In Vietnamese royal art, the dragon is a wish for a good year and a mark of achievement, the phoenix a sign that the country is at peace, the lotus a picture of keeping your character in hard circumstances, and a pair of mandarin ducks a marriage that lasts. Our rule of thumb for gifts: dragons for what somebody did, the phoenix for who somebody is, the ducks for the two of them.
Every Folk Form motif is redrawn by hand in our Hanoi studio from archive photographs of Ly and Tran Dynasty art, made between the 11th and 15th centuries, then hand screen-printed on silk, one screen and one pass for each color. We call the results reinterpretations, not replicas. Below is where each one comes from, what it says, whom it suits, and when to choose something else.
The short version
| Folk Form motif | Vietnamese name | What it says | Give it for | Choose something else when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon Dreams | Huong Van Long Mong | A wish for a good year; achievement | Promotion, graduation, a new business, a leader | The gift is about comfort or recovery |
| Dragon Of Grace | May Hoa Long An | Grace granted, not power held | A boss or mentor, graduation, a corporate gift | The gift is about comfort or recovery |
| Phoenix Dance | Phung Vu Van Ca | Peace, prosperity, a person worth noticing | A mother, a new chapter, a recovery, Valentine's Day | The recipient is a man |
| Imperial Lotus | Co Do Lien Hoa | Keeping your character in hard circumstances | Retirement, a hard year handled well, a thank-you | The occasion is a wedding |
| Lotus Serenade | Uyen Uong (mandarin ducks) | A marriage that holds | Wedding, engagement, anniversary, Valentine's Day | She is single, or marriage is a painful subject |
| Peace In Mind | Thanh Binh Nhu Y | Peace, in the shape you wanted it | A new home, a new job, a baby, the New Year | You are marking a result already won |
The dragon: a wish for rain, not a show of force
The dragon of Vietnam's Ly Dynasty is not the fierce dragon of Western stories. It has no scales and three claws, and its slender body curves like a river. It holds a pearl at the mouth and carries a flame crest. On its forehead sits an S-shaped mark, the old character for thunder. In a rice-growing country thunder means rain, and rain means the harvest, so the reading is agricultural rather than martial: a wish for a good year.
It is also softer and more flowing than the Chinese dragon, closer to the naga of Buddhist art.
The pearl matters too. In the Lotus Sutra a dragon offers her pearl rather than guarding it, so a dragon with a pearl is in the act of giving it away. A written record from the period, the Sung Thien Dien Linh stele of 1121, describes dragons as symbols of royal authority and good omen.
Dragon Dreams (Huong Van Long Mong)
Source: the dragon carved into the stone of Hanoi's imperial citadel, Hoang Thanh Thang Long, begun in 1010. Four large Ly dragons sit at the corners and turn toward a bodhi leaf at the center, among lotus flowers and fragrance clouds. It reads as a picture with open space around it and suits strong colors: red, navy blue, pink and turquoise, green and yellow, orange and dark green.
Give it for: a promotion, a graduation, passing the boards or the bar, a new business, a leader. Browse Dragon Dreams silk scarves.
Dragon Of Grace (May Hoa Long An)
The same citadel dragon, drawn small and repeated in symmetry around a center, with carved borders, bodhi leaves and a lotus pedestal. "An" means grace granted, not power held. Because it reads as an even, worked surface rather than one picture, it is the quieter way to give a dragon. Its full arrangement comes together at 44 inches.
Give it for: a boss or mentor, a graduation, a corporate gift. Browse Dragon Of Grace silk scarves. For men, the Ly dragon is also woven into our silk neckties.
Choose something else when the gift is about comfort, recovery or who a person is. A dragon congratulates; the phoenix describes.
The phoenix: a sign that things are well
Phoenix Dance (Phung Vu Van Ca)
Source: Ly and Tran Dynasty temple carving in northern Vietnam, from the period that built the One Pillar Pagoda, Phat Tich and Chua Dam. The phoenix was carved on beam ends, stair flanks and roof corners to say that the country was at peace and prosperous, and that there was beauty worth noticing. It is the empress's bird to the dragon's emperor.
The Ly phoenix looks different from the Chinese prototype and is closer to the native peacock and pheasant. We draw it in the softer, flowing Ly style, holding a pearl and moving through cloud. In the source, its plumage carries five colors, one for each of the five elements.
