Hang Trong painting

Hàng Trống painting (Vietnamese: Tranh Hàng Trống) is a genre of Vietnamese woodcut painting that originated from the area of Hàng Trống () and Hàng Nón streets in the central Hoàn Kiếm District of Hanoi, Vietnam. In the past, Hang Trong painting was an essential element of the Tết holiday in Hanoi, but today this tradition almost has disappeared and authentic Hang Trong paintings are found only in museums or fine art galleries. However, the art of making Hang Trong paintings is always considered a symbol of traditional culture and aesthetic value of Vietnam.

The common themes in Hang Trong paintings are spiritual and cultural symbols such as the white tiger (hổ trắng) or carp (cá chép), which indicate a stronger influence of Buddhism and Taoism than in Dong Ho painting. However, besides the pictures of worshipping themes, Hang Trong craftsmen also made paintings with folk themes like Dong Ho such as Bịt mắt bắt dê (blind-man’s buff), Rồng rắn (following the leader) or Thầy đồ Cóc (the toad scholar) for the decoration of families during the Tết holiday. The aesthetic value in pictures of Hang Trong painting is more urban than in Dong Ho pictures which are made in the countryside and often reflect a farmer's perspective. Some popular pictures of Hang Trong painting are Ngũ hổ (Five Tigers), Lý ngư vọng nguyệt (Carp Looking at the Moon), Tứ bình (Four female musicians) and Tố nữ (Virgin Girl).

In making a Hang Trong painting, the craftsman starts with woodblocks to print black outlines, then draws the details and finally colours the picture in by hand. Because the main part of the process is made by the craftsman's hands, Hang Trong pictures are slightly different from one to another, thus they become more valuable for the fastidious customers in Hanoi. The paper used in making Hang Trong painting is called Xuyến chỉ paper (giấy Xuyến chỉ), which differs from the natural colour paper of Dong Ho painting. Hang Trong craftsmen colourize pictures with pigments, and therefore the tone of Hang Trong paintings is usually bright and attractive with principal colours being pink, blue, green, red and yellow.

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Wikipedia