Animation journal: “Nghê" - The Vietnamese Guardian Animal

NGHÊ IN VIETNAMESE CULTURE: "THE UNIQUE GUARDING ANIMAL IN VIETNAMESE TRADITIONAL ART"

Nghê family is the main character line who takes the great responsibility of protecting Linh World. The image of "Nghê” in the film is also somewhat different and unique. Let's learn about the great inspiration of Sun Wolf’s creative team.

Because Nghê is not a real species but a mythical creature, the ancient folk artists have had many creations and changes throughout the history and culture of our country. Accordingly, we can have Nghê as a combined sacred animal based on a dog - a close and familiar animal of the Vietnamese people.

Source: Wikipedia, Báo Pháp luật, nghiencuulichsu.com, vietnamplus, vanmieu.gov, tuoitre

Sacred creatures have always played a crucial role in the folklore and myths of Vietnam. Those can be real animals or products of folk creativity, used as ways to express a certain hope or belief. We can mention dragons, unicorns, turtles, phoenixes, etc., each of which has its own role and carries different cultural symbolic meanings. In the process of development, Vietnamese culture has acculturation and interference with different cultures and since then, our sacred creatures are also increasingly diverse but still imbued with Vietnamese national identity.

Speaking of the sacred animals of Vietnamese culture, it would be inevitable not to mention Nghê, a popular Vietnamese traditional symbol carrying such a profound national identity. The painter Tran Hau Yen The - Editor of the book "Sketching Nghê – a Sacred Guardian Animal" said: "Nghê is truly the unique guarding animal in Vietnamese traditional art. Even though it's just an initial sketch, Nghê sometimes appears quiet and dignified; sometimes welcoming, cheerful, unmindful, and smiling from ear to ear”. Have you ever heard of them?

Source: Wikipedia

THE ORIGIN OF NGHÊ

Throughout the history and culture of Vietnam, Nghê regularly appears in poetry, and architecture as well as in temples, pagodas, and especially in the royal court. The image of Nghê sitting on either side of the temple door or on top of a pillar in front of the communal house yard has long been familiar to many Vietnamese people. Still, many people don’t really understand this creature, although it carries such a profound Vietnamese identity.

According to the researcher, Dr. Tran Hau Yen The: “Nghê is a fictional animal and this fiction creates the Vietnamese identity for Nghê. It shows the creativity of Vietnamese artisans.”

So what kind of sacred creature is Nghê? Author Huynh Thieu Phong once introduced Nghê in the article "Some issues about the origin and characteristics of the symbol “Nghê” in Vietnamese culture". In the article, it is clearly stated that, according to the legend “Nine Sons of the Dragon”, Nghê was one of the nine sons of the dragon, but at that time Nghê had two names. In the document Tiềm Xác Loại Thư, Nghê's full name is Toan Nghê and according to Tham Khảo Tạp Ký, it was called Kim Nghê.

However, if we take a closer look, the characteristics of Toan Nghê and Kim Nghê are different: Toan Nghê likes to rest, sometimes assimilated with lions, while Kim Nghê prefers to swallow fire and release smoke. Toan Nghê is often carved into thrones and couches, while Kim Nghê is often used for riding.

Nghê statue at the Museum of Fine Arts (Source: Natural Resources and Environment Newspaper)

According to researchers, Nghê can be considered a hybrid creature of three cultures including Vietnamese, Indian and Chinese. In the history of the formation, existence, and development of a nation, cultural exchange and acculturation between countries are inevitable. The civilizations of China and India had a strong impact on the cultural formation of the Vietnamese people, helping to diversify our national culture. Nghê is just one of countless cultural elements that Vietnamese people had learned from neighboring cultures and added our creativity to turn into our own cultural products. When Nghê was "conceived and gradually shaped" in Vietnamese culture, our ancestors completely changed its appearance, characteristics, and missions, turning it into a pure Vietnamese sacred animal.

Many people still confuse Nghê and lân (Asian unicorn), but in fact, there are clear differences between these two mythical animals. According to ancient Chinese books, unicorns were originated from deer, so their appearance is quite similar to deer, with traces of deer on their body, legs, soft horns, and two-hoofed feet, later it was transformed into a creature with a broad head, lion's mane, ox's tail, body covered with scales like a dragon and five claws. Meanwhile, Nghê has the form of a miniature lion: twisted mane without horns, body covered with fur but not scales, tail spreading out in curls, feet with many hairy nails. Three dictionaries including “Dai Nam Quoc Am Tu Vi” by Huynh Tinh Cua, Dictionarium Anamitico Latinum (Annam - Latin Dictionary) by J.L.Taberd, and Thieu Chuu Dictionary also mentioned this fact.

