Honoring the beauty of lotus in Vietnamese cultural life

The seminar was held to honor the beauty and value of lotus flowers in the cultural life of Vietnamese people, contributing to preserving and promoting the traditional cultural values of the capital. On this occasion, many activities took place at the Hanoi Museum such as: Fashion collection performance with lotus theme, lotus tea party, lotus cuisine...

At the seminar, cultural researchers and scientists clarified the beauty and value of lotus in Vietnamese cultural life, lotus in fine arts, lotus in poetry, as well as the preservation and promotion of Vietnamese cultural heritage values through the image of lotus.

TS Trần Đoàn Lâm (bên trái) và PGS.TS Nguyễn Minh Thái (ở giữa) chia sẻ tại tọa đàm

Dr. Tran Doan Lam (left) and Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Minh Thai (middle) shared at the seminar

Sharing some of her research and observations on lotus in the spiritual and cultural life as well as the material life of Vietnamese people, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Minh Thai said that she once spent time learning how to make lotus tea at a famous family with a long tradition of making lotus tea in West Lake, Hanoi and she was extremely surprised at the values that lotus brings to people.

"Lotus has both material and spiritual significance in Vietnamese life. In terms of material, lotus flowers, lotus leaves, lotus roots, lotus shoots, lotus seeds... are all widely used in life, especially lotus flowers are used to flavor tea, creating a sophisticated and attractive culinary form. Hanoi has the famous West Lake lotus, which is beautiful and fragrant, and is an attractive place for tourists every lotus blooming season. In terms of spiritual value, lotus flowers belong to the East, belong to aesthetics and are symbols of Buddhism. Therefore, lotus flowers are present in daily life, close to the lives of Vietnamese people" - Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Thai shared.

Researcher Tran Hau Yen The (left) and Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Tam - Director of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Conservation Support Fund (middle) shared at the discussion.

Besides, Dr. Tran Doan Lam said: "Lotus is an endless source of inspiration for artists, lotus brings popular artistic and literary images to Vietnamese poetry. Lotus is associated with beauty, love for the homeland, is a symbol of Vietnamese people, especially Vietnamese women in both body and personality, so there are many folk songs that use the image of lotus to describe the beauty of women. Lotus also has noble qualities, is highly philosophical, contains philosophical concepts of both space and time".

In terms of visual arts, lotus flowers have also been chosen by many cultures of countries to incorporate into their artistic and religious lives. In Vietnam, in all regions, lotus flowers have been the inspiration for many types of creative art from the past to the present. Lotus flowers are present in architecture from the Ly, Tran, Le, and Nguyen dynasties. Lotus works are carved and shaped by the skillful hands of craftsmen. To this day, this mark is still present in many treasures, relics of communal houses, pagodas, mausoleums, shrines, etc.

Possessing many cultural values and having great significance for Vietnamese people, the preservation and promotion of Vietnamese cultural heritage values through the lotus image is of interest to many organizations and individuals. In particular, Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Tam - Head of the Fund for Supporting the Preservation of Vietnamese Cultural Heritage has many collections of lotus in Vietnamese life.

Within the framework of the discussion, the public also got to admire the lotus-inspired ao dai fashion show by designer Viet Phuong.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Thanh Tam, the mark of lotus in Vietnamese cultural life is very clear. Lotus is closely associated with people in all stages of life. Lotus motifs are very common in costumes and architecture. Lotus is very rich in paintings and cuisine of Vietnamese people...

For Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Tam, coming to lotus is a fate. During a trip back to the source in July to Quang Tri, looking at the lotus ponds that were almost gone, she had very special feelings. After returning to Hanoi, with the support of the Photo Department of the News Agency, she successfully organized a photo contest about lotus, attracting thousands of works. These are valuable documents. The more you research about lotus, the more you will see that this is an attractive topic. Up to now, she has organized 6-7 exhibitions of lotus in Vietnamese cultural life but still feels that it is possible to organize many more exhibitions as well as photography competitions on this topic...

The ao dai designs are in a modern style but still retain their traditional features.

Within the framework of the discussion, the audience also had the opportunity to admire the Ao Dai fashion show inspired by lotus flowers by designer Viet Phuong. The Ao Dai designs were designed in a modern style but still did not lose their traditional features. The collection presented at this event is the clearest symbol of the beauty of Vietnamese women. Each Ao Dai in the collection brings to the audience beautiful aspects of Vietnamese cultural life. The lotus image on each Ao Dai represents the smallness, resilience but no less elegance of Vietnamese women./.

According to THUONG NGUYEN (To Quoc Electronic Newspaper)

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