In Vietnamese proverbs and folk verses, the story of the betel leaf and the areca nut conveys many meanings: “Once love, an areca nut is divided into three pieces; once hatred, an areca nut is split into ten,” “Betel quid is a starter of a conversation,” or “One gives up tobacco, he can buy buffalo, one gives up betel, he can buy field.” Betel chewing is a long-held ritual in South Asia and Southeast Asia. In the antiques of Vietnam, there is a treasure of precious items relating to betel chewing.
From ancient legendary
In the treasure of Vietnamese fairy stories, the legend of betel and areca is a story personifying the source of areca tree, betel plant and limestone – the necessary ingredients in betel chewing.
Legend has it that during the reign of King Hung the Fourth, there were twin brothers named Tan and Lang. They love each other a lot. After Tan married, he no longer took care of his younger brother as before. Lang felt very sad and went away from home. Reaching a riverside, he felt very tired and sad, and cries to death and was transformed into limestone. Troubled by the absence of his brother, Tan goes out to look for him. When he reaches the riverside, he sits on the limestone and dies of exhaustion and weariness. He was transformed into an areca tree. Tan’s wife also goes to look for her husband when she knows that he has gone. She finds the way to the riverside, full of grief, she leans her back on the areca tree, sits on the limestone and then goes to meet her maker. She transforms into a betel vine creeping and twining around the limestone and growing up the areca tree like the way they care each other when they are alive. Local inhabitants are touched by their story and they preserve and care for the trees and the limestone. One day, King Hung goes by the site and learned this story from local people. The king chews the betel leaf and feels a strong taste. A juice as red as human blood is squeezed out from the melange of areca nut, betel leaf and lime. Since then, the king teaches his subjects to use as the symbol of intimate brotherhood and spousal equivalence. After that, the betel leaf and the areca nut are indispensable in any hospitality, family and marital event of the Vietnamese people, from the royal place to far-lying countryside, from the delta to the mountain.
To current heritage
The Vietnam National Museum of History shows a treasure of exhibits related to betel-chewing custom. In early months of 2013, the museum exhibited a unique collection called “The story of betel leaf and areca nut”. Nearly 100 artefacts and documents relating to the betel chewing customs of the Kinh, Tay, Cham, Khmer, Xe Dang and S’Tieng peoples were displayed. A long story on betel chewing custom of Vietnamese people was rematerialised by lime pots, lime cylinders, lime spoons, knives (used to cut areca nuts), trays, bowls and baskets.
The museum brought a new approach to the national cultural heritage through the exhibition. Together with artefacts and exhibits relating to Vietnamese betel chewing custom throughout history, a betel cultural space was reproduced (see The custom of Betel Chewing and Thuoc Lao smoking). The image of black-toothed, red-lipped women chewing betel by phoenix-wing betel quid trays and lime pots or areca trays in wedding ceremonies became a custom, making the betel chewing custom more familiar with modern Vietnamese people.
The oldest betel chewing kit belonged to the Ly Dynasty, including lime pot, key chain, lime-spreading stick, knife, tray, box and spittoon. At that time, the Vietnamese people made lime ceramic pots painted with decorative flowers, plants, fish and shrimp or bronze or silver boxes carved with dragons or sacred animals. In the Tran Dynasty, handles of lime pots were painted with dragon and buffalo.
The author is fortunate enough to follow the entire process of preserving and reconstructing part of a royal betel kit of the Nguyen Dynasty – the highlight of the exhibition. Sophisticated craftsmanship of royal artisans created invaluable utensils in the current time. There were different types of betel trays. The tray for the Queen was cornered by gold leaves decorating the image of “Two dragons flanking the moon” and its wall was made from ivory. The tray for the princess and the concubine is also cornered by gold leaves highlighting chrysanthemums flowers and was mounted with pearls and precious stones, and its ebony wall was lined with silver foil inside. As valuable as the trays, spittoons were also embossed with dragons, betel mortars were made from silver, copper, ivory and pearl. Contemporary folk artists and visual artists were engrossed in reconstruction of artefacts in a bid to recreate the true sophistication of old-time people in preserving the beauty of betel and areca culture.
A custom is promoted to the degree of artistry and interconnects generations of Vietnamese people. In a fast-moving society, people may glimpse valuable and important factors of their civic heritage, to form invaluable bonds with the past.
Via Vccinews
