The Nghê: A Quintessential Vietnamese Guardian Spirit
The Nghê is one of the most prevalent sacred creatures in traditional Vietnamese culture. Its image appears quite early in the history of Vietnamese fine arts and ancient sculpture. Two distinctive sacred animals of Vietnamese culture are the Crane and the Nghê; however, in the last two hundred years or so, we often see dragons and unicorns (Lân) used for decoration in temples, pagodas, and grand mansions. Take, for instance, the two white unicorn statues right in the courtyard of Vinh Nghiem Pagoda in Saigon. The large houses of overseas Vietnamese, as well as those within the country, are also adorned with unicorn statues. The Crane has been a sacred animal since the time of the Hung Kings who founded the nation of Van Lang. But when did the Nghê appear? (Could it be from the Ly dynasty, when pure Vietnamese culture was restored and flourished after a thousand years of Chinese domination?). Although a purely Vietnamese symbol, the Nghê is surprisingly little known.
What is the Nghê?
In the daily life of the Vietnamese people, two animals are considered the most intimate, close, and important companions: the water buffalo and the dog. The buffalo plows the fields, aiding rice production; the dog guards the house, protecting against thieves and wild beasts. In practical life, there is the watchdog. But what about spiritual life? Our ancestors also needed a guardian spirit to ward off evil spirits and demons. Thus, the stone dog was erected. In the villages of Northern Vietnam, a stone dog always stands before the village gate to protect the entire community, before the communal house gate, and often in front of house gates, at the gable ends, or outside the main door to stand guard for the homeowner. These stone dogs vary in shape, ranging from about half a meter to a meter in height. They are often clearly carved, imposing stone blocks, but sometimes they are just a stone block placed at an angle, resembling a dog in a sitting guard posture. (Folk tales often mention stone dogs, such as "The Scholar and the Stone Dog" or "The Two Brothers and the Stone Dog" - See: On Nhu Nguyen Van Ngoc, Truyen co nuoc Nam). Then, to be displayed before altars or family shrines in wealthy homes, pagodas, temples, and shrines, the stone dog was transformed into a spirit. The stone dog was carved with imposing details, the head and face full of solemnity. Because of this sacred nature, it came to be called the Nghê.
The Nghê is also used for decoration in ancient communal houses in Vietnam. The Nghê is carved on the con (horizontal beams extending from pillars to support longitudinal beams under the outer eaves), or placed on the dau dao (the ridge line running from the roof peak downwards, curving upward like a great sword blade, hence the name dau dao). Examples can be found on the con of An Hoa communal house (Ha Nam), Phat Loc communal house (Thai Binh), the pillars of Hoi Thong communal house (Ha Tinh), the dau dao of Phu Lao communal house (Bac Giang), Trung Can communal house (Nghe An), Tay Dang communal house (Son Tay), and many others. In my childhood, around the early 1950s in Thai Binh, I recall seeing at the home of Mr. Ha Ngoc Huyen, our maternal grandfather, a statue of the Nghê nearly a meter high placed right at the entrance to the living room, alongside vases and jars from the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty and the Ming dynasty. Where this Nghê has ended up now is unknown.
Thus, the Nghê is a purely Vietnamese guardian spirit, created to protect the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people. The Nghê is often seen in ceramic objects.
Distinguishing the Nghê from the Lân (Vietnamese Unicorn)
The Nghê is a special guardian spirit of Vietnamese culture, whereas the Lân belongs to Chinese culture. In terms of appearance, the Lân looks like a lion but has a horn, legs like a buffalo's, a round, plump body, scales like a dragon's, and a mouth holding a ball, or it sits with its paw resting on a ball. The Nghê has a mane but no horn, a slender, refined body, legs like a dog's, a graceful posture, clearly dog-like rather than round and plump like a lion. The Nghê's tail is long, flipping up onto its back; the Lân's tail is short, spreading out like a bird's wing or curled up like a rabbit's tail.
The Golden Age of the Nghê
During the centuries of Chinese domination, when the Chinese did everything to destroy Vietnamese culture – confiscating, destroying, and banning the making of bronze drums, forcing Vietnamese to adopt Chinese surnames (which is why ancient Vietnamese surnames like Thi (Thi Sach) and Trung (Trung Trac) no longer exist) – did our ancestors still create the stone dog and Nghê imagery? Observing the customs of the highland people, we see that the dog remains a very important animal in rural life. So, who can definitively say that the stone dog and the Nghê did not originate in ancient times? However, we have not yet had the good fortune to see images or artifacts of the Nghê from these ancient times. It is hoped that someone with adequate resources will undertake excavations, research, and discover traces of the Nghê from the distant past.
