The Expression of Vietnamese Folk Art in the Painting Series “Technique du Peuple Annamite”

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Introduction

Vietnam has a long historical cultural tradition and an identity of national art. The characteristics of the land and the regional climate associated with working life have created unique characteristics of people, who live in the Northern Delta. However, the late 19th and early 20th centuries was an important milestone in the process of exchange and acculturation of Vietnamese culture when Vietnam becomes a colony of France. In 1907, young French scholar Henri Joseph Oger first came to Hanoi, with curiosity and a desire to discover the material civilization and culture of the Annamese people. With his efforts, along with Vietnamese artisans, Henri Oger completed his unique research project which is the collection of illustrations “Technique du peuple Annamite” (The Mechanics and Crafts of the People of Annam).

As we can see, the function of illustrations is to clarify a story or a topic that is concretized by drawing, using visual language such as lines, colors, shapes, and layouts. This can make the content to be conveyed clearer and more vivid. In the “Technique du peuple Annamite” (TA), these illustrations have a different function, since it is an ethnographic research. As usual in this type of research, the authors collect data verbally. Illustrations are only a supplement to the data collected, and only a small part of it. This is consistent with the TA in the corpus (written), which is vocabulary data of An Nam people's daily life, including 159 pages with 32 illustrations [Nguyen Quang Minh et al. 2012]. Meanwhile, TA focuses on visual descriptions. The majority of this work consists of illustrations, including 700 pages with 4577 illustrations. Unlike the usual illustration categories, the drawings in the TA are not arranged according to the theme or order of the recorded data. The amount of text is small, and the main role is to clarify the meaning of the drawings. This is the unique difference of the TA Illustration Collection.

The aesthetic value of TA has demonstrated this collection of paintings as a typical visual art book of the Vietnamese people. The main visual language of TA is the strokes to describe the images, characters and contexts in the paintings, which reflect the material and spiritual cultural life of the people in Hanoi and surrounding areas in northern Vietnam. Using only simple, rustic but sophisticated drawings and engravings, artisans have recreated a realistic and vivid picture of Vietnamese society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The purpose of this study is to explore the elements that express the folk characters of the TA painting collection from the perspective of visual arts. The results of the research will be presented from the themes to the visual art elements of the collection.

Literature review

As mentioned above, the TA painting collection is a project presenting cultural and social issues of people, who lived in the Northern Delta in the early twentieth century. In particular, the aesthetic value of the paintings and engravings was highly appreciated.

The TA painting collection has attracted the attention of domestic and foreign artists and researchers. In 1970, Pierre Huard published “The Pioneer of Vietnamese Engineering, Henri Oger (1885–1936)” in Beffeo (printed in Vietnamese) [Huard 1970]. The article summarizes Henri Oger's biography, his research plans and his scientific desire to study Vietnamese material civilization and its sociological aspects. In particular, the author also mentions the difficulties that Henri Oger and the Vietnamese artisans encountered when printing TA in bad weather conditions and when they had to improvise using traditional printing techniques: “After countless difficulties (especially the inability to put engraved boards under the printing press's rollers) in the middle of a hot summer, people had to use techniques from China and Vietnam, that is, is to use a hammer to pound sheets of paper made by Buoi village paper workers onto wooden carving boards” [Huard 1970: 200]. This is the evidence that shows the people in the creation and production process, from wood carving to printing by Vietnamese artisans.

In 2008, two researchers, Olivier Tessier and Philippe Le Failler, wrote about this topic in “Henri Oger's work "Technique du peuple Annamite" - The Beginning of Technical Anthropology in Northern Vietnam”, an article printed in the Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Vietnamese Studies [Tessier et al. 2008]. This article introduces Henri Oger's unique research and emphasizes the pioneering role of the original of his research.

