Introduction
As its first special exhibition of 2014, the National Museum of Korea is proud to introduce Ancient Civilizations in Vietnam: the Early Morning around the Red River. As fellow members of the Asian National Museum Association (ANMA), the National Museum of Korea and the Vietnam National Museum of History have engaged in active exchange and cooperation for a number of years, having successfully collaborated on various exhibitions, scholarly research projects, and other shared endeavors. This exhibition is particularly significant because it presents the results and achievements of five years of joint research (2008-2013) between the two institutions.
This exhibition features various artifacts reflecting the developmental phases of Vietnamese bronze culture, including the famous Dong Son bronze drum, the pride and joy of the Vietnamese people. The artifacts vividly demonstrate the establishment and development of the Bronze Age in Vietnam. Viewers can visually experience the advanced smelting technology of ancient Vietnamese bronze masters, as well as their unparalleled creativity and aesthetics. Furthermore, the exhibition includes a video showing scenes of the joint excavation projects, allowing the audience to fully appreciate the trust and friendship between the two museums.
The exhibition is composed of two major parts: the Bronze Age culture of northern and central. Vietnamese bronze is the period that witnessed the origin of the lineage of today’s Vietnamese people. The Bronze Age of northern is represented by the cultures of Phung Nguyen, Dong Dau, Go Mun, and Dong Son. Of these, Dong Son culture is particularly revered, in that it formed during the peak of the Vietnamese Bronze Age and flourished into the beginning of the Iron Age. Furthermore, Dong Son culture provided the foundation for the establishment of the first Vietnamese states, Van Lang and Au Lac. The bronze culture of the Red River basin was based on agriculture. With its advanced bronze technology, Dong Son was able to trade and interact with various regions in Southeast Asia. This culture served as the foundation of Vietnamese history, and it continues to play an important role in the lives of Vietnamese people today.
And Sa Huynh culture flourished around the coast and islands of central Vietnam from 500 BCE to the first century CE, during the Bronze and Iron Ages. These plains were quite fertile for agriculture, however, and the Sa Huynh people also established an extensive network of marine trade routes for exchange with neighboring states.
This exhibition celebrates the ancient cultural traditions of Vietnam, which have flowed down through history from one era to the next, like the rust-colored currents of the Red River. Our hope is that these marvelous artifacts will induce in the audience a greater esteem for Vietnamese traditional culture, as well as a newfound appreciation for some of the remarkable similarities between the cultures of our two countries.