Vietnam Travel > Travel Special Features > Marvelous Carvings
Marvelous Carvings
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Art was imbued with fresh creative spirit in places like Ha Bac as well. In pagodas and communal houses, out of the dark appeared vivid images of deer, horses and elephants postures popular and mischievous. The deer in Tho Ha or Lo Hanh communal houses were moving forward with their heads turned back. The deer on the bricks of the Hundred Room Pagoda had long horns and carried an S character. Both the deer and horses seemed to be racing against time. In Tay Dang communal house, horses even appeared winged, coming as a surprise to researchers who previously believed that the Pegasus played no role in Vietnamese popular art.
The tiger was also a preferential theme. The tiger was suitable for rulers because it was regarded as a king with supernatural powers, and a threat to humans. However, tigers created under the Mac period looked lovable and mischievous like cats.
The tigers carved in So Pagoda (Ha Tay) had huge heads, straight hind legs as well as bending and one rising foreleg. Tigers carved in the Hundred Room Pagoda were of 3 different styles, including walking, fleeing and standing with its head perked up. The ferocity of traditional tigers was hardly present here.
Even such huge animals as elephants were made more approachable. In the Hundred Rooms Pagoda, elephants and horses were depicted running together. And at Tay Dang communal house, elephants are carved working the fields like buffalo. They seemed to be smiling, turning back their heads with their trunks rolling tusks pointing proudly skyward and four legs flying up from the ground.
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