The “Dictionnaire de l'ethnologie et de l'anthropologie” (Dictionary of Ethnology and Anthropology) by Pierre Bonte and Michel Izard (editors) also wrote about the method of collecting data for the TA painting collection, with a focus on gestures through the sketch series of the different activities of craftsmen or artisans when “using a tool or operating a primitive machine” [Bonte & Izard 1992:699].

Researchers have also conducted and published many studies on this topic in Vietnam. The book "Vietnamese Sketches of the Early 20th Century" (1988) presented 196 engravings by Henri Oger and other authors [Nguyen Manh Hung 1989]. Then, Nguyen Manh Hung also researched the topic of “Vietnamese society in the late 19th century – early 20th century through the work "Technique du Peuple Annamite" (Techniques of the An Nam people) by Henri Oger” in his doctoral thesis in history [Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng 1996].

Authors Phan Cam Thuong, Le Quoc Viet and Cung Khac Luoc have provided general information about ancient Vietnamese graphic art, Henri Oger and the TA painting collection, and the artisan who made the TA in the book “Vietnamese Ancient Graphics” [15. Phan Cẩm Thượng, Lê Quốc Việt, Cung Khắc Lược 1999].

In 1988, the book “Woodcuts of the early 20th century” provided accurate and concise information about the context of its creation and Henri Oger's biography, the artisans involved and the process of making the TA painting collection. The important role of TA in the transition from folk art to modern art is once again emphasized in the book “Modern Vietnamese Woodblock Printing Graphics” [Hoàng Minh Phúc 2015].

Besides, the Encyclopedia of Intellectuals magazine under the Vietnam Social Science Committee (1985) introduced 351 drawings in “Encyclopedia of Paintings – Excerpt from the Encyclopedia of Vietnamese Material Culture - Unknown artist painted in the early 20th century” [Ủy ban khoa học xã hội Việt Nam 1958: 18]; the article “Revisiting the value of a collection of paintings in the early 20th century” in the Journal of Cultural and Arts Research affirmed the uniqueness of the TA, because of the combination of Vietnamese folk style with Western working methods and organization [Quốc Anh 1998]; The two authors Nguyen Quang Minh and Nguyen Mong Hung in the article “Major publications written about the book "Technique du peuple annamite"” reviewed the publications and research works on the TA. The authors also provided critical opinions and corrections related to errors in some articles and research works of previous authors [Nguyễn Quảng Minh, Nguyễn Mộng Hưng 2012].

From the study of domestic and foreign researchers mentioned above, we can see that TA has a visual artistic and cultural value. Vietnamese artisans have created and expressed themselves beyond conventional illustration. However, the visual art of TA has not been systematically studied, especially the unique folk visual style of Vietnamese people. Based on these assessments, the study focuses on clarifying the expression of folklore in TA through the lens of visual art.

This study is conducted based on an interdisciplinary approach, focusing on artistic studies methods to achieve the research goal and exploring the elements that express the folk aspect of the TA through the visual art perspective.

In this study, the artistic method is applied to classify engravings according to the level of the visual elements and principles. The study examined and evaluated all 4,577 illustrations of the TA, then selected and synthesized illustrations that represent the evaluation points of the visual design and folk character of the painting collection (Table 1). This study did not statistically classify the paintings into groups of occupations as previous studies. This creates a new perspective on the approaches and research methods of the TA painting collection.

Table 1. Visual art elements in the painting set “Technique du peuple Annamite”

Results and discussion

An overview of “Technique du peuple annamite”

With the messages conveyed through the visual language of the TA, the term "Technique" should be understood openly, including production, manipulation techniques and cultural quintessence in the daily life of Vietnamese people in the early twentieth century.

