Behind the making of Celebrate Tet Like Our Great Grandparents
There was a funny story during the making of our video when I saw the wings on the back of Hanh khien (the deity who watches the Earth each year). At that time, I wondered if that was the result of the artist’s personal creativity, like the angel wings in Western culture. It turns out that such wings are parts of a kind of attire in Nguyen Dynasty. The deity’s clothing was created based on the formal attire of officials in Nguyen Dynasty, we can look at 3 main features: the Yuanlingshan (圓領衫), the Mandarin Square (補子) and the Futou (襆頭). Yuanlingshan is a kind of gown with buttoned round collar. In China, Yuanlingshan had appeared in Tang Dynasty and became popular in Ming Dynasty, especially used as formal attire for officials. This kind of gown had influence on the official clothing of Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam and also on the gwanbok in Korea. On the front and back of Yuanlingshan worn by officials, there was often a square embroidery (Mandarin square), each rank had its clearly defined patterns. Futou is a headwear with the higher part in the back to contain the chignon and two wing-like parts on both sides. About the wings, in fact they were called “Phu hau” – the parts appended with the gown according to Ming Dynasty’s regulation, then applied by Nguyen Dynasty in Vietnam.
(Image was a result of creativity, cannot be considered as a specific attire in Nguyen Dynasty) Art by Dang Thien References: Ngàn năm áo mũ, thetangdynasty.org, hancouture.ntdtv
