The celebration tradition of Lunar New Year festival (Tet) in Vietnam has become more animated in recent years with the recovery of calligraphy when those artists set up tables along streets and other public places to write letters.
In those days, dozens of clubs and public places in Ho Chi Minh City have offered calligraphic services where people can come to ask for letters written on red pieces of paper as decorations at home.
Calligraphist O Dan Phat in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh said proudly that Tranh Tra (inspection) newspaper asked him to write the word “Đức” (righteous) and printed it as gifts to its readers.
It implies that the staffs of the inspection circle commit themselves to respect the virtue at their job and add more justice in society, Phat added.
Phat is one of the most honored calligraphists as he only writes words and gives them as gifts, not for sale.
“For those whom I don’t know, I won’t gift them with words because presenting words under the art of calligraphy is something like a kind of my emotions, or my trust to recipients,” Phat said.
“Calligraphy is also a confidence, advice and aspiration of elder generations to latter generations.”
And the confidence has been well preserved and developed in Saigon and other cities now.
Those who are fond of calligraphy can now come to Youth Culture House at 4 Pham Ngoc Thach Street or the Labor Culture Palace in HCMC at 55B Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in district 1 can see around 50 calligraphists ready to give words.
On streets Nguyen Trai, Hong Bang, Trang Tu and Hai Thuong Lan Ong in district 5, the service has been available a week ago and attracted large crowd of people coming for words to hang at home as paintings during Tet.
Besides words, people can also ask for their favorite sentences of poems.
Usually, calligraphists are paid from VND50,000 (US$2.5) up to several million of dongs for a calligraphic piece, depending on the quality of paper and ink.
Calligraphy actually dated back to a long history in Vietnam, and reaching its highest level of proficiency by the 11th century. Calligraphy in Vietnam was considered a mark of sophistication amongst the liberated elite of the country.
As a glaring example of the ancient culture of Vietnam, calligraphy is not just a style of writing but also contains symbolic connotations. Each letter in Vietnamese calligraphy is a symbol and defines some aspect of the country's identity.
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Duong Quy Chi (R) is waiting for a calligraphist to write words in Tue Thanh Club in HCMC's district 5
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Truong Tu Muoi (R) is given a piece with word "Xuan" (Spring) from Truong Lo
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Calligraphist Xuan Hung is writing artistic letters on the pavement of Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street in District 5