After Ngo Quyen restored independence, after Dinh Bo Linh and Le Hoan reorganized order in our country, the Ly, Tran, and later Le dynasties succeeded, rebuilding a brilliant and rich pure Vietnamese culture. Beginning with Ly Thai To moving the capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long, the Vietnamese people were imbued with a surge of national spirit. Similar to the Hung King era, from this point onwards, Vietnamese literature, society, politics, and plastic arts flourished brilliantly, combining the national essence with Chinese and Indian influences to create a pure Vietnamese culture, parallel and distinct from Chinese culture. In this brilliant cultural context, with the flourishing of Vietnamese artworks and creations, the development of communal house and pagoda architecture, and the rise of the nobility and wealthy classes, there was an increasing demand for ritual objects, daily items, and display pieces. This scene and these needs led to immense developments in the plastic arts. Spiritual and material needs were met by the hands and minds of Vietnamese artisans, who were always ardently creative. Countless new architectural structures, palaces, and communal houses with purely Vietnamese curved roofs were built. Vietnamese ceramics flourished, synthesizing Chinese techniques and glaze colors with entirely Vietnamese forms, motifs, and styles. From this period came the vases, pots, bowls, plates... the Ly White, Ly Brown, Ly Green, Ly Black wares, the celadon wares, transitioning to the wonderful white and blue wares of the Tran and Le dynasties, produced in great quantities. Then, in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries came the era of Chu Dau ceramics, the peak of Vietnamese pottery, with countless items exported to Persia, the Malay Archipelago, the Philippines, Japan... (Chu Dau incense burner, 16th-17th century. Image from Vietnam Ceramics: A Separate Tradition, John Guy and John Stevenson, Avery Press 1997).
Based on the quantity and quality of Nghê statues in museums and private collections, we see that the golden age of the Nghê was from the Ly dynasty to the end of the Tay Son dynasty (11th to 18th centuries). Throughout the Ly dynasty, the Nghê was revered everywhere, from humble village homes to imperial palaces, castles, communal houses, pagodas, mausoleums, and shrines... Towards the end of the Le dynasty, during the Trinh-Nguyen civil war, the country entered 300 years of turmoil, but Vietnamese culture did not wither; on the contrary, it grew stronger in all aspects (poetry, architecture, wood carving, ceramics...). Throughout these eight centuries, incense burners, wine flasks, and statues of the Nghê were indispensable items in places of worship, in the homes of the wealthy, and in commoners' houses.
A Few Typical Nghê Images
Nghê Statue: Based on the glaze base, glaze color, and clay body, we can determine this is a Ly dynasty work (11th-12th century). This Nghê is 36cm high, made of terracotta with a brown glaze. The applied details are extremely refined. The Nghê looks lively and majestic, as if it could leap forward to drive away evil spirits instantly. The Nghê's face is short. Its body is slender and long, very elegant. Its neck wears a string of bells with tassels, held straight up. The fur along its spine stands up like a row of fins, running from the top of its head to its tail. The Nghê's legs are slender but straight and strong; the hind legs are in a sitting position, the thigh muscles look firm and powerful; the two front legs are propped up high, with curled fur at the knees. The eyes are large, the mouth is wide, the nose is big; the Nghê's mouth is slightly open, revealing sharp fangs, as if ready to chase away evil spirits. The Nghê's ears are large. The Nghê's fur is smooth against its body, with engraved lines curving from the spine down towards the belly, resembling a dog's markings. (Ly Dynasty Nghê Statue – Bui Ngoc Tuan Collection).
Nghê-shaped Wine Flask: We present images of two Nghê-shaped wine flasks, one brown and one black. The Nghê's form and sitting posture are similar to the description above, although the details are not as sharp. The Nghê sits atop a wine container with a round top and a cylindrical base. The Nghê's body is hollow; on its back is a flared spout for pouring wine in (the lid for this opening is missing, so we don't know if it was made of fired clay, wood, or rolled leaves). Wine is poured out from a long spout extending from the flask's body, resembling a stake with a chain tethering the Nghê. (Two Ly Dynasty Nghê-shaped Wine Flasks – Bui Ngoc Tuan Collection).
Nghê-shaped Incense Burner: The glaze color, glaze base, clay body, and firing temperature of these incense burners indicate they are works from the Chu Dau period (16th-18th centuries), not from the Ly or Tran dynasties. The incense burner consists of two parts: the lower part is a small rectangular box, which is the chamber for burning the agarwood. The upper part is the lid. The lid is a Nghê sitting on a flat surface that fits perfectly over the lower part. The Nghê's body is hollow, so when the agarwood is burned, the smoke from the lower box passes through the Nghê's body and exits from its slightly open mouth, creating a very solemn effect. Because the agarwood burns in the sealed lower box, with smoke only escaping through the Nghê's mouth, it burns very slowly, releasing just enough fragrant smoke to fill the space with sanctity while lasting for a long session. (Chu Dau Period Nghê Incense Burner, 16th-17th Century. Image from Vietnam Ceramics: A Separate Tradition, John Guy and John Stevenson, Avery Press 1997).
There are also some incense bowls made around the 13th-14th centuries featuring a dog instead of a Nghê. These are incense bowls shaped like half a bowl, half a plate, with a dog statue sitting in the center. Incense sticks are placed horizontally across the rim of the bowl, resting on the dog's head. (Nghê Incense Bowl. Image from Vietnam Ceramics: A Separate Tradition, John Guy and John Stevenson, Avery Press 1997). Another type consists of two parts; the lower part was likely also used for burning agarwood, with the smoke passing through the dog statue sitting in the middle and exiting from its mouth. When agarwood was not being burned, incense sticks could also be placed resting on the dog's head.
(Source: vhttdlkv3.gov.vn)