INFORMATION ABOUT THE PAINTING OF THE VIETNAMESE YOUNG WOMEN Material: Engraved lacquer - Size: 70 x 90 cm Adapted from the Hang Trong folk painting style. Belongs to the Four-Panel painting genre (consisting of 4 paintings), depicting 4 Vietnamese young women in traditional attire, with their hair styled in ponytails, wearing five-panel dresses, and each standing with a different gesture: playing the two-stringed fiddle, the pipa, the moon lute, and the flute. Each possesses a unique beauty and facial expression reflecting the soul of a Vietnamese young woman of the past. There is a folk tale about the Bich Cau encounter related to the painting of the young women. The story tells that during the reign of Le Thanh Tong, there was a scholar named Tran Tu Uyen. While visiting Cau Dong market, he was captivated by the painting of the young women and bought it, bringing it home to hang in his study. At each meal, he would set out two bowls and two pairs of chopsticks, inviting the young women to eat with him, occasionally chatting and treating them as if they were real people. One day, Tu Uyen returned from school and found the meal already prepared. The next day, he pretended to leave, but secretly returned and waited in a hidden spot. Indeed, the beautiful woman in the painting appeared as a real person... The poet Ho Xuan Huong wrote a poem inscribed on the painting of the beautiful woman: "How old are you, my dear girl? You are beautiful, and I am beautiful too. We are like a blank sheet of paper, our youthful beauty will last a thousand years. The plum blossom dares not love the moon and wind, the willow tree must accept its fragile fate. Why not depict that other pleasure? Blame the painter for being so heartless."
