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346 New Ladies
since 10/3/2005. |
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 the
traditional coat of arms consisted of a shield
or banner or varied forms, having the stylistic
representation of a dragon , a legendary and
totemic animal of multiple symbolic significance.
also included on the coat of arms were the unicorn,
tortoise and phoenix. together, they make up
the quartet of the traditional motifs and emblems
of viet nam.
- the dragon. the dragon ("long") is a fabulous
beast which the vietnamese mythology represents
with the head of a camel, horns of a deer, eyes
of a fish, ears of a buffalo, body and neck
of a snake, scales of a carp, claws of an eagle,
and feet of a tiger. a long barb hangs on each
side of its mouth, and a precious stone shines
brilliantly on its tongue. the summit of its
head is decorated with a protuberance which
is a sign of great intelligence. finally, it
has a crest of 81 scales running the entire
length of its backbone. a dragon is said to
breathe a kind of smoke which can be transformed
at will into fire or water. it lives with equal
ease in the sky, in the water, or underground.
it is immortal and does not reproduce, because
the number of dragons always increases with
the metamorphosis of the ."giao long", which
are fabulous reptiles half lizard and half snake
that automatically become dragons after ten
centuries of existence.
- despite its awesome appearance, the dragon
does not incarnate the spirit of evil, and the
vietnamese have always considered the dragon
as a symbol of power and nobility. that is why
the dragon was chosen as the special symbol
of the emperors. the emperor was considered
to be the son of heaven. the dragon having five
claws was found on the official dress of the
emperor, and the dragon having four claws decorated
the official dress of high dignitaries of the
royal court.
- the unicorn. the unicorn ("ly" - or "lan")
is also an incredible animal invented by sino-vietnamese
imagination. the unicorn brings to mind the
english griffin it is represented with the body
of an antelope, the feet of a horse, and the
tail of a buffalo; and on the head of the male
unicorn, there is a single horn, the extremity
of which is covered with an excrescence of of
flesh. the unicorn is considered as the symbol
of intelligence and goodness, and appears only
on very special occasions. for example, when
confucius was born in 481 b.c., a unicorn is
said to have put in an appearance.
- the tortoise. the tortoise ("quy" - or "rua")
represents the double symbol of heaven and earth.
its oval and convex shell represents the vault
of heaven, while the square plaque on its underside
symbolises the surface of the earth.
- the tortoise is the emblem of longevity and
perfection, and is generally represented with
a coral branch in its mouth, a crane on its
back, and a box containing the sacred book of
"lac thu" placed under its back this book serves
as a reminder of the invention of a diagram
representing the division of the universe into
male and female principles; this diagram as
made by emperor dai vu (2205-2197 b.c.), and
was inspired by his study of the sacred tortoise's
shell. the crane on the back of the tortoise
is the symbol of longevity, seen mostly in temples
dedicated to confucius, emperors and local spirits.
in principle, the symbol of crane is not used
in buddhist pagodas. the tortoise is believed
to live ten thousand years, and the crane one
thousand years; thus, the presence of this symbol
means, a "may you be remembered for one thousand
years, and may your cult endure for ten thousand
years.
- generally, the images of the tortoise and
the crane which are found in temples are made
of lacquered and gilded wood; sometimes only
the crane is made of wood, and the tortoise
of stone. some of these cranes are more than
three meters high, and are placed in pairs before
the altar. vietnamese also make copper reproductions
of the crane. in this case, the lotus flower
usually held in the mouth of the crane is hollow,
and can hold a candle. such cranes are commonly
placed on ancestral altars.
- the phoenix. the phoenix ("phuong" or "phung")
is an imposing bird, belonging to the same family
as the phoenix of occidental mythology, although
only the latter is said to be re-born from its
ashes. in oriental mythology, the phoenix is
considered the paragon of virtue and grace.
it is for this reason that queens used the phoenix
as their principle emblem, while emperors used
the dragon. learned men make a distinction between
"phuong" which is the male phoenix, and "hoang",
which is the female.
- the phoenix, as conceived by oriental imagination,
has a gallinaceous bill, neck of a snake, breast
of a swallow, back of a tortoise, and tail of
a fish. it is able to stand on the waves of
the sea, owing to a supernatural power which
allows it to a soar from the east, fly mightily
over the con lon mountains, quench its thirst
in the torrent of de tru, and bathe its wings
in the sea of nhuo thuy, before taking a rest
on the don huyet mountain.
- the phoenix is full of movement, grace, pride
and nobility; the wings stretch out widely with
their rigid quills, the caudal the feathers
light up in flame, and the feet are the nervously
arched. clenched in its bill are either two
scrolls or a square box with long bands. containing
sacred books.
 according
to tradition, the song of the phoenix includes
all the five notes of the traditional musical
scale; its feathers include the five fundamental
colours and its body is a composite of the six
celestial bodies: the head symbolises the sky;
the eyes, the sun; the moon; the wings, the
wind; feet, the earth; and the tail, the planets.
the phoenix perches only on very high places,
preferably on the ngo dong tree which is used
for making musical instruments
- the phoenix appears only in peaceful and prosperous
times, and hides itself when there is trouble.
thus, it is the sign of peace and the symbol
of concord.
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