Lê Quang Vinh (c. 1923 – 13 July 1956), popularly known as Ba Cụt (Vietnamese:[ɓāːkût]), was a Vietnamese military commander of the Hòa Hảo religious sect, which operated from the Mekong Delta and controlled various parts of southern Vietnam during the 1940s and early 1950s.
Ba Cụt and his forces fought the Vietnamese National Army (VNA), the Việt Minh, and the Cao Đài religious movement from 1943 until his capture in 1956. Known for his idiosyncrasies, he was regarded as an erratic and cruel leader who fought with little ideological purpose. His sobriquet came from the self-amputation of his left index finger (although it was erroneously reported that it was his middle or "third cut finger"). He later swore not to cut his hair until the communist Việt Minh were defeated. Ba Cụt frequently made alliances with various Vietnamese factions and the French. He invariably accepted the material support offered in return for his cooperation, and then broke the agreement—nevertheless, the French made deals with him on five occasions. The French position was weak because their military forces had been depleted by World War II, and they had great difficulty in re-establishing control over French Indochina, which had been left with a power vacuum after the defeat of Japan. (Full article...)
Image 4Dong Ho painting is a line of Vietnamese folk painting originating in Đông Hồ village (Song Hồ commune, Thuận Thành District, Bắc Ninh Province.
Image 6Water puppetry, lit. "Making puppets dance on water") is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam.
Image 7Wooden doors in the Imperial palace in Huế, Vietnam
Image 8The painting depicts the retired emperor Trần Nhân Tông who has now become a monk and returned to Hanoi from his hermitage in Vũ Lâm.
Image 919th-century manuscript of "Mysterious tales of the Southern Realm" (Lĩnh Nam chích quái), a copy of 15th-century original tale. (from Culture of Vietnam)
Image 15A lantern procession during Tết Trung Thu in Vietnam, which is also celebrated as "Children's Festival". (from Culture of Vietnam)
Image 16Traditionally, people wore white clothes along with white turbans during funerals. Vietnamese officials Hồ Đắc Trung, Tôn Thất Hân, Nguyễn Hữu Bài and Đoàn Đình Duyệt depicted during the funeral of emperor Khải Định. (from Culture of Vietnam)
Image 18A trio of Vietnamese musicians performing together. The man on the far left plays kèn đám ma, the man in the middle plays the đàn nhị and the man on the right plays the trống chầu. (from Culture of Vietnam)