VietNamNet Bridge - For the first time more than 30 antiques are recognized by the government as national treasures. These treasures not only have historical values, but also contain mysterious stories of the era and about historical figures.

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Among national treasures, the lamp in the shape of a kneeling man shows the beauty of ancient Vietnamese culture in relations with Indian culture and Chinese culture.

When a village patriarch passed away 2,000 years ago, his remains rested in the tomb at Lach Truong on the coast of the East Sea, bringing secrets to the other world. The secrets were buried in the land of Thanh Hoa for more than 2000 years. On a fine day in 1935, the shovel of archaeologist O. Janse found this lamp to unlock the secrets of the tomb of that unknown village patriarch.

The Swedish archaeologist, O. Janse, came to Vietnam since the 30s of the last century as a colleague of the French Institute of Far East Studies. During his trip to Lach Tray (Thanh Hoa) to excavate many ancient tombs here, he discovered this treasure and brought it to the Louis Finot Museum (now the Museum of Vietnamese History). Currently that treasure is stored and displayed at this museum.

The tomb is made of brick, located to the North-South direction. The tomb’s "entrance" is blocked by a high stone wall (guard god Hermes). This is the first tomb of the Han Dynasty that was undisturbed. After carefully digging up, archaeologists discovered a lot of intact terra-cotta bowls, largely in white color.

But the most important finding in this ancient tomb, right in the center of the tomb is a metal object, which was rust and covered by sand. After it was cleaned, it turned out to be a rare bronze statue. That is a lamp in the shape of a kneeling man. Based on the objects that were excavated here, O. Janse believed that the one in the grave was influenced by the Chinese belief, especially Lao-tse.

According to Professor O. Janse, this lamp contains mysteries of history. It is unique, representing the typical ancient art at the end of the Dong Son culture, with the exchanges with Chinese culture. The lamp is 35 cm high.

In his book entitled “Secrets of the man-shaped lamp,” Professor O. Janse wrote: "This collection is being interested by many people because these are rare artifacts and they are not buried in the common way of offering items under the Han Dynasty. S far, many people have researched to have interpretation of this rare group of objects besides the Chinese objects but there is no satisfactory explanation."

According to him, the kneeling man is not Chinese; it brings the mysterious appearance of the Far East and is typical for the ancient Greek art of Gandhara. The lamp shows the image of a half-naked man in kneeling posture, lifting the light plate with a mysterious smile. The man wears a crown, with hair tufts. The shoulders and the back of the statue are connected with S-shaped branches. Each S-shaped branch supports a light plate and stuck to a kneeling man. On the thighs and behind the man are four musicians who also kneel, two musicians playing the flute.

According to Janse, the main character of this lamp lacks all characteristics of the Chinese people. And the lamp would have to find an explanation in the Far East, not China. Based on the spiral shape hair, a characteristic of the Buddha of India and the towel around the forehead, with the Mediterranean culture, this is a royal man.

Although the man was created in the kneeling position, but this is not a servant, or a lowly man. The crown on his head and makeup items show that this is the statue of a countess or a saint (in Greek mythology, the royal deity is described in a kneeling position).

This statue was corroded pretty much, so researchers cannot definitely confirm the appearance of the musicians. The unique S-shaped branches are very natural and they are used in many of the old layouts.




The lamp shows an ancient Greek culture influenced by mysterious religion, expressing the acculturation of the Dong Son period. In the mystical religions of the East, in the ceremonial activities at night, the light plays a fundamental role. Light is the symbol of the soul containing sacred and divine contents. The light emitting from the lamp is seen as bright halo. And that halo will bring about the respect of the gods and beliefs about immortality.

According to Professor Jasen, the lights on this statue can be seen as saint worshiping in the cycle of nature. The main character in the lamp expresses the outlook on life of the ancient people, which is the representation of the deceased character, being influenced or playing the sacred role of saint Dionysos.

Indian culture entered Southeast Asia along with the exodus of many Indians in the first century AD. The light plates on branches are clearly symbolic for acculturation.

Among the national treasures, the statue of Amitabha Buddha in Phat Tich Pagoda is a masterpiece of sculpture of the Ly Dynasty, which also has a history fate. According to legend, at the foot of Phat Tich Pagoda was located a huge ancient tower. When the tower collapsed, leaving only traces of a stone Buddha statue.

Many people mistakenly believed that the statue was destroyed by the French during the war. Local people told, during the war, the French used the statue as a cannon fodder. Then an old man in the village hid the statue head. After the war, he handed over the head to the local authorities. The head was glued up to the statue.

According to historian Tran Trong Kim, this is the statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. Through the ups and downs of history, the original statue was no longer intact. But venerable monk Thich Minh Thien, the manager of Phat Tich Pagoda, this statue is in the typical style of the Ly Dynasty, along with cultural interference from other schools from India and China, but it was “Vietnamized.”

According to researcher Trang Thanh Hien, the ancient stone stele (1687) at the pagoda wrote that the statue was made in 1057. This is the oldest and most perfect statue of Amitabha Buddha of the Ly Dynasty in Vietnam today.

Art researcher Thai Ba Van said that this statue is the standards of the arts of the Ly Dynast.

This statue has two versions that were cast from the 1950s-1960s. The two statues are on display at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum and the Museum of Vietnamese History.

Translated by T. Van