Do Ho painting with the full name Dong Ho woodcut painting is a famous sort of Vietnamese ancient art form of woodblock printing coming from Dong Ho village. This traditional craft village is located in Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province. Each picture of Dong Ho village represents a traditional aesthetic value, social philosophies, and humanitarian desires of Vietnamese people.
The unique features
Check Vietnam Tourist Information, tourists can find out that Dong Ho painting is generated from numerous types of natural materials that easily found in every village in Vietnam. Apart from the beauty of lines and layouts, the unique feature of Dong Ho picture also represents for its color and paper.
Dong Ho painting is printed in a special kind of Dzo paper (Giay Do). The paper is made from the bark of Do tree that is thin, soft, spongy and absorbent, then, coated with Ho Diep – the a mixture of ground oyster shells to bring a sparkling white background and steamed glutinous rice powder liquid to make the paper more supple and able to conserve colors for a long time. After being coated with Ho Diep, the Dzo papers will be dried under the sunlight for a while. Then, they will be scraped and polished to make sure that they are will not lumpy by climate change.
The colors of Dong Ho painting are also handmade and taken from materials available in nature. The black color is derived from the ash of burned bamboo leaves; the red is from ochre; the yellow is created from hibiscus, the green is from cajuput leaves. Moreover, to make more colors, the Dong Ho makers also use copper rust for the blue, pine resin for amber, and crushed egg shells mixed with paste for white. Thanks to divers colors and vivid patterns, the whole Vietnamese villages seem to be is replayed striking and lively.
The meaning of Dong Ho Folk Paintings
Dong Ho folk paintings were first created in the 17th century in Dong Ho village. There are four main themes of Dong Ho woodcut paintings. Each theme tells a story about good luck wishes, mythical and historical figures, folk allegories and popular stories, social activities and commentaries of the wet rice agriculture residents.
However, this kind of paintings has strong vitality and special attraction to Vietnamese and tourist of Vietnam package Tours for its simplicity and animated reflection of real life and of people dreaming of a better, happier life.
Dong Ho painting used to be a precious decoration to celebrate on occasion of Tet holiday – the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, from a long time ago. In the Vietnamese concept, the paintings represent the wish for prosperity, happiness and luck in the New Year. Therefore, the people bought Dong Ho pictures to hang them on their wall when a new year was coming. The contents of those pictures are often humorous and optimistic which bright and bright and powerful colors such as red, yellow, and white.
Book a trip on Tour in Vietnam to the village, you will have a chance to learn more about the ancient art form of woodblock printing, to talk with old craftsmen about the origin as well as the process of making those paintings.
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