“Technique du peuple annamite” was made during Henri Oger's first visit to Indochina, when he stayed in Hanoi for about 20 months. During his two years of work in Vietnam (1908–1909), traditional life and culture held a special attraction for Henri Oger [Huard 1970]. He conducted field research on the “material civilized” life of the Vietnamese people and on sociological aspects, making statistics and lists on a large scale since there was a lack of social and ethnographic research in Vietnam at that time [Tessier & Philippe 2008]. With passion and scientific spirit, the scholar Henri Oger and a Vietnamese artist sketched and reflected the daily life of the people of Hanoi, from production and trade activities to entertainment and customs.

 “Technique du peuple annamite” was made by Vietnamese artisans

The TA was drawn, engraved and printed by Vietnamese artisans using traditional manual engraving and printing methods. They were the next generation of artisan guilds originating from two traditional craft villages, Hong Luc and Lieu Trang, Hai Duong province, who participated in making Dong Ho and Hang Trong folk paintings [Hitchcock, Nguyen & Wesner 2010 ].

The TA confirms that the contribution of artisans in the An Nam region is very significant in the context of the French occupation. Through the works in the TA, it can be seen that Vietnamese artisans are not just workers, but they demonstrate a serious working spirit and high craftsmanship [Dinh 2016]. The paintings in the TA have similarities with folk art, which is the refinement of lines, the harmony of composition, the convention of space and form, along with the simplicity of expression.

Method of collecting data to create “Technique du peuple annamite”

To collect data for his research, Henri Oger used the main method of fieldwork, taking direct notes in words and drawings of research objects. Some research subjects were recorded through the stories of the people or the experiences of the craftsmen directly involved. In addition, the craftsman also has to redraw according to his own memory and experience. After completion, these drawings were also edited according to indigenous people's comments [Huard 1970]. The method of collecting data also contributes to creating a folk character in the TA with two main methods as follows.

– Field collecting/drawing method: Under the direction of Henri Oger, the artist drew directly on paper in the field they visited. In particular, there were a large number of paintings redrawing folk, historical and religious paintings. This theme is strongly influenced by the folk painting style. In the process of redrawing these objects, to some extent, the craftsman was also influenced by the visual style of features of traditional Vietnamese visual art such as layouts, spaces, shapes and lines.

– Memory drawing method: This drawing style contains subjective elements, aesthetic thinking and visual style of the craftsman. Among the thousands of paintings in all areas of social life, some of them were redrawn by the artist's memory, for example, scenes of thieves climbing walls and hunting. Following this method, it requires a high level of experience, visual thinking and drawing skills of artisans

Folk art is expressed through the visual elements of “Technique du peuple annamite”

Visual art elements: Layout

The layout of the paintings in the TA is usually with traditional forms and in rectangular or square frames. However, the shape structure is calculated to suit the movements of the characters in each work. They are drawn in single, double, parallel, or spread layouts. Therefore, the layout with additional Chinese characters in each work is calculated to suit each layout in each painting. However, not all of them are arranged with additional text, which shows the convenience of TA layout. The text on the painting plays an important role in clarifying the meaning of the painting. It also plays a role in making the composition of each painting more solid and expressing a cultural characteristic of the indigenous people.

Despite the fact that Henri Oger introduced the necessity of arrangement according to large thematic groups and the logic of technical processes, the actual arrangement of the engravings on the set of paintings is completely different from this view. The arrangement here does not follow the order of the documents collected in the field. Moreover, the drawings should be printed in the order of the numbers written next to them, but Henri Oger printed many drawings with different contents on one sheet of paper, not in numerical order. It seems that he was only concerned with arranging the drawings so that they would fill a printed page. The authors Olivier Tessier and Philippe Le Failler commented on this arrangement of the series of drawings as follows:

“This messy arranging, whether intentional or due to technical constraints, does not cause difficulties in searching. On the contrary, it honestly reflects the diversity of an extremely rich folk culture nurtured by a seemingly limitless ingenuity” [Tessier & Philippe 2008: 214].

It is this arrangement that makes the viewer feel as if he is discovering the TA for the first time as he turns each page and begins to feel something new.

