VietNam Culture: Dong

Showing posts with label Dong. Show all posts

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Restoring portraits of ancient Vietnamese

A group of scientists has tried to restore the faces of ancient
Vietnamese people who lived thousand years ago, revealing interesting
stories about their lives.

Eight years ago, people discovered
human skulls and skeletons dating back to the Dong Son age – 2,100 years
ago – in a tomb in Dong Xa, Kim Dong district, Hung Yen province.

With
a desire to discover more about the life of ancient Vietnamese people,
Dr. Nguyen Viet, Director of the Southeast Asia Prehistory Centre and
his colleagues reconstructed the face of a 17 to 18-year-old girl living
in Dong Son age, from the skull they found.

To do that the
scientists had to X-ray 100 people in Hung Yen province to check, adjust
and find out fundamental parameters of the figure of ancient people in
Dong Xa.

After this step, scientists continued to
restore the faces of three more women and a man, of whom the oldest was
about 40-45 years old. The scientists rebuilt not only the shape, but
also facial appearances.

Viet’s research on 60 Dong Son age
skeletons unearthed in Dong Xa showed that the average height of women
at that time was about 1.40m-1.50m and men, between 1.45m-1.65m.

For
long-term research, Dr. Viet built a place to store 70 skeletons of
ancient Vietnamese people, including the remains of those of Hoa Binh
culture dated tens of thousands of years ago, at Pham Huy Thong museum
in Quang Ninh province.

Scientists of the Southeast Asia
Prehistory Centre also worked with foreign counterparts to study and
detect common diseases of ancient Vietnamese people as well as the
reasons for their deaths.

They also studied samples of collected clothes, finding that the clothes were made from flax fibre.

Dr. Viet said that he plans to open the first museum of wax models of
ancient Vietnamese people and cooperate with US experts to restore the
faces and figures of these people using 3D technology./.

Hanoi through eyes of French photographer

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Photos a unique documentary of Giong festival

A unique exhibition displaying veteran
photographer Van Tho's collection of 100 photos of the Giong Festival
has opened at the Phu Dong Temple, in Gia Lam district on the
outskirts of Hanoi.

The photos document the dances
and worshipping ceremonies as well as the domestic and foreign officials
that attend the festival and even the festival preparations.

All of the photos are in colour except for the artist's first image taken in 1970.

"I cannot count the number of photographs I've taken of the annual
festival," Tho said since 1970, "I have selected the 100 best as my gift
to celebrate the recognition of the festival as an intangible cultural
heritage by UNESCO."

The artist was born in 1943 in Phu
Dong Village himself. At the age of seven, he played a soldier in
Saint Giong's 90-soldier team in the festival. He recalled falling into
the pond in front of the temple and racing home to dry his clothes so
that he could finish his role in the event.

"Taking part in the festival is a great honour," he said, "That's why the villagers have happily made contributions."

After the exhibition, Tho plans to build a house in which to store his works and memories of the festival.

"If the project is approved [by local authorities], I will select
quintessential photos of the festival by many photographers for
display," Tho said.

"The exhibits may also include small
models of objects used at the festival so that visitors to the temple
can learn how the festival is organised, what it symbolises and what
activities take place. They can also practise the traditional dances if
they want."

A ceremony was held at the temple on Jan.22 by
the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Hanoi Municipal
People's Committee and the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO to
bestow the UNESCO Certification recognising the Saint Giong Festival as a
world intangible heritage.

The festival was the third
element of Hanoi's heritage recognised by UNESCO in last year, joining
the 82 doctoral stone steles in the Temple of Literature and
relics of the Thang Long Royal Citadel.

The festival is
dedicated to Saint Giong, born in Phu Dong village in the reign
of King Hung VI. According to legend, he was a man of great strength who
fought the northern invaders. After his victory, he flew back to heaven
on his iron horse over Soc Mountain, which locates in today's Soc
Son district.

There are many festivals held in the
northern region to honour Saint Giong. The most popular are the ones in
Phu Dong Village in Gia Lam district and Soc village in Soc
Son district.

