Artist Tran Khanh Chuong - Chairman of Vietnam Fine Arts Association talked about the construction and the controversy around Hung King statue.
Tran Khanh Chuong
There are opinions that because the Hung Kings are largely mythical that we don't have historical data to use as reference, we shouldn't make any statue at all. What do you think?
Actually there are a lot of Hung King statues but most of them are at temples or pagodas. I think it's necessary that a figure like that, our legendary founding father, should have a large-scale statue. In addition, it can enrich the landscape of Hung Kings Temple Historical Site. This site actually isn’t very old, it was built 200 years ago under the Nguyen Dynasty. What we added to the site now will become historical sites to future generations.
What do you think should a Hung Kings’ statue look like, considering what we know is mostly through legends and lore?
In the late 20th century, many artefacts from the period the Hung Kings are associated with were found, especially the Dong Son Culture. Combined with little historical documents we have, we can make a statue depicting a Hung King. We don't have any real pictures of the mythical folk hero Thanh Giong, General Tran Hung Dao or Trung Sisters but the people still make their statues.
My personal requirements will be the height and how the statue blends in with the surrounding so that when people look at it, they immediately understand that it's a Hung King.
Does Phu Tho Province People's Committee have any plans regarding the statue?
From what I know, the provincial authorities plan to build a tower and a statue. They started a tower design contest but haven't found an appropriate design yet. About the statue, some people proposed to put up the statue inside the Hung Kings Temple Historical Site while others want it in Viet Tri City that is 10km away.
The square inside the temple site is just a large area with nothing so a statue and suitable resting places will make it better and visitors can relax or go sight-seeing there. It also helps reduce overcrowding at the temple.
We also have a design contest for the statue and have received 21 submissions. Three most outstanding designs are influenced heavily by Dong Son Culture.
Designs of Hung King
Some people are showing concerns that making Hung King statue would kick off an expensive trend to build statues of famous people in localities. What do you think?
The number of statues in Vietnam actually is not as high as many other countries. Some provinces have one and some have several but overall, the number isn’t high. The statues have both value in terms of art and history. It also has strong influence on the mass too. The problem is how to make the statue looks good with its surrounding.