The layout in each painting is arranged according to convention, the inner layer is far away, the outer layer is near, and the main characters are always drawn larger. Although the Eastern method of expressing conventional perspective does not depict things according to visual laws, it still evokes a sense of time, space and distance. Artisans combine drawings to fill one printed page. The combination of drawings does not depend on the subject content and serial number but on the size of the drawings. Most printed pages are composed of 3 to 4 drawings (Figure 1), not including paintings with multiple characters. This is the reason why the engravings on a painting page are not arranged according to thematic content and in the correct numbered order in the drawings.

Fig.1. Combine 3 to 4 drawings with a vertical rectangular layout to fit the printed page [Oger 2009]

In the 2009 edition of An Nam People's Techniques, engravings such as “Cửa hiệu tạp hóa” (Dry goods store), “Bán gạo” (Rice selling) and “Phố An Nam” (Annam Street) were compiled to express the vivid picture of Vietnamese society in the early twentieth century [Oger 2009]. The engravings are simplified and concise, giving the painting a clear layout. In addition, the characters all interact with each other according to their fields.

Visual art elements: Spaces

The spatial element in TA also has strong elements of folk art, similar to the space in Dong Ho, and Hang Trong paintings. With the conventions of space, the paintings give a sense of spatial depth. For example, the painting "Gánh đồ lễ cưới" (Transporting wedding gifts) shows a group of five characters carrying wedding gifts (Figure 2a). The painting "Kéo quả lăn" (Rolling earth) depicts the image of a farmer and a buffalo pulling a stone roller to pull rice. The layout overlaps, the next layer is hidden by the previous one, and the stone shaft hanging on the buffalo's head looks illogical, but still allows the viewer to understand the activity of Northern farmers in a productive labor context (Figure 2b). This is also the layout that creates a conventional space of Vietnamese folk art.

Fig. 2. a) Transporting wedding gifts; b) Rolling earth; and c) Fencing [Oger 2009]

Meanwhile, the painting “Đấu kiếm” (Fencing) (Figure 2c) is a case of conventional space but does not follow the visual rules. This leads to absurdity in the proportions and arrangement of the characters on the surface of the painting.       The “coexisting” space in the folk art style is also used by artists in many paintings with specific thematic content. The figures are given equal attention and are arranged to cover one side of the paper to show activities taking place at the same time, even with completely independent content, independent of scale and distance. This spatial arrangement is clearly shown in “The street” (Figure 3a), “The market” (Figure 3b).

Fig. 3. a) The street and b) The market [Oger 2009]

To represent a certain spatial context, artisans do not describe it in very detail, but in very general and representative visual languages. Just a few promontories of land to represent the edge of the field, a few wavy lines to represent the surface of a lake, pond, or ditch, or a few plants to represent what is happening in the bushes and forests.

Fig. 4. a) Rice sowing and b) Help for the drowning [Oger 2009]

The painting “Gieo mạ” (Rice sowing) (Figure 4a) shows the character in a moving position. To represent this activity taking place in the field, the artisans used short curved lines and small dots to depict the promontories and grass bushes at the edge of the field. This is also shown in the painting “Cứu người chết đuối” (Help for the drowning) (Figure 4b) with a few simple lines. The artists used simple visual languages but achieved high visual effects.

