Another is of King Ly Nhan Tong (1066-1127) removing his royal coat to cover a beggar on the roadside, while a third depicts King Le Thai To (1384-1433) returning a sacred sword to the Golden Tortoise at Sword Lake in Hanoi after the god lent him the sword to liberate Vietnam from the domination of China’s Ming Dynasty in 1400.

Famous battles at the Bach Dang River near Ha Long Bay where the Vietnamese troops commanded by Ngo Quyen (897-944) and Tran Hung Dao (1228-1300) wiped out the Chinese invaders of the Southern Han and Yuen dynasties are also recreated in miniature.

All of these are the products of Gia Long Fine Art Joint Stock Company, which makes them here in HCMC.

Director Tran Viet Tien says the idea of making the themed miniatures came from his fascination with Vietnam’s history and folklore.

One time, as he was filling a large order for statuettes of famous foreigners, one of his colleagues complained that the way Vietnamese children were taught history had become monotonous and boring.

Indeed, many experts bemoan the fact that young Vietnamese people know more about Chinese and Korean history than their own country’s past due to the onslaught of TV dramas and the lackluster teaching of Vietnamese history in schools.

Tien chuckled in agreement as he thought history was an interesting subject to study.

Moreover, he thought learning the history of Vietnam was to know the origin of the nation, and saw no reason for turning interesting things into boring ones.

After his colleague’s remark, Tien decided to tell the legends and historical stories of Vietnam by means of composite miniatures.

Tien says the lack of historical materials made the task very difficult. He and his artisans had to study many documents before trying to fashion eye-catching and convincing statuettes of heroes and other famous people.

To date, the Gia Long Company has produced miniatures of nearly 30 notable figures. Tien hopes the products will remind people that Vietnam has a glorious history.

Reported by Quang Thi