However, because Nghê is not a real species but a fictitious creature, the ancient folk artists have had many creations and changes throughout the history and culture of our country, so now we can have Nghê as a combined sacred animal based on a dog - a close and familiar animal of the Vietnamese people. Why did they choose a dog? According to Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Hong Hai, the dog in Vietnamese folk art is originally a simple symbol and cannot be compared with other "prestigious" sacred creatures such as unicorns or dragons. However, when Confucianism culture was imported from China to Vietnam, this symbol was raised to be able to take on new roles and meanings. Therefore, it was possible that the ancient folk artists added many features to "upgrade" their gatekeepers.

Nghê in the form of adoring at the temple of King Le Thanh Tong (Source: Nguyen Dinh)

As for the researcher, Dr. Tran Hau Yen The in the article "Perceiving intercultural universality in traditional art through visual samples of Nghê statue in temples" said that: "The word Nghê in Chinese characters consists of “cẩu” (dog) and “nhi" (child) characters. In other words, Nghê originally took the form of a dog.

NGHÊ THROUGH THE AGES AND ITS ROLE

Nghê's visuals are unique and interesting. Like other mythical creatures, with the creativity of Vietnamese people, Nghê does not have a fixed shape. The shape of Nghê through historical periods had a clear change and existed in different forms. From the image of Nghê combines with a lion or dragon to a unicorn or dog, in general, all of them show the idyllic, rustic, close and familiar personality of Nghê in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people.

Sư tử nghê (Nghê in the form of a lion) often have short and fat bodies, appearing a lot in the fine arts of the Ly - Tran dynasties. Long nghê (Nghê in form of a dragon) appeared in the Le Trung Hung Dynasty (later period of the Later Le monarchy) with a dragon's head, large mouth, long beard, calves with flashes of fire, often seen on the roofs of architectural works, and it was named “con kìm”. Kỳ lân nghê (Nghê in the form of a unicorn) appeared in both the Le Trung Hung and the Nguyen dynasties, but there were some differences. Under Le Trung Hung dynasty, Kỳ lân nghê had scales and horns on its back, and often stood by the side of the altar and the examination door; while in the Nguyen dynasty, Kỳ lân nghê had no horns and was favored to stand in a sanctuary place like the Thai Hoa Palace in the Hue Citadel. As for khuyển nghê (Nghê in the form of a dog), its body had no scales but was round with no horns on its head, and often wore a signboard or a door mortar and steps.

Long Nghê at Dinh Huong Mausoleum. (Photo: Nguyen Dinh)

Any sacred animal in Vietnamese culture has its own role and Nghê is not an exception. According to Dr. Tran Hau Yen The, Nghê has two basic functions of welcoming or showing sympathy. In the Nguyen Dynasty, Nghê had one more meaning as a sacred animal that examined and distinguished between right and wrong.

If dragons and phoenixes are known for their great roles, such as kingship of the heavens and mother of the world, Nghê has the function of "guarding". In folklore, there is a saying "Phoenix dances while Nghê guards", or "Every person has a profession - The phoenix dances and Nghê guards".

However, Nghê guards (chầu) but not served (hầu). Because “serve" was the word used for servants, while “guard" was used for the generals who attended the royal court with the King. Nghê had such a high level, don’t you think so?

One thing to note is that when Nghê guards, it did not look aggressive, fierce, or threatening, but looked quite friendly and close. We can easily see Nghê on the sides of the gate pillars of temples, under the door, or sometimes sitting on the roof or on the pedestal, looking extremely majestic.

Moreover, Nghê is also present in tombs such as Dinh Hương Mausoleum, Tomb of Quận Nghi, and Tomb of the Ngọ family with its mouth wide opening. In this form, it is not threatening anyone, but as if it is crying out painful groans, showing respect and mercy, and expressing pain.

A pair of Nghê in front of the altar of Linh Quang Từ (Tomb of the Ngọ family) (Photo: Nguyen Dinh)

IN VIETNAM'S FOLK CULTURE,, EACH TYPE OF NGHÊ WILL BEAR DIFFERENT MEANINGS OF LOYALTY, HONESTY, DIGNITY… AND WE CAN SAY THAT THERE ARE VERY FEW SACRED ANIMALS THAT CARRY MANY MEANINGS AS NGHÊ. DR. TRAN HAU YEN THE WRote IN THE BOOK “SKETCHING NGHÊ - THE SACRED GUARDIAN ANIMAL": “NGHÊ SOMETIMES APPEARS QUIET AND DIGNIFIED, SOMETIMES WELCOMING, CAREFREE, AND SMILING FROM EAR TO EAR”

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Dai Lam Moc

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