The custom of tattooing is one of the most important features of the Vietnamese and Vietnamese people in the historical records of both Vietnam and China. The custom of tattooing is not only found in Vietnamese and Vietnamese people, but also in all ethnic groups on all continents of the world, but in East Asia and Southeast Asia, ethnic groups practice tattooing. All have more or less origin and connection with the Vietnamese people and ancient East Asian culture.
Understanding the origin, meaning, practice as well as the patterns used for tattooing, will provide us with the most basic and comprehensive information about this custom of the skull hawaiian shirt Vietnamese and Vietnamese people. Vietnamese, thereby understanding more about the origin, typical and important customs and meanings that have existed and accompanied the Vietnamese for a long time.
1. Origin of tattoo custom:
The origin of the tattoo custom of the Vietnamese community is recorded as early as in the story of the Hong Bang family and the story of the white pheasant, the old stories handed down from the Hung Kings period.
The story of the Hong Bang family records: "At that time, people living near the forest, going into the water, were often harmed by the dragon fruit, so they told the king. The king said: "The mountain man and the water tribe are different, so they should infringe on each other". Then made people tattoo themselves with ink in the form of a water tribe. Since then, the people have not been harmed by dragons. The tattooing custom of Bach Viet people also started from there.” [Translation by Nguyen Huu Vinh]
The story of the Hong Bang family clearly states that the custom of tattooing originated from the avoidance of "Giao Long" to harm, "getting ink tattooed in the form of aquatic species". "Giao dragon" here is the crocodile that is abundant in the Vietnamese living area, the crocodile is also the main inspiration to form the Dragon image in ancient East Asian culture.
The custom of tattooing is a common custom of the Vietnamese community, spanning the area where Vietnamese ethnic residents live: from Duong Tu to Vietnam.
The historical record, Trieu The Gia writes: “Cutting hair and tattooing, tattooing on the arm, and wearing a lapel facing to the left, is [the custom of] the Au Viet people. Black teeth engraved on the forehead, wearing a fish-skin hat, wearing a shirt sewn with big thread, are [customs of] Dai Ngo."
The historical record of Sima Thien, Ngo Thai Ba The family recorded: "...Thai Ba, Trong Ung fled to Kinh Man land, tattooed and cut their hair".
The historical record of Sima Thien, the Viet king Cau Tien, recorded: "The ancestor of the Viet King Cau Tien is a descendant of Ha Vu, and was ordained in Coi Ke to serve as a sacrifice to King Vu. Get a tattoo, cut your hair, cut the wild grass and set up a hamlet there.”
On Hainan Island, the Chu Nhai (Hai Nam) people also have a custom of tattooing like the common custom of the Vietnamese: "...Looking out into the distance, you can see Chu Nhai... People have more than 100,000 houses..., with their hair down, tattooed. I, a girl, have a lot of good looks, white skin, long hair, and beautiful sideburns.”
Thus, the custom of tattooing is a common custom of the Vietnamese community, originating in the Hong Bang period, then this custom continued to be inherited in the areas where the Vietnamese people lived. The Vietnamese people in the self-governing period continued to inherit the tattooing custom of the Vietnamese tribe during the Ly - Tran dynasties.
2. The meaning of tattoo custom:
In the story of the Hong Bang family, the story says that "getting ink tattooed on the body in the form of a water tribe", this means that the custom of tattooing is a form of protection for Vietnamese people when entering the water, this is just the surface meaning. Outside of it, learning more about this custom from historical records, we will see the true meaning of the custom of tattooing in the ancient period of the Vietnamese ethnic community.
The story of Bach Tri writes: "Chu Cong asked: "Why do people in Giao Chi cut their hair short, leave their heads bare, tattooed, and go barefoot?". The angel replied, "Cut your hair short to 3D printed hoodie make it easier to walk in the forest. Tattooing to look like Long Quan swimming in the river, the species of dragons do not commit. Go barefoot to easily climb trees. Plow with a knife, plant with fire. Eating betel nut is to remove uncleanness, so the teeth are black”.”’ [Translation by Nguyen Huu Vinh]
The story of Bach Tri about "tattooing like Long Quan" shows that the Vietnamese custom of tattooing besides the pragmatic so that "the dragon will not violate", it also has a spiritual meaning, Long Quan is a Dragon breed, tattooing like Long Quan means tattooing a Dragon, this is a form of spiritual cultural practice in the mixed fairy-Dragon culture of the Vietnamese ethnic group, tattooing Dragon and wearing feather hats. bird.