. In a 1936 Tết article for Hà Nội Báo, painter Nguyễn Đỗ Cung wittily remarked: "On a piece of bright red paper the size of a hand, the mother pig is as white as limewash, her eyes half-closed and drowsy, her snout twitching as if she just thought of something amusing. Five piglets—blue, red, white, purple—swarm at her feet. Among all the Tết paintings, 'Mother Pig and Piglets' is the most charming and endearing for its clarity, whimsy, and naive simplicity—qualities that so many modern artists are now seeking in the West…"
Painting: Chọi Trâu (Water Buffalo Fight)
The direct content of this painting depicts a common custom in festivals across several Vietnamese localities. At the center is a traditional five-colored flag (cờ Ngũ sắc), often seen in folk festivals. The flag bears the inscription "Hội chí lầu." Behind the two buffaloes are two placards reading "Đông xã" (Eastern Commune) and "Tống xã" (Tống Commune). A straightforward interpretation would be that the buffaloes of Đông and Tống communes are fighting. However, this reading makes the placards and the flag seem superfluous—a simple festival flag and two buffaloes would suffice. After all, any two villages could pit their buffaloes against each other. But these details are not superfluous at all if we consider the painting's deeper meaning. The value of the placards and flag lies in their guiding us toward the true content.
The character "xã" (commune) contains the radical "thổ" (earth/land); "lầu" (tower) signifies buildings; "chí" (to reach/obstruct) on the flag implies obstacles to overcome; "hội" (gathering/meeting) suggests a convergence on a problem or goal. The buffalo, in the I Ching (Kinh Dịch), represents the trigram Khôn (Earth, the Receptive). The Shuo Gua (Commentary on the Trigrams) states: "Khôn is the Earth… it is the mother, the cow [buffalo]…" These meanings point toward an association with Eastern geomancy (Phong thủy/Feng Shui). Thus, the two placards and the flag likely refer to the opposition between Đông trạch (Eastern House) and Tây trạch (Western House) in Feng Shui, symbolized by the two fighting buffaloes. According to Feng Shui, the compass is divided into eight directions: four belong to the Eastern Group (Đông tứ trạch) and four to the Western Group (Tây tứ trạch). If this were all, the painting's content would be no more profound than any common Feng Shui manual. But there is more.
Painting: Hứng Dừa (Catching Coconuts)
During early spring festivals, young men and women go out to gather good luck (hái lộc). The coconut tree is also a symbol of couple's happiness. The image of the coconut—with its white flesh and clear water—represents a pure, innocent love. On the tree trunk is a very strong, muscular young man. He has picked two coconuts at once and is lowering them to a girl who has lifted her skirt to catch them (a distinctive artistic detail in this folk painting). A question arises: why doesn't he pick them one by one and hand them to her so she can take them with her hands? At this moment, the young man has devised a mischievous and cunning trick. He picks two coconuts and lowers them. If the girl tries to catch them with her hands, it would be very difficult, and they would likely fall, splitting the pair in two—and with them, their happiness. With no other choice, the girl lifts her skirt to catch both coconuts whole, thus catching her complete happiness.
A poem reads from right to left:
"Who was so clever to plant this coconut tree?
He climbs, she catches, a perfect pair to be."
Just a few of these folk paintings, and upon reflection, one marvels at the profound depth of our ancestors. The paintings are also beautiful—simple yet elegant, refined, and deeply imbued with the Vietnamese soul. Surely, any true Vietnamese person, young or old, would love them.