On July 31, at the Special National Monument of Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, the opening ceremony of the exhibition took place with the topic "Dragon image on Doctor's stele". The event was organized by the Center for Cultural and Scientific Activities of Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam to celebrate Capital Liberation Day (October 10, 1954 - October 10, 2024).
Visitors to the exhibition will have the opportunity to explore the dragon motifs on 82 Dr. Thang Long steles currently being kept and preserved here. The works are presented with the principle of respecting the original lines on the Doctor's stele. From there, it helps viewers better visualize the enthusiasm that the artisans have put into their sculptures.
In 1484, King Le Thanh Tong built the first Doctoral steles to honor successful academicians. Over time with many ups and downs of history, the remaining number of Doctoral steles at the Temple of Literature - Quoc Tu Giam is 82, registering 1,304 Doctors.
In addition to being a treasure trove of valuable historical documents about the history, culture, society and academic education of Vietnam during the monarchy, these are also unique works of visual art, where stone artisans consign them. many meaningful messages.
Among the patterns and motifs used to decorate the forehead of the stele and the border of the Dr. stele, the dragon image is always given a solemn position, this is the top mascot in the list of four sacred animals (dragon, lyre). , turtle, phoenix). The dragon image appears mainly on the stele's forehead, the most solemn part of the stele's body, and is often shown in the layout of a pair of dragons flanking the sun surrounded by fire clouds.
Many centuries have passed, the steles have been somewhat eroded by exposure to harsh weather conditions, and the patterns are more or less covered by the dust of time, but thanks to the carving technique, version, researchers have overcome this. They not only found epitaphs containing a lot of useful information but also discovered a series of sophisticated patterns and motifs.
Dragon-shaped motifs gradually appeared clearly in the steles erected in 1653, many of which were built in connection with previous examinations decades ago. From this point on, the image of a dragon flanking the sun and fire clouds is often present on stele foreheads.
If in the past, stele erections showed dragon images in a realistic manner, then from 1717 onwards, most dragon images were created by artisans in diverse ways, breaking away from common stereotypes. . All of those transformations will be recreated at this exhibition to serve visitors.
The exhibition will be open from today until August 26, 2024 at the Thai Hoc House area, Special National Monument of Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam.