The event in Phu Dong is annually held on
the ninth day of the fourth lunar month and in Soc Son, on the sixth day
of the first lunar month./.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Dong Nai sets up U.21 final against Nghe An

Dong Nai sets up U.21 final against Nghe An Dong Nai will face Nghe An in the final match of the 2010 National U.21 football competition after a 1-0 win over Binh Dinh in Gia Lai on Friday.

The new squad has proved very strong at the 14th edition of the Thanh Nien-sponsored event this year, and with Binh Dinh also a familiar name at the contest, the semifinal at Pleiku Stadium was expected to be a hard fought match.

The expectations were not belied. Both teams played hard, attacking football, but their defenders proved equal to the task. The first half ended without a goal.

The second half continued to be exciting but a handball by a Binh Dinh player in the penalty area 15 minutes from full time cost them dear.

Huu Phat made no mistake from the penalty spot, helping Dong Nai advance to the final match of the country’s number one youth football contest where they will challenge Nghe An, who’ve won the event for three consecutive years from 2000 to 2002.

In an earlier semifinal match on Thursday, Nghe An overcame hosts Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) in another close encounter.

The Central Highlands team took the lead just 10 minutes before full time, but Nghe An didn’t give up. The found the equalizer in the final seconds of the game and went on to beat the hosts 5-4 in the penalty shootout.

Semifinal losers HAGL and Dong Nai both shared the third place, each getting a VND60 million cash prize.

The final match between Nghe An and Dong Nai will take place at Pleiku Stadium on Sunday, October 17.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Dong Nai sets up U.21 final against Nghe An

Dong Nai sets up U.21 final against Nghe An Dong Nai will face Nghe An in the final match of the 2010 National U.21 football competition after a 1-0 win over Binh Dinh in Gia Lai on Friday.

The expectations were not belied. Both teams played hard, attacking football, but their defenders proved equal to the task. The first half ended without a goal.

The second half continued to be exciting but a handball by a Binh Dinh player in the penalty area 15 minutes from full time cost them dear.

In an earlier semifinal match on Thursday, Nghe An overcame hosts Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) in another close encounter.

Semifinal losers HAGL and Dong Nai both shared the third place, each getting a VND60 million cash prize.

The final match between Nghe An and Dong Nai will take place at Pleiku Stadium on Sunday, October 17.

Dong Nai wins U.21 trophy after penalty shootout

Dong Nai wins U.21 trophy after penalty shootout Dong Nai took the 2010 National U.21 football championship after beating powerhouse Nghe An 5-4 in a penalty shootout at Gia Lai Province’s Pleiku Stadium on Sunday.

They had already beaten Nghe An 1-0 win in their group’s opening match, but this was a much closer match.

Nghe An played with lots of caution, but had to pick up after conceding the first goal just five minutes into the game.

They succeeded in scoring an equalizer just 10 minutes later, Trong Phi firing a shot that goalkeeper Thanh Diep could not reach.

Charged up by the equalizer, Nghe An’s young players launched more attacks, putting Dong Nai under great pressure. The team showed why it was able to three consecutive national U.21 championships from 2000 to 2002.

The team capitalized on one of the opportunities they created to take the lead midway through the first half.

After the break, Dong Nai’s striker Tuan Anh collected a neat pass from The Hung and made the score 2-2 after taking a neat pass from The Hung.

However, the team fell behind shortly afterwards, with Nghe An’s fast counterattack paying off. Trong Phi and Dinh Bao combined beautifully before striker Dinh Bao beat goalkeeper Diep with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area.

Dong Nai refused to give up, and just minutes from full time, they found the equalizer when Thanh Tan scored from a free kick.

No more goals were scored in the match, and the champions had to be chosen after a penalty shootout.

Both sides were successful in their first four tries but Nghe An’s Trong Phi failed to get his shot past the Dong Nai custodian, while Van Quyen fired in Dong Nai’s fifth shot without fuss.

Dong Nai’s victory in the National U.21 football championship is all the more impressive considering it is only the second tie that they were participating in the event.