Visual art elements: Shapes

In creating folk paintings or carving communal houses, artisans depict things in space according to their understanding and perception, without visual rules. Therefore, their drawings give the audience a feeling of connection and familiarity. According to the opinion of folk artisans when creating their works, drawings need “to be stylized”, “to catch a moving figure” and it is important to achieve the “spirit” [Trương Minh Hằng 2011:1231]. The same goes for the TA, the visual languages are created from a highly generalized line system, no coloring, no dark or light spots, and the drawings are built from practical activities in daily life. Like the layout elements, the form and shape elements of the TA are very conventional. The body shapes of the characters are not constrained by actual proportions, but focus mainly on describing the characters' activities and expressions. On the other hand, the body shape is also enlarged or reduced according to the content to attract the viewer's attention. For example, in the painting "Bà đỡ xoa bóp cho sản phụ" (Midwife massaging a woman to give birth), the body proportions between the midwife and the pregnant woman showed a major difference (Figure 5a). Perhaps the mother figure is the main focus of the painting, so the craftsman intentionally drew her many times larger than the midwife. This creates an interesting absurdity in the painting. The painting "Trò chơi trẻ con" (Games of young children) shows four characters with similar proportions and clothes (Figure 5b). It is a drawing of four children playing together a traditional folk game of Making Tiger and Catching Pigs. Although a closed system of strokes has been simplified in this picture, the picture is not monotonous because of the posture and movements of the characters participating in the game.

Fig. 5. a) Midwife massaging a woman to give birth; b) Games of young children and c) An argument among the blind [Oger 2009]

From a folk art perspective, the shape of the characters clearly shows that the artists do not pay attention to the structure of the human body, but only focus on the movements in specific contexts. The painting “Người mù cãi nhau” (An argument among the blind) shows two blind women arguing with very characteristic and vivid poses (Figure 5c). The artists captured the most intense part of the argument. The two women wave their arms in different positions. If we look closely, we can see that under the clothes, the arms, wrists, and elbows of these figures are conventionally drawn, with unclear structure and proportion. The wrinkles on the outer sleeves are also shown unrealistically, disrupting the structure of the arms. However, the lively poses of the characters may help us forget the absurdity of the physical structure. This is also a typical characteristic element of folk art painting.

Visual art elements: Lines

The main visual language in the TA is the element of lines since the characteristic of illustrations is the use of lines. The drawings are expressed in a rustic, simple, evocative and descriptive way according to theme, but without losing the accuracy of the content. The paintings do not use dark or light spots and colors. The line system is still closed, such as the “single line drawing” style, single lines on flat and mono-color, a popular drawing style in Oriental art, often seen in Dong Ho folk paintings (Figure 6).

Fig. 6. Scene of catching coconuts (Hứng dừa) – Đông Hồ paintings

Lines, one of the visual art elements in the TA, can express a character's emotions and personality in a traditional way. The different lines in the painting emphasize the theme and quality of the paintings. Most of the paintings show this kind of folk art, for example, the paintings “Bán đũa” (The chopstick seller), “Bổ cau phơi” (Preparation of areca nuts), “Dệt lĩnh” (Silk weaver), “Tát cá” (Dry out a pond to catch fishes), và “Hái dâu nuôi tằm” (Picking mulberry flowers) [Oger 2009].  

Lines express a rhythm for the movement of the figure

As can be seen, one of the typical characteristics of lines in folk art is the potential creating the rhythm in the painting. Among many paintings that demonstrate this, the typical painting is “Tát gầu giai” (Irrigation). It shows two characters splashing water in a dynamic pose (Figure 7a). The carving is simple, generally covering the form. The skillful combination of carvings makes the painting not boring and monotonous, but creates the rhythm of movement working with rudimentary tools.

Fig. 7. a) Irrigation; b) Drying incense sticks; and c) Trampling rice [Oger:2009]

In the painting “Phơi hương” (Drying incense sticks) three female figures are depicted in three different positions beside the drying rack (Figure 7b). Three figures in a triangular arrangement with very lively poses, in separate positions but with close connection, expressing the rhythm of the painting. The straight lines of the drying rack and the incense sticks combine with the curves of the three women, creating harmony and flexibility in rhythm and composition. The painting “Vò thóc” (Trampling rice) is one of the unique and beautiful paintings due to the choice of viewing direction and the way of expressing the character's activities (Figure 7c). The painting depicts two characters in the same posture, holding onto a bamboo frame to husk rice. The two standing poses of the farmer repeat seemingly monotonous positions, but they create a contrast between the background and the movement. It can help the audience focus more on the rhythmic movement of the two farmers.

