Focus on Hàng Trống painting and analyze the History.
The origin of Hàng Trống painting dates back to the 16th century during the reign of the Lê dynasty. Different from the countryside Đông Hồ, the manufacturing area of Hang Trong painting is located in the Tiêu Túc (later changed to Thuận Mỹ) district in the very heart of Hanoi which is now the quarter between Hàng Trống, Hàng Nón, Hàng Hòm and Hàng Quạt streets. This was one of the few places where folk paintings were made in Vietnam during the dynastic time. In the past, Hàng Trống craftsmen often began to make pictures in the eleventh and twelfth months of the Vietnamese calendar so that they could meet with the high demand during the Tết holiday when a Hàng Trống painting was indispensable for each Hanoi family. For this reason Hàng Trống painting, besides Đông Hồ, was also called Tết painting (tranh Tết). Hàng Trống craftsmen also produced worshipping pictures for Taoist temples and Buddhist temples in Hanoi.Today, the tradition of Hàng Trống painting is almost lost. New pictures are rarely produced in Hàng Trống anymore because of lack of interest among the younger generations; there remains only one experienced craftsman, Lê Đình Nghiên, who can make Hàng Trống paintings. As a result, authentic Hàng Trống pictures are found only in museums or fine art gallery. Nevertheless, there are several efforts underway to resurrect this genre of traditional art like propagating Hàng Trống paintings in festivals, galleries and transmitting knowledge of making pictures from old craftsmen to young artists.
Hàng Trống Tết Vietnamese Hàng Nón Lê dynasty Hanoi Hàng Hòm Hàng Quạt Vietnamese calendar