Give it for: a mother, a woman starting a new chapter, a recovery, a friend after a hard year, Valentine's Day, or no occasion at all. It comes in pastel pink, green and purple, and it is also made as a twilly (see how to tie one). A line to hand over with it: "It is a Ly Dynasty phoenix. It simply means that things are well." Browse Phoenix Dance silk scarves.
Choose something else when the recipient is a man. As the empress's bird, the phoenix reads as feminine; a dragon or a woven dragon tie usually fits better.
The lotus: out of the mud, without its smell
Imperial Lotus (Co Do Lien Hoa)
Source: the lotus in the architecture of the Thang Long palace, 11th to 15th century. Archaeologists found stone column bases carved with lotus petals that carried the weight of the palace roof, so in that building the lotus was structural, not painted on. It also appears in the palace ponds, in sculpture and on celadon ceramics.
The meaning comes from a line Vietnamese schoolchildren learn: the lotus grows in mud and does not smell of it. It is about keeping your character in circumstances that do not deserve it. The lotus is also widely treated as Vietnam's national flower. On a garment it is the quietest of our motifs.
Give it for: a retirement, someone who came through something hard, a thoughtful thank-you, meeting a partner's mother. Colors: dark red, pink, and black with orange, the highest-contrast pairing we make. Browse Imperial Lotus silk scarves.
Choose something else when the occasion is a wedding. The lotus speaks about hardship handled well; the mandarin ducks speak about the marriage itself.
Mandarin ducks: a marriage that holds
Lotus Serenade (Uyen Uong)
Two mandarin ducks under an open lotus. Source: the "mandarin-duck tile" and the "lotus tile", named roof tiles excavated at the Thang Long citadel from the Ly and Tran dynasties. Duck figures appear even earlier, at Hoa Lu, the capital before Thang Long.
Mandarin ducks are shown in pairs, and across East Asia they stand for a devoted couple. On a palace roof, a pair was a wish for a marriage that held and a household at peace. Unlike the dragon and the phoenix, the subject here is two, not one.
Give it for: a wedding, an engagement, a bridal shower, any anniversary from the first to the twenty-fifth, including the 12th, which is the silk year (12th anniversary gift ideas). Colors: green and pink, brown and blue, brown and pink. Browse Lotus Serenade silk scarves, or read the full story in Mandarin Ducks: The Wedding Gift That Means a Lifelong Marriage.
Choose something else when she is single, or when marriage is a difficult subject. Send Phoenix Dance instead.
Peace In Mind (Thanh Binh Nhu Y)
The name is a wish. Thanh binh means peace, calm, a settled state; nhu y means as you wished it. Together: peace, in the shape you wanted it. In Vietnamese the phrase belongs to beginnings. It is said at the New Year and written on gifts for a wedding or a housewarming. A dragon congratulates, a phoenix describes a person, and this one hopes on someone's behalf.
Give it for: a new home, a new job, a baby, a first year of anything. It comes as a 22 inch square at $64. See Peace In Mind.
Choose something else when you are marking a result already won. For a promotion or a graduation, a dragon says it better.
How to choose in thirty seconds
- They achieved something: a dragon.
- The gift is about who she is: the phoenix.
- It is for a couple: the mandarin ducks.
- They are starting something: Peace In Mind.
- They came through something: the lotus.
Once you have the motif, our silk scarf size guide helps with the size.
Frequently asked questions
What does the dragon symbolize in Vietnamese culture?
In Ly Dynasty art the dragon is a rain-bringer: the thunder mark on its forehead means rain, and rain means a good harvest. It stands for a good year and for achievement rather than aggression.
How is the Vietnamese dragon different from the Chinese dragon?
The Ly Dynasty dragon has no scales, three claws and a slender body that curves like a river, with a flame crest and a pearl at the mouth. It is softer and more flowing than the Chinese dragon.
What does the phoenix mean in Vietnamese art?
Peace and prosperity. Carved on temple beams and roof corners, it signaled a country at peace. It is the empress's bird, the partner of the emperor's dragon.
What does the lotus symbolize in Vietnam?
Character kept intact in hard circumstances: the lotus grows in mud without taking on its smell. It is widely treated as Vietnam's national flower.
What do mandarin ducks symbolize?
A faithful, lasting marriage. Because the birds are shown in pairs, they are a traditional wedding and anniversary symbol in Vietnam and across East Asia.