This book is a history of the development of the arts of Việt Nam in the dynastic era. It begins in 1009 in the Lý dynasty and ends 30 August 1945, the day King Bảo Đại the last king of the Nguyễn dynasty abdicated. In 11 chapters it features the arts of the Kinh majority: architecture, sculpture, stone and woodcarvings, metalcrafts, lacquercraft, furniture, ceramics, inlay work, woodblock printing, and painting; with a broader spectrum in the last dynasty. It is an exploration that travels from the heartland in the north to the far south and in that sense this single volume is a pioneering publication. It follows a chronological format; each chapter deals with a different dynasty except for the last, which occupies three; each begins with a brief history intended to anchor to some degree the whys and wherefores of developments. In essence the book is a journey through time and place, encountering the arts of generations of artisans and artists, learning how they responded to the dictates of each dynasty and its circumstances. The text is supported by over three hundred illustrations. While this account fulfils the long overdue need for a publation on the development of the arts it should also appeal to those interested in the country’s culture and its history.
The state of Việt Nam first emerged approximately 2,700 years ago in a tiny, watery realm on the eastern seaboard of continental Asia. It was home to a brilliant Bronze Age civilization (seventh century BCE to second century CE) known as the Đông Sơn culture. At the beginning of the first millennium of the Christian era it was challenged by an expanding China and a long resistance followed. When the Chinese yoke was finally thrown off a succession of independent but brief rules were proclaimed but the Lý dynasty is the first of any gravity and longevity, and thus the subject of the first chapter. By 1802, the founding year of the last dynasty, the shape of the country had radically changed to a coastline 3,451 km long and at its narrowest only 60 km wide, crossing temperate and tropical climatic zones. It was girt on its west by a limestone mountain chain and on its east by the East Sea (South China Sea). In the north the Red, Mã, and Cả rivers, and in the south the Mekong, all carry alluvial soils to river deltas, creating at its northern and southern poles fertile food bowls. In the central region numerous parallel rivers water narrow fertile coastal plains; they alternate with often rocky terrain and foreshores encroached by sand. Its long seaboard is dotted with good harbours often protected by clusters of small offshore islands.
Archaeology and textual accounts reveal this southern land was home to earlier cultures: Sa Huỳnh (fifth century BCE to second century CE), Óc Eo (fifth century BCE to sixth century CE), and Linyi (Champa) (second century CE to seventeenth century CE). Ports famous in different epochs attracted traders interested in the valuable flora and fauna of its hinterland, offered venues for economic and intercultural exchanges, and a conduit for new ideas via complex trading networks that extended from the Mediterranean Sea to East Asia. In recent decades maritime archaeology has brought new evidence about this.
Ngôn ngữ: tiếng Anh
Khổ sách: 19,5 x 25,5cm
Số trang: 302 trang
