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Stone
Dogs, a Vietnamese folk art
No one knows exactly
when stone dogs first appeared, but the
dogs have become a part of Vietnamese culture
in the North and many other parts of Vietnam.
 According
to Vietnamese legend, a poor student was
on his way to an examination in the capital.
When he passed his village’s gate,
the stone dog there suddenly came to life
and said to the student that he would achieve
academic honour this time.
The student was very surprised.
He told the story to his parents. They then
become very haughty with friends and neighbours.
On the day of the examination,
the student again came to the stone dog,
but it said nothing. The student asked the
dog his future, and the stone dog said because
of the haughty attitude of his family, he
would fail this examination. The stone dog’s
forecast came true, making the student parents
feel very.
They all changed their
attitude and succeeded at the next examination,
as the stone dog forecast the first time.
Another story is of a poet
from the 16th – 17th centuries: Nguyen
Van Giai. Mr. Giai was a farmer originally
. He passed his examination and become a
prime minister of the Le Dynasty. PM Giai
loved stone dogs very much. Nowadays at
his temple in Ha Tinh, people can see the
stone dogs which the poet brought with him
from Thanh Hoa.
Stone dogs are usually
placed at villages' gates in the North,
or buried in the ground. People believe
that the buried dogs will help to protect
their home or village.
Stone dogs also appear
at Buddhist pagodas. Visitors can see a
pair of rows of stone dogs at locations
such as Thay Pagoda in Ha Tay Province,
the Bang Village Communal House in Bac Ninh
Province, or in the stone dog collections
of some of Hanoi’s famous painters
and private collectors.
Recently, stone dogs have
been produced to decorate the gardens of
private houses, giving a country look in
busy cities.
To celebrate this Tet (Lunar
New Year) festival 2006, Cao Lap, of Ho
Chi Minh City’s Binh Quoi Tourist
Centre, has ordered a dozen stone dogs from
Hanoi to decorate his centre.
2006, the year of dog,
may also be a good year for stone dogs.
Source: Vietnam Net Travel
Guide
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