VietNamNet Bridge – Ancient Vietnamese used to place stone-made dogs at gates to drive away ghosts and devils, diseases and welcome luck. Today, some people collect stone-made dogs to decorate and keep house.
Painter Nguyen Manh Duc, who has hundreds of stone-made dogs, explained that Vietnam’s history is the history of wars, diseases and hunger. Vietnamese people, therefore, always lived in puzzles and anxiety. To set their mind at rest, they raised dogs to keep house. However, real dogs could keep their houses safe from burglars. To protect their houses spiritually, they ‘raised’ stone-made dogs. However, this was only the habit of northern people.

Stone-made dogs were placed at gates, doors of houses, Buddhist temples, villages or even at bridgeheads and sewers to drive away ghosts and devils, diseases and bad luck. For that meaning, those who understand traditional culture often give stone-made dogs to each others as gifts.

Stone-made dogs do not only have a deep spiritual meaning, but also are valuable in architecture. Architects and painters, therefore, like stone-made dogs very much. For them, stone-made dogs are simple and closer than dragons, lions or phoenixes. They decorate their gardens and houses by stone-made dogs.

In the past, looking at stone-made dogs at the door of a family, one could know many things about that family. Rich and powerful families who understood customs and habit often used big dogs, which looked like real dogs and wore a belt or a musical stone at its neck. Families of money-bags liked pottery dogs, which were big, imposing to show their richness. Normal families used stone-dogs which was similar to real dogs. These dogs were very simple and easy to make. Such dogs were often made by the house owners so they showed house owners’ personality. These popular dogs look very natural and close.

Painter Nguyen Manh Duc has the largest collection of stone-made dogs in Vietnam and is an expert of the stone-dog raising culture of ancient Vietnamese. His house is located in a deep alley on Buoi Road, Hanoi. At the gate is a long line of iron statues and nearly 100 stone-made dogs of various shapes.

Duc said he is “infected” the passion for stone-made dogs from his father, famous writer Kim Lan. His brothers and sisters also ‘raise’ stone-made dogs. Duc has traveled throughout Vietnam to buy stone-made dogs from farmers. He also bought them from rubbish collectors. At present, he has thousands of stone-made dogs. Duc sells stone-made dogs to many artists.

Duc’s sister, painter Nguyen Thi Hien, has around 400 stone-made dogs and his brother, famous painter Thanh Chuong, also owns hundreds of dogs. His Thanh Chuong Viet Phu (Thanh Chuong Viet Palace) in Soc Son district, Hanoi (a very famous tourist destination) is “protected” by hundreds of stone-made dogs.

Some stone-made dogs at the Thanh Chuong Viet Palace:


Thu Anh