Brian Holihan

The media have often portrayed Vietnamese as tough people who have earned their stripes fighting for their independence for over 2,000 years. But I saw another side of them too.

This other side inspired a lot of great art, which isn’t in any books I’ve seen. But you can discover it here. [click to continue…]

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I’ve never seen these in any books about Asian art or Buddhist art.

But I saw 2 especially common types of statue in several Vietnamese temples. Many people resonate with them. Together, they reveal Vietnam’s unique cultural landscape. [click to continue…]

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It started out so well. I got caught in a rainy-season downpour in a Vietnamese monastery and sheltered under a gate.

Forced to chill for a while, I enjoyed seeing the greenery, the softly colored buildings and the rain mesh. Many monks passed through, and most relaxed with me for a few minutes. All were about 20 and said “Hello” with a smile. They might have been novices, but they moved with a refinement that made me wonder if they had meditated for many years.

But this idyllic Vietnamese scene was soon rudely interrupted by the country’s politics. [click to continue…]

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I found lots of things that I didn’t expect when I was in Vietnam.

They showed me that Vietnamese culture is very special. [click to continue…]

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Vietnam brims with blends of cultures and natural landscapes that emerged over more than 2,000 years. Few are well-known.

My recent trip to Vietnam was full of discoveries I had never read about. We’ll explore some of its secrets here. [click to continue…]

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Early Cham art was vibrant–full of lively people and vegetal forms. But it was also very tasteful. It’s hard to be first rate at both, but the Cham delivered.

Let’s step into the world of this fellow jammin’ away and see why he’s having such a good time. [click to continue…]

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The Cham didn’t build anything colossal. No Angkor Wat, no Great Wall, no Forbidden City, no Gothic cathedral. But many people find their art just as appealing.

I do too. What inspired them to make some of Asia’s best kept secrets? [click to continue…]

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These warriors with helmets that look like inverted flowers are up to no good.

Many carvings of them energize the walls of the Bayon, a great temple at Angkor built about 50 years after Angkor Wat. Many scholars of the Khmers think that they were Cham soldiers. Between the construction of these 2 temples, they invaded and took over Angkor. King Jayavarman VII might have been dramatizing his victory over the Cham on his royal cult temple. It’s hard to imagine who else they would have been, except the NY Yankees.

So the Cham were seen as “The Other” by the 2 civs that bordered them, Angkor and Vietnam. Champa existed for well over 1,000 years, but it didn’t have the population to battle both. It fought them very hard and well, but it was doomed. People are only now discovering what a great culture it was. We’ll explore it more deeply here. [click to continue…]

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They built a civilization that lasted longer than ancient Rome did. They defeated the mighty Khmers and ruled Angkor shortly after Angkor Wat was built. They created some of the finest art in Asian history.

I got hooked on Cham art when I saw a drawing of an ancient temple 20 years ago–it was one of the most entrancing buildings I ever saw. So the Cham legacy was at the top of my list of things to explore in my recent trip to Vietnam. [click to continue…]

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