Four Palaces _ Tứ Phủ
Viet Nam Postage Stampt
Illustration: Nguyen X Đô
The Council of the Four Palaces or the Four Palaces of Van Linh is a concept that is closely related to the dialectical belief of Vietnamese Mothers.
Four capitals include:
+ Heaven Palace (Thiên Phủ): First Mother Goddess of Heaven governs the sky, mastering the powers of clouds, rain, storms, lightning. The head god in the Four Palaces.
+ Mountains and Forests Palace (Nhạc Phủ): The second Mother Goddess of Mountains and Forests looks after the mountainous areas, giving wealth to sentient beings.
+ Water Palace (Thoải Phủ): Third Mother Goddess of Water Palace reigns over river regions, helping to cultivate water rice and fisheries.
+ Earth (Địa Phủ) manages the land, is the source for all life.
Mother Goddess of Mountains &Forests
The context in the picture is the mountain and forest scene in Vietnam representing Mountains&Forests Palace.
She is holding three mini-torches in hand, recalling the legend of Lam Son uprising, at that time the insurgent force was still weak, stationed in Ant Moist, when the Minh came to besiege. The insurgent army could not resist, shattered everyone in one place. In the dark, she transformed her magic into a large bundle of torches, enlightened the way for the soldiers, gathered and led them to Muong Yen land, to the Chi Linh mountain base. Second Mother Goddess’s torchlight was only known to Le Loi’s Emperor, and the Minh army could not see.
First Mother Goddess of Heaven
The painting depicts the portrait of First Mother Goddess of Heaven Palace. The main color tone is red, symbolizing Heaven Palace (Thiên Phủ).
Because First Courtier attend on Mother in Heaven, so First Courtier is considered the reincarnation of the First Mother Goddess governing Heaven Palace, surrounded by clouds. In the picture, Mother is writing and managing Tam Toa notebook.
She rarely show up (this is also a common feature of the saints in Heaven)
First Mother Goddess’s outfit was originally named Địch Y, in the Le So style (1437-1471), consisting of three layers. The innermost layer is a lining with a simple color, wrapping one or more layers of Thường (skirt), depending on the weather, one or more layers of clothing can be added, the outermost layer is the Địch Y with the belt, shoes and the hat. In order to be able to create the Mother’s costume, I used patterns and motifs from the uniforms to attach to the enemy costume (the kind of costume intended for post-concubine only). Adoration wearing a necklace made from a Kỳ Nam gem.
First Mother Goddess in this picture no longer wears Bình Thiên hat, which is reserved for kings. Mother Cuu Trung Thien wears the hat “phoenix of the sky”, made up of flames, based on the principles of Fire to Phoenix, Water to Dragon, Wood to Lion, Earth to Turtle.
The artwork reenactment of the Second Mother Goddess. The main color is green, because this is the color representing Mountain&Forests Palace. Besides the colors purple and indigo because these colors are often associated with the great saints.
This costume we draw in the style of Lê Sơ dynasty, with the clothes of Đối Khâm with loose sleeves over Viên Lĩnh wrapped in Thường (skirt).
References and sketches are based on the prototype of the Four Palaces stampt
The envelope is designed according to the Four Palaces theme