Lines express materials

Compared to other traditional folk paintings, the TA can express a variety of materials through the lines. It might depend on the requirements and purposes of Henri Oger's research to focus on the description of materials. Although they did not use colour, the artisans fully exploited the expressive element of line. The various materials of daily life and productive labor are flexibly and delicately expressed by Vietnamese artisans. For example, the painting “Thu hoạch lúa” (The harvest) shows a figure bending over a bundle of rice in a field (Figure 8a). The imagery is imbued with folk style and traditional space. Artisans used simple drawings and engravings to represent various materials such as leather, cloth, palm leaves, bamboo sheaves, and rice bundles. This can also be seen in some other typical paintings such as “Cái đó đơm cá” (Conical fishing basket) and “Bà bán gia cầm” (The poultry seller) (Figures 8b and 8c).

Fig. 8. a) The harvest; b) Conical fishing basket; and c) The poultry seller [Oger:2009]

In addition to describing different materials through lines, artisans also demonstrate the ability to carefully and meticulously describe objects, especially in Buddhist topics. Floral and animal motifs with many winding lines are meticulously and delicately depicted by artisans. The skilful combination of lines has created attractive paintings. The painting “Phật” (The Buddha) shows the Buddha sitting on a lotus, surrounded by elaborate and delicate decorations (Figure 9). In addition, several paintings on this topic are skillfully expressed through lines, an effective visual language.

Fig. 9. The Buddha [Oger:2009]

Some of the paintings in TA have a great number of details. They are difficult to redraw, but even more difficult to carve on wood. Through the engravings in the paintings one can see that the craftsmanship of the artisans is skillful. They have inherited the nation's artistic traditions and raised them to a new level. Although there are some paintings with compositions and spaces approaching Western visual styles, they still carry folk elements that have been passed down from generation to generation of Vietnamese artisans.

Conclusion

The TA painting collection is an ethnographic research project by a foreigner in Vietnam, to explore the civilization of the indigenous people, supporting the French protectorate in Vietnam. However, the TA preserves the most vivid images of all aspects of Vietnam's cultural and social life in the early 20th century. Therefore, the TA has a certain significance in history, culture and society, as well as plays an important role in ethnographic and anthropological research.

The results of the study show that the traditional visual style and manual printing method of Vietnamese artisans also bring folk nuances to the painting collection. In addition, the study of folk art in TA reveals the high level of skills of Vietnamese artisans. They had the best understanding of life and people in the community where they lived. Therefore, they remembered the most typical materials. When put on paper, these materials were highly simplified and generalized. It can be affirmed that TA is a bridge between ancient art and modern art in Vietnam, and expresses the exchange and acculturation between the two cultures of Vietnam and France.

About the authors

Hung Cuong Pham

Author for correspondence.
Email: phamhungcuongmtcn@gmail.com

PhD in Art, Principal

References

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2. Fig.1. Combine 3 to 4 drawings with a vertical rectangular layout to fit the printed page [Oger 2009]

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3. Fig. 2. a) Transporting wedding gifts; b) Rolling earth; and c) Fencing [Oger 2009]

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4. Fig. 3. a) The street and b) The market [Oger 2009]

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5. Fig. 4. a) Rice sowing and b) Help for the drowning [Oger 2009]

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6. Fig. 5. a) Midwife massaging a woman to give birth; b) Games of young children and c) An argument among the blind [Oger 2009]

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7. Fig. 6. Scene of catching coconuts (Hứng dừa) – Đông Hồ paintings

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8. Fig. 7. a) Irrigation; b) Drying incense sticks; and c) Trampling rice [Oger:2009]

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9. Fig. 8. a) The harvest; b) Conical fishing basket; and c) The poultry seller [Oger:2009]

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10. Fig. 9. The Buddha [Oger:2009]

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