Bảo tàng lịch sử Quốc gia

During its existence, due to changes in the course of the Red River, many ancient vestiges have been discovered at the bank of the Red River in the quarter of the commune of Kim Lan (Gia Lam, Hanoi).

The exploration and the excavation have furnished useful and interesting knowledges on the history of this land, together with a collection of a great quantity of specimens consisting mostly of ceramics and earthenwares dating from the X^th to the XVIII^th century, especially ceramics of the Tran, which have many whole specimens with refined decorations, particularly specimens carrying characteristics of the production on the spot of an ancient village of ceramics.

The ceramics and earthenwares are a collection very rich in forms and types such as: bowls, dishes, vases, spitoons… principally in the enamel currents of the Tran such as: jade enamel, brown enamel, white enamel, white enamel with brown flowers, enamel with white core and brown skin, white enamel with blue drawings, white and brown enamel with blue drawings… On each type and current of enamel, there are very rich decorations with lively variations. They have a great value for researches, furnishing new knowledges on the development of vietnamese ceramics, for the collection comprises, beside domestic ceramics, ceramics of superior quality which appear through the material, the decorations and especially through the character Quan carved in relief inside the bowl. Besides, the collection comprises a little quantity of ceramics with white enamel and blue drawings of the XVI^th century.

Beside vietnamese ceramics are ceramics from Kwangtung and Ngoai Long Tuyen (China), with the same date or somewhat earlier, reflecting trade exchanges of this land, which is a common characteristic of residence sites of the time of Tran.

The earthenwares comprise types such as cauldrons and cauldron lids with rather large dimension. These specimens are concentrated in the dates of IX-X^th and XIII-XIV^th centuries. The containers of earthenware consist of basins with and without handles (cylindrical, poultry cage-formed, tube-formed…), vases, jars…

Part of specimens, beside ceramics forming the physionomy of the ancient village Kim Lan, is the group of materials of construction, with tiles (flat tiles reflecting the popular character of architecture, in contrast with religious and court architecture), bricks (of pavement and of bordering of foundations), tube-formed tiles which are construction materials of the Tran.

In this collection, attention is drawn to ceramics of the time of Tran. So far, in the study and exploration of sites and vestiges in the Royal Palace of Thang Long, many opinions are approving the idea of existence of a current of superior ceramics for the exclusive service of the royal family. However, opinions are still diverging because the discovery of the site and the vestiges is not convincing enough; many think that they are the products of ceramic ovens of the west of the citadel Thang Long. The discovery of superior ceramics at Kim Lan as well as the discovery of vestiges reflecting the production on the spot such as: covering containers, wedging pieces, production waste, pieces of enamel, ceramic earth… has permitted to propose the hypothesis that Kim Lan is one center of production of superior ceramics for the service of the Court. This archaeological fact is a proof of what annals relate. Since long, the book Du dia chi of Nguyen Trai has spoken of the ancient ceramics village of Bat Trang as a famous center of ceramics production, the products of which are chosen to be sent as a tribute to the Court of the Minh (China). We know that Bat Trang is separated from Kim Lan only by the river Bac Hung Hai, so that probably, they are before in a same region of handicraft villages, or even they formed a unique administrative unity. Can these ceramic products be chosen to be sent as a tribute to the Court of Minh, if they are not the products of a traditional handicraft village since the XIII-XIV^th century, even the IX-X^th century?

Nguyen Van Doan