Lacquer Painting ( THẦY ĐỒ CÓC )

This painting depicts the incredibly lively world of toads, frogs, and bullfrogs. These creatures are personified by the artists, acting like humans. It features the inscription “Lão Oa giảng độc” (Old Toad Lecturing). “Oa” means frog, but in common parlance, it often refers to a toad. Thầy Đồ Cóc (Master Toad Teacher) is a painting with profound meaning left by the ancestors for future generations.

The painting “Thầy đồ Cóc” evokes the ancient style of writing, colloquially known as “chữ nòng nọc” (tadpole script). Toads are amphibians and lay tadpoles. The author draws a comparison: the earliest writing in our country had a squiggly form like tadpoles, hence it was called “chữ nòng nọc”. Scholars called it khoa đẩu văn, because khoa means tadpole. The author states that “khoa đẩu was the official script of the Lạc Việt civilization.” The painting “Thầy đồ Cóc” is a secret message guiding future generations to seek their ancestral roots. Because khoa đẩu means writing in the shape of tadpoles, it implies that only toads possess the script to teach the world. Therefore, Master Toad has a monopoly on teaching. That is the meaning of this folk painting.