(VOVworld) – It is customary for Vietnamese people to decorate their houses with Dong Ho folk paintings during the Lunar New Year festival (Tet). The woodprint pictures, produced by the villagers of Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province, convey philosophic fables and moral messages. The colorful pictures symbolize a wish for a new year of happiness and prosperity.

Dong Ho painting is a Tet specialty along with the five fruit tray, Banh Chung (square sticky rice cake), and red calligraphy. The paintings’ strong graphic style and natural colors match the joyful spirit of Tet. The topics range from things happening in the people’s daily life – gazing buffaloes, picking coconuts, wrestling and making a jealous scene – to human aspirations such as ethical behavior, wisdom, humanity, righteousness, wealth and honor. Dong Ho paintings represent cultural values, a humorous view of married couples and an optimistic and tender outlook on life. Nguyen Dang Che, who belongs to the 20^th generation of Dong Ho painters, told VOV:“Dong Ho paintings are used during the Lunar New year so we also call them Tet paintings. Farmers buy pictures of pigs and chickens, hoping for a flourishing animal husbandry in the New Year. Pictures are hung on the gate and inside the house. Other popular pictures are Vinh hoa phu quy (Honor and wealth) and the four seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter”.

Dong Ho painting is special because of its bright colors and special poonah paper. The poonah paper is spongy, soft, elastic and absorbent without blurring the ink. It is coated with a special type of glue to create a bright and shinny effects. The ink used the way the colors are mixed are special as well. Che explains:“Dong Ho folk painting uses natural materials from the Poonah tree in the forest. The colors are natural, too. The white color is produced from oyster shells, the red is from gravel taken from the mountains, the silver from  sophora japonica, the dark-blue from indigo and the black from bamboo leaves. All Dong Ho paintings are printed using wood-engravings”.

Dong Ho painting uses contrasting pigments and the symbolic colors, which represens the five basic elements according to Oriental philosophy. White symbolizes metal, blue represents wood, black matches water, red symbolizes fire and yellow typifies earth.  Most Dong Ho paintings have a yellow background, which is considered a balance of colors. Nguyen Dang Tam, the youngest son of Nguyen Dang Che, talks about how much Dong Ho paintings mean to people during Tet:“People begin to buy Dong Ho paintings to decorate their house several days before Tet. The colors remain as bright as they were traditionally”.

Each picture has its own meaning and adds to enjoyment of Tet. Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai of Hanoi shared her view:“I like Dong Ho paintings very much because they are traditional and printed on poonah paper. The pictures remind the younger generations of Vietnam’s old customs. Whenever Tet comes, my family buys Dong Ho pictures to make our life warmer and more comfortable as we welcome a